Skinning the bases.

Ren helped me install the second layer of 12 gauge sheets to the bases. In the lovely "November in Colorado" wind - a 30 mph gust can sure make 150 pounds feel like 300. Yippee! Drilled and placed over 200 rivets over the course of three days.

Bitching aside, it's that much closer to being done.

Water and Power - installed.

The Water and Power sculptures are (finally!) in their rightful places. I was a little too busy to get any good action shots, but I'll see if I can't find some and post 'em. In the meantime, check out my flickr photostream for more.

These things are really, really big. And blue. And yellow.

That's what I'm talkin' 'bout.

Here's a peek into what has me so excited about Solidworks:

This is what the model looks like as you're working on it. Shadows, perspective, depth cues, surface textures - wow. And that's just the display. This is what I was working with before:

That may not seem like a major deal, but in practice every little nuance that improves your interaction with the virtual model means less eye strain, better comprehension, and fewer errors.

The geometry you see in the first picture is an honest-to-reality depiction of the sheet metal, folded up and mated together with allowances for overlap and k-factor built right in. Previously, the 3d models I made were paper-thin approximations that required me to grind the metal down to compensate for the lack of thickness. That may again sound like no big deal - but the last one of these I fabbed ended up with a nearly 1 inch gap between the first and last tetrahedrons, all because of the thickness of the metal multiplied by the number of parts (.063 inches X 12 parts =.756 inches).

Pictures are indeed worth lots of inane rambling:




In the last image you can see that the one remaining tetra will not be enough to complete the loop.

Now, imagine if I were making this thing 16 feet tall - that little error becomes a very big problem. Pulling a little gap together in the small one becomes warping and ruining the piece on the big one.

Going back to Windows with an aching in my heart.

I'm typing this entry in Microsoft OneNote on my new Vista-based workstation.

WHAT?! The Apple fanboy has joined the enemy? Turncoat!

Yep.

The single biggest reason I have for doing so is software-related. If you remember back to this post, I was having enormous difficulties getting my modeling software to properly create the geometry I needed for the Water & Power project. Much of that difficulty was a result of what the software developers call "training issues" - a kind euphemism for operator error. Those errors were a direct result of me trying to shoehorn general-purpose modeling into a very specific, sheet metal and structural steel framework. After several additional weeks of cussing and learning, I THOUGHT I had resolved my issues and developed usable 2d patterns from my 3d models. A few weeks later, I came to find out (the hard way) that I was mistaken - some cut lines had been omitted from the pattern, which entailed reworking the patterns all the way from their 3d state for those particular shapes. I was able to do so and then generate some cutting templates with the help of the big printers at Kinko's, but the whole error resulted in a pretty expensive change order at the fabricator. Not to mention the stress and the added work for me.

I realized at that point that if I wanted to continue to push myself and my designs via CAD, I was going to have to find a toolset and workflow that would minimize these kinds of errors. My trust in the current set of software tools I was utilizing had been undermined and the need for something new was self-evident.

Solidworks to the rescue.

I got an evaluation license and set up a Bootcamped Windows XP partition on my Macbook Pro. I did all the included tutorials, watched a few hours of demo videos on Youtube and elsewhere. WOW. Solidworks can do everything I was contorting myself to do in my previous packages (yes, plural) all in one unified workspace - and it can do it with an elegance and sheer power that blows me away. The most significant aspect is the History, which allows you to make changes to existing designs while automatically updating said design to compensate for the change. For example, say I decide to change the material for a sculpture from 16 gauge A36 steel sheet to 14 gauge 304 stainless steel. All that is needed is to tell the sheet metal feature in the feature tree that fact, and all the bend allowances, offsets, etc. are updated on the fly. In addition, any drawings that have been produced (again, right inside Solidworks) are immediately updated to reflect the change. That last bit is HUGE, since the downstream manufacturers rely on these drawings to fab the design. With my previous system, I would have to manually make any necessary changes to the 3d model, re-develop the patterns, export the patterns to my drawing program, and annotate the revisions there. Each of these steps introduces the possibility of mistakes - both mine and import/export related ones. Eliminating them means eliminating a big percentage of the errors that result in expensive change orders. Sweet. Now, mind you, all this power comes at a steep price - but one that can pretty quickly be compensated for in error-free projects.

 

OK, so, if I'm able to run it on my mac laptop, why a new computer? Unfortunately, the makers of Solidworks, Dassault Systemes, do not offer support for running it on macs. It makes zero sense to invest several thousand dollars on a software package only to run it on a cobbled-together system that precludes you from technical support in the advent of problems. Plus, Solidworks is a very hardware-intensive package, and a serious desktop workstation allows one to use it to fullest advantage.

