Make a survival whistle from a soda can

I love making things out of sheet metal, so when I found this video on YouTube demonstrating how to make a survival whistle out of a soda can I had to give it a try. I was surprised at how easy and how well it worked! It's a very simple and clever design, and once you've made one I'm pretty sure that you will remember how to do it forever.

A great way to impress your friends, or call for help if you ever get lost in the woods!

Typographic Mobiles by Ebon Heath

I really love these hanging mobiles by Ebon Heath, which range from hand-cut Tyvek or bristol to laser-cut acrylic. He refers to this as his "stereo.type" project and his intent is to liberate Type from the confines of a flat page and give it physicality: life, movement, and form.

I'm very impressed with the creativity and beauty of Ebon's work.

You can find more information about him here:

http://www.yatzer.com/1690_ebon_heath_and_his_visual_poetry

and here:

http://listeningwithmyeