Paint prep

All the pieces and parts made it to Mass Moca and are ready to paint. Everything will be primed and painted before installation. Here's an image of me sanding away at the aluminum branches in Richard Criddle's metal shop.

OG

On the way back from NYC I stopped by my favorite rest stop on the cusp of the Hutchinson and Merritt Parkways.  This was the big guy that sent me on a path of tree drawings that eventually led me to the Tree Turbine project.  Perhaps someday when cellular communication towers are no longer used we can make this guy spin.

aluminum branches

Yesterday Heather Darcy Bhandari from Mixed Greens and I visited Steve Mesler , in the photo, at Milgo Bufkin where the branches were fabricated.  Each branch was cut from my original drawing with a computer aided water-jet cutting machine and then curved using their CAD based roller.  Next stop Mass Moca!

Final Model

Today Jill, Laura and I finished the model for the Badlands exhibition at Mass Moca.  Dr. Montazer from the UNH Engineering department stopped by to see the final piece.  

It spins!

I assembled the scale model this weekend and gave it a trial run.  It spins like crazy... whew, what a relief... I mean, I knew it would work great... 

Model Madness

Here is a sneak peek of the final model in process.  I enlisted the help of Peter Cohen the Yale University Art Gallery carpentry wizard.  Notice the mess... you can tell there is a deadline approaching.

Design Team

Laura and Jill hard at work on the website and shopping for miniature gas stations and smart cars.