Moving from OS X to Windows Vista is a pretty jarring experience - mostly in terms of attitude toward the user. Maybe it is just general familiarity, but Apple seems to have crafted a user environment that leaves less to bewilderment and officiousness. Not a day goes by on Vista where I'm not wondering what the hell that dialog box means or why that error occurred - something that, in all seriousness, almost never happened on the mac. I understand the why behind this - Apple does not have the legacy overhead for both software and hardware that Microsoft has to deal with, and of course the sheer number and variety of users forces Bill and Ballmer and Co's hand. But I personally would pay extra to MS to have a simplified, less paranoid version of Windows to run Solidworks on. Here's hoping Windows 7 is a step in that direction.

I'll miss you, little Macbook.

Water & Power - the end is near.

I intended to follow up on my previous post with a little info about my new computer and new software, but forming and pouring 30 cubic yards of concrete sorta stifles the urge to make blogginess. I've been having a blast, despite working my ass off, due mainly to getting a chance to work with my big brother Scott again. Couldn't have done this one without him.

Thanks dude.

Ch-ch-ch-changes.

Thing are under construction around here. I'll post a more detailed explanation of what's going on soon - but for now, suffice it to say that I'm moving back to Blogger and using it as my main web portal. I was able to consolidate all my old Emptyful posts into this new Exocubic Studio blog using Google's Blogger in Draft mode, which allows importing and exporting whole blogs. So if you haven't had a chance to look at the old stuff, there are actually some pretty interesting posts from way back. Here are a couple:

Making a Monument
Moldmaking

Talk about coming around full circle:
Evolution

...and Power is, uh, Yellow?

Pre-School Wisdom: Water is Blue

Symbol Sconces

I’ve made some candle holders that mount on the wall (uhh - you hang ‘em on a nail). They are made of 14 gauge stainless steel with a sanded matte finish. You can put one or two tea lights on the little shelf that is sandwiched between the plates.

Here’s a diagram that shows how they are constructed:

And a truly professional night shot, with a lit candle:

Exocubic Studio Store now open!

Notice that new link up there (on the right)? Yep, I’ve opened an ecommerce storefront where some of my smaller works can be purchased. Go check it out!

"Water" being sandblasted.

TD manufacturing in Greeley, Colorado prepping the “Water” piece for powder coating. Lloyd from Master Metal Works and I ran out to look it over and correct any flaws (I point out, Lloyd corrects). The metal looks really good. I’m excited that this project is finally starting to coalesce.

And so is Pas de Deux.

Meme is finished.

Jafe Parsons got some preliminary shots to me this weekend of the finished "Meme" sculpture. Really, really pleased with this one. I think it is my best work to date - if that statement actually means anything. I oftentimes feel that my latest effort is my best; it takes a bit of time and perspective to get a true sense of how a single work fits into an oeuvre. Yet this does feel like a less tentative, bolder statement of form that is derived intrinsically and exclusively from my current process - the computer as primary tool for sculptural expression.

What I'm doing right now.

Assembling the "Meme" piece.

Number Six.

Back from Little Rock, Arkansas having installed my sixth major piece of public art. None of these installations comes off without a hitch, but it seemed like this one was actually easier than some of the others - perhaps indicating that John* and I are actually learning? Personally, I was able to relax a bit more, which in turn allowed me to communicate better with our crane operator and everyone helping us. The elderly crane owner was there (in addition to the operator) and his expertise made a huge impact - but he was very soft-spoken and had the thickest Arkansas accent I'd yet encountered. It took a conscious effort on my part to pause and really talk things over with him in order to comprehend what he was advising. I think I've finally gotten mature enough to shut off the ego and do what's needed to achieve the goal. About time. Also, the Little Rock Parks and Rec guys were there to help us out, and they REALLY did. The strongest lesson I came away with was that we collectively are much more capable and wise than any of us is singularly.

* - John Kinkade, the Executive Director of the National Sculptors' Guild and my dear friend of 16 years. (That's him on the far right above.)

More pictures here.

Candleholder.

I've been working on some ideas for more utilitarian designs - if you can call a candleholder useful. The first image is the sheet metal shapes as modeled in FormZ.

And here is the first prototype in 14 gauge stainless.

This is (kinda) what it looks like with a tea light candle inside. I made a little platform that sits inside that will hopefully make the thing a little safer - the top of the enclosure does get pretty hot, but one of the unique properties of stainless steel is it's low thermal conductivity compared to other metals. The top gets hot but the sides stay cool.

The whole point of this piece is the pattern generated by the flickering light traveling through the holes, but my low-light camera skills is be real goodz - I could show you the pretty black rectangle I made, but... yeah.

Environmental responsibility and the artist.

This picture, of Antony Gormley's "Waste Man" burning - filling the air with the noxious smoke of tons of discarded wood - set me thinking. Uh oh.

I understand that part of the point of this piece was to call attention to the massive amounts of waste we in the developed world produce, and to highlight the ephemeral essence of all the "stuff" we strive so hard to acquire. Gormley is one of my favorite sculptors - but this kind of condescending spectacle has definitely lowered his esteem in my eyes. Why exacerbate the very problems you are hoping to solve?

This brings up a point that bugs me no end regarding my own choice of method and material: how to reconcile the obvious environmental crisis-in-progress and my part in it with my (and our culture's) need to create and express. Is Gormley's monstrous cloud of smoke any worse in the end than the unseen multiple such clouds emanating from the iron mine, the steel mill, the tractor-trailer delivering the raw material for MY sculptures? Finding a point of equilibrium that allows one to be in the world without accelerating it's destruction is probably the most profound and important question we all must ask ourselves as we venture into a new millennium.

What do you think?

Meme.

This idea - or at least the seed of it - has been floating around inside my mind's eye for quite a while. I finally have the tools to make it a reality, which I find pretty damn exciting. It is meant as a symbolic treatment of Richard Dawkins' "meme" concept:

"A meme (pronounced /miːm/) consists of any unit of cultural information, such as a practice or idea, that gets transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another. Examples include thoughts, ideas, theories, practices, habits, songs, dances and moods and terms such as race, culture, and ethnicity. Memes propagate themselves and can move through a "culture" in a manner similar to the behavior of a virus. As a unit of cultural evolution, a meme in some ways resembles a gene." (From the Wikipedia article.)

It's that "propagate" bit that this piece plays on in the form of a concentric ripple - an idea moving from mind to mind like a wave, spreading out from it's origin and altering the energy state of other ideas within the culture. It also employs the imagery of a matrix or lattice to illustrate the memeplex being made up of individual, discrete consciousnesses experiencing a collective and individual transformation through the propagation. I think of this process when I analyze the slow but steady progress our species is making from one cultural paradigm to the next, as ideas like liberty, responsibility, and reason spread virally and replace those of dominance, exploitation, and superstition. As more minds begin to cohere, constructive interference amplifies these waves - and everything gets just a little bit better.

Gary Gygax : 1938-2008

I am in a state of stunned disbelief. A bit of news has crept up on me from the vast buzzing of the interwebs. This news is arcane and oddball, like so much of the info soup out there, but it has seeped inside me and found some long-forgotten place of joy and excitement - and killed it. Gary Gygax, the mastermind behind Dungeons and Dragons, has died. Geekboy enough for ya? Well, it gets worse. I not only spent countless hours playing D&D - I did it by myself. I was both Dungeon Master and Players. I designed vast worlds and complicated labyrinths, drawing up countless maps on graph paper and populating them with creatures both good and evil. I then rolled up character after character to explore these lands and live these stories - those games are still some of the strongest and most engaging memories I have from my youth. But it wasn't all just play. Profound lessons can be learned when you play god and mortal both. Characters I had nurtured for months could be slain by one bad roll, and I was the one with the power to change that outcome. But there in the Dungeon Master's Guide, Gary Gygax had written more than just the instructions for how to play the game - there was a tone to the underlying scheme that encouraged the rational analysis of ethics. I feel that D&D, like all great fiction - especially fantasy and science fiction - is a metaphor, a sign pointing the way to truths that are beyond the storyline. So much important learning and interaction is scoffed at by the mainstream because it is couched in the "uncool". So simple a thing for a man to do as to invent a game - but that game can hold the key to a deeper understanding of life itself. A belated, unheard, and ultimately useless:
Thank You, Gary.

Pas de Deux (Hello, Captain Cliche)

I've finally had some time to break away from the Water & Power project. What do I do with the time? Design more sculptures, of course. OCD, anyone? I need to update my How? section to reflect the new tools I've been using - I've moved away from SketchUp and into fromZ for modeling. FormZ is a much more powerful tool, but it's burdened with a commensurate bump in complexity. I still spend more time wondering what the hell is going on rather than feeling confident in the necessary procedure to do what I need. This confusion has actually been a subtle prod to more creativity - playing without understanding can bring you back to the "Beginner's Mind" that breeds newness and breaks habits.

I just couldn't shake the impression of one form aiding the other to float overhead - like two ballet dancers in a pas de deux. This was rendered in Maxwell - I'm a rank amateur, so am excited about the potential quality renders looming on the horizon.