Full Scale Mock Up

.ewkc is a cloister of sorts. My day was composed of simple movements from the single room and studio. It all seems so practical yet full of details.

Preparing and working to find flow. Resting three or more times today; stopping to eat then taking time to read, connect with home, cat nap and or stretch.

Over the past three days I’ve started to set up a rough full scale structure using pipes, string and interfacing, paper or thin sheet of packaging foam, for the panels. Slowing building an awareness and presence. For here the details can arise.

Learned direct frontal approach is most striking. Viewing the ‘straight edge outer skin’ hung parallel with the room’s walls gives the viewer a contextual norm. The translucency hints at an inner layer or something beyond expectation.

If the viewer first encounters the opening “V” inner skin, the funnel sucks any perception of layered mystery. As well, the non-parallel panel is jarring, unwelcoming; initiating resistance.

Light from behind, is essential. The studio receives morning light, offering directional source. Keep coming back to how a simulation of time would be sweet.

Hoping contact at Philips for LED lighting will yield a source for an innovative lighting solution.

Each night so far, I finally sleep a jet lag fitful rest until hearing early birds and seeing the soft dawn light.

Tomorrow passes in a fluid series of details mostly practical and impractical. – No Photo’s yet.

I design a prototype hardware system for the panels and figure out how to fabricate interconnect for the pipes and cables.

Off to a hardware store for supplies on a rickety blue five speed bike. When I left the shop, I turned and encountered a void where I’d parked the bike. Returning to. ekwc, via bus, I sourced and repaired a bike in the back corner that is rustier than the one I’d thought no one would steal.

The sales man at the bike shop said there are over one million bikes sold each year in Holland and around 800,000 stolen. I bought a 37 Euro lock, an inner tube and tier stems. The bike has rear hub brakes like my first bike in Ohio circa 1961.

In the evening, I rejoined the community of Five Rhythms in Den Bosch. Ingrid, who mixed the wave – played 28 minutes of drumming. I was one of the few who danced the entire piece. My body responded to the nuanced rhythms, and I became aware my entire body can participate when I finger hammer the bone china panels, not just my hands and fore arms.

Finger rhythms on the one maybe best done for each slab – not a molded pattern. Good exercise especially if the music has counterpoint rhythms.

As dusk fell, then under the emergency light, I set up the last of the studio today. Unpacking the work from January and pinning up the Idea Wall; artist’s _ architecture _ materials _ methods _ philosophy.

Outside details and Inside details that offer an invitation for expression of internal life sheltered by exterior facade of a building; graced by the shifting light and time of day and the energy flow of connection.

Studio set up for the first round. When Sarah arrives, we discover our shared intrinsic spacial refinement. We balanced the desks/surfaces and tools around – preserving the best lighting for the area where we will stage the mock-ups and final.

Bone china made in January is supple and a bit too wet. Drying on plaster after an initial drop to the floor, spiral wedging – then more wedging. Seems that 4 – 5 Kilos’ is a good chunk to make a 40 x 60 cm slab.

Specific materials and tools make all the difference. The interfacing I purchased in the US is too flimsy, falling apart. Guess we can make a full-scale mockup to determine actual proportions.

Found a good back saving device that has a lift, for moving panels from roller to storage to kilns. Simple and essential _ Thinking versus sweating.

Studio 9

Day One in Studio 9 _ June 12, 2007

Attempted Scale today. Chasing time and uncertainty. If we fire a panel early in either Neil or Bas kiln loads (neither are firing to 1280 but close enough) to determine if the panels at scale will crack, warp or slump. Will attempt two more as soon as Bas indicates his shelf size for kiln # 1 – the tower.

Using the upstairs heavy-duty slab roller. There is not an adjustment for the thickness of the slab, but trial and error method to insert a thin sheet of plywood or canvas as an adjustment.

Cloistered Life @ .ekwc

Moving through space and time, seeking rest in another time zone, and entering a cloistered life. A stiff twin bed tucked into a simple attic space pushes the shift in my reality. Life simplified to basic elements of shelter, food and exploration of my own art tinged with the practical doer while mixing in an undercurrent of a designers’ logic.

I will slip into a time of self, sleeping alone, eating in a group at the evening meal, food I do not control or influence. Then rise the next morning to begin again the work of yesterday. Walking a path thousands of miles distant, documented with photos.

WeekOne

The cathedral bell rings one time, and my jet lag combines with thoughts. People left behind in San Francisco, last visits and element of my life there in progression. I’d prefer to write to each person my thoughts, yet there is a universal element to my experience.

Like entering a cloister dedicated to an aesthetic life. Exploring art and expression with clay as a material. There are nine residences here presently. Mostly youth defined as those under thirty. I believe I am the elder or perhaps Niki who is an exhibited sculpture from Tilburg. Bas is here still finishing his six months of back-to-back residences.