symposium product continued

When my support footings-- the precarious little legs I wanted to support the whole structure gave out I had to cut them off and build more durable legs. I ended up taking solid cylinder steel and threading it 2 inches deep myself to thread in the 1/2 inch threaded rod (just under the 3/5 inch hollow tubing at the foot of each footing)

I assembled and disassembled the railing probably close to 4 or 5 times and was never able to put it back together in the same way twice-- even when I lay the individual detail pieces on paper towel right next to their joint when I painted them. This is both advantageous and disadvantageous-- it speaks about the capacity of metal objects to be easily constructed with the "kit of parts" mentality. The difficulties in reassembling it every time really made me sympathize with Nancy Rubins in that building an object that hovers is really tricky in the matter of seeing where the centre of gravity will be. This could be mathematically calculated with great efforts with varying rim sizes and diameters but I am certain she also uses trial and effort technique in building her sculptures like I did (hence why three of more of her earlier built works have reportedly fallen down) I even managed at one point to have 9 wheels all hovering on the ONE footing with no other contact with ground. The only reason I disassembled and added more ground support is that I am a realistic and know that it would not withstand three days worth of symposium curious touching.

Also illustrated is the testing of painting all the rims black. I liked the sillouette that it created but opted to polish all the rims instead and paint the detail in a chocolate matte brown paint to draw attention back to it. It is actually quite beautiful to reveal the mix of aluminum and steel frames and how the rust of where the washers hold the sprockets on the rim gather rust that is not easily sanded down. The play of light during sunset in the school is remarkable now that they are all shined up too.

I also lay the railing down yesterday-- pictures to be in the next update.