What has Jimmy been up to besides studio?

Rested and Recharged

View of the sun setting from on top of Breezy Point (beach house!).

Picture of the water tower at Holden Beach with the sun setting.

The water tower, visible from 2 miles away.

Kaylin, my girlfriend, being stalked by a giant bird.

Sunset from the bridge (inner coastal water way).

Turkey vultures grubbing on a baby shark.

Family of sandpipers.

Sandpipers grubbing on crustacean goodness.

A giant hornet attacking my cranberry juice.

texture, tactile experience with artifacts

How could I forget my toys? Wonderful objects they are...some structurally fragile, others cold to the touch. All of them have one thing in common: a unique tactile and textural opportunity. Even the artifacts made of the same material or are of the same "type" all hold a special experience by themselves, almost like a personal genetic code. The two items shown here were once very important to a train car but were discarded and forgotten about, much like everything else we found on our adventure.
If I had to take a guess, I'd say this device once connected and held two train cars together (not by itself of course). The iron latch, aside from its rusting outer layer, is in better shape relative to the rest of the other artifact material types. It carries a heavy appearance, a solid mass that weighs just as much as it looks.
Moving the latches on the end is still fairly easy as they surprisingly haven't rusted tight. One can only imagine the immense tension occurring within this locking device between two train cars. Running my fingers across several areas, it reminded me of sand paper although there was a substantial difference between the different mechanisms.
The sides have a finer feel then the center faces, perhaps because of a combination of the object's center of gravity (central mechanism) and inability to stay upright. The joints are distinctly rougher then the various surface areas.
Tiny craters seem to be in high concentration in that area but are also scattered about the entire artifact, like there is some sort of organism that can eat through the metal and carve out a home. The serial number is still visible and offers its own identity to my finger tips, subtle depressions in the iron skin allowing me to read without my eyes....

The second artifact, the train car wheel break...another device of action. How many breaks are there on a single train car? On a whole train (cars included)? The amount of force required to stop an object with such tremendous momentum is unbelievable...not so much when there are a couple hundred breaks to help out I suppose.
It seems to be a composition of iron and type of ceramic (break surface). While the iron side has a similar sand paper texture to our first artifact, some of the skin is flaky and easily chipped off when brushed up against. There also appears to be a decal of some sort although I can't tell what it is anymore because of the deterioration caused by the hostile environment it was in.
The cylindrical negative space has the same ceramic surface as the pad on the underside of the break. Both are severely cracked and fractured, worn down by the numerous times it was responsible for applying pressure to the wheels of the train car.
The smaller perpendicular cross opening in the cylindrical form might have been where another mechanical piece was connected to another form within the negative space.
This was my favorite part about the break...it actually looks like it might be a map. No X marks the spot for buried treasure.

Maybe next time.

The Goods.

The experiment turned out quite spectacular although unfortunately it did have its set backs. The jig I used was not completely perpendicular to the blocks when I was cutting the grooves which resulted in things not lining up exactly. Regardless, I am pleased with the output and that I still have my digits attached (there was a bit of a scare for a moment). I will probably go back and attempt to fix the problems tomorrow during class (charette permitting). As you can see I've started to drill holes for the rods I plan to use. The strength of the plywood is suprising, especially in the 2nd and 3rd pictures. The striations both represented by the grooves and the grain of the plywood are definately singing conceptually.
And theres more where that came from.

Leaning tower of pixels...[Refractive Pixels in Metastasis]

I am working more with models in this project to see if incorporating them into my usual black hole of a process nets any interesting results. Model building is not a strong skill of mine and if I need to show my ideas physically and conceptually, it needs to improve. So, the only way you get better is if you practice, right? What better opportunity is there to practice then with a studio project? I'm enjoying myself so far but I think it has more to do with the tools (shop), materials (plywood) and scale I'm working at. In the past I've noticed that there is a severe decline in the dexterity of my hands once I get working with fairly small objects. For example, I can't shuffle cards, play the guitar or any other instrument for that matter. My fingers just don't get it. Perhaps there is some disconnect between the nerves in my fingers and the synapses firing in my brain. This disadvantage always translates itself into poorly made models for projects. I think a time for change is appropriate. I laminated scraps of plywood together, smoothed out the faces, and cut grooves on 4 sides of the piece with a 1/2" dado pack on the radial arm saw.
The "pixel" is a two dimensional or three dimensional manifestation of information. In this model study I've chosen to use the square and cube as a starting form for that manifestation. It is not pictured here but the entire mass is cut into varying lengths, all of which can be interlocked on any of the 4 sides with grooves. The parts can be manipulated to create different "pixel" masses. I see this as the first stage in what is to be the abstraction of the form and how the new forms speak to the possibility of new types of connections that might occur between those masses. Stay tuned, the process continues...

Vision Quests: Reality and the Mind

Reflection in fall. It was a beautiful weekend.

Brother, mother, girlfriend and Blue, our dog (hidden in front of my brother)...on our way to the bark park (country park).

I suppose I hadn't noticed the leaves changing outside until this weekend.

I believe this little outing falls into the category of a vision quest although I didn't realize at the time what I was actually experiencing it. [fresh air, nature, and family] Even though these having nothing to do with my project, I find getting away from the work to reflect on other aspects of my life just as helpful and refreshing.

The leaves did get me thinking about the "pixel" again. They certainly qualify under my previous interpretation...the leaves as a whole having the duty of soaking up the sun's energy and the carbon dioxide in the tree's process of photosynthesis. To go further a tree could be a larger pixel (or construct of smaller pixels to create the larger one) in the greater context of the environment...examples perhaps of the assignment of tasks to pixels at different scales?

Sketch model in the making! To be continue...

Revolution Mills Pictures...

Did I mention I like to take pictures? I probably could have spent an entire day and a few memory cards at that place. There was a ridiculous amount of content. I plan on going back when the weather is sunny, if they will allow me in. The clouds that day did not make for the best photo opportunity. I don't know how excited I am about what [they] are doing to renovate Revolution Mills but I will admit the place has character, as I hope it is portrayed in these photographs. Enjoy...

Lastly, it is unfortunate that the woman who was nice enough to give us the guided tour could not answer a seemingly easy question from Jami: "How are you preserving the history of the textile mill?" or something (good question). I suppose it was not safe for one to assume that this woman, a major player in Greensboro's relatively small historic preservation community representing Revolution Mills Studios and I'm sure whatever Greensboro's historic preservation society is, could simply inform us of how the textile mill's history was being preserved through the renovation (apparently with a wall of old photos). Huh? I must admit I was thrown off by the projectile vomited dry wall and tack-trad fixtures littering the premises. I believe she called it a "modern" look.

One word. Unbelievable.

Go figure.