Here's Matt on a balmy August evening, spending quality time with a 245-degree oven to form these shapes for this mobile.
Stay tuned!
This Just In...
Materials! For this project!
It's always exciting when materials arrive, because it means a project is really coming together. But this time we're extra giddy, because for this suspended sculpture, we'll be using 3form, an ingenious resin-based plastic made of 40 percent recycled content. (Yes, we're geeks like that.)
Included here are the 350 3form shapes that Matt will individually had form using a sophisticated thermal forming process that may or may not involve his kitchen oven and an Ove Glove.
Next Up
A mobile maker's work is never done. (But that's a good thing.) Here's a sketch of the next project in our queue:
It's a suspended sculpture that will span the 55-foot-long hallway of an early childhood learning center in Tulsa. The top image is the side view, and the bottom image is the underneath view—the view the kiddos will enjoy.
Now pardon us while we get to work on it!
White River Mobile Installation
A few fun facts about the recent installation in Arkansas:
- Matt and Ben arrived onsite at about 2 p.m. and finished the installation at 3 a.m.
- They strung together 230 shapes.
- The mobile itself hangs 40 feet long and 17 feet wide.
- The atrium it fills spans four floors.
The massive atrium, begging to be filled.
The crate of goods.
Matt, diving in.
White, er, blue-glove treatment.
Hi Ben!
Pride. Relief. Exhaustion.
White River Health System Mobile
Here's the massive mobile Matt and Ben just installed in Batesville, Arkansas at the new White River Health System facility.
Ben doubled as the on-site photographer, so we've got plenty of pictures of the installation process. Stay tuned!
Fragile: Precious Cargo
We've spent the past few weeks prepping to install this mobile (our tallest yet!). It will require a lot of on-site assembly, so the prep work hasn't been terribly glamorous or photo-worthy. But this moment always feels worth documenting:
All the mobile components are all crated up for a cross-country trip, and the freight company should arrive any minutes. Safe travels, mobile! We'll see you in Arkansas!
Interactive Museum Mobiles
Several months ago, we created a set of interactive mobile kits (similar to these) to accompany the Calder exhibit at Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University.
Today, we got an e-mail from the kind folks at Duke with this subject line: "Nasher visitors LOVE the mobiles."
As if that wasn't enough to make our day, the e-mail detailed how the interactive mobiles have been a huge hit at the museum, and how the museum has even created an online game where visitors can display their actual mobile creations in a virtual gallery. (And if you haven't been to Nasher Museum of Art, you can mess around with their sample creations.)
But the very best part? This facebook gallery of happy Nasher patrons. That's a whole lot of people discovering the joy of mobile making.
Frame of Reference
This picture also shows the enormity of the materials we picked up last week. Matt is surely contemplating some important geometric equation. But it kinda looks like he's psyching himself up to hula hoop with that thing.
More Materials
Matt and Ben knew this next set of materials for the Arkansas hospital mobile wouldn't fit into the trusty Subaru. But they were surprised that even with a rented pickup truck they were pushing their luck!
And right about now, we're glad we reorganized and tidied up the shop back in March. With three big projects in the queue this summer, we're going to have some seriously tight quarters for awhile. (No complaints, though. It's a good problem to have!)
Ring Leader
Right now, we're starting the fabrication process on this mobile. Step one? Acquiring materials.
Pictured here, nestled in the back of Matt's trusty Subaru, is the first set of materials: a bunch of rings, made of rolled stainless steel tubing, that will serve as the mobile's framework.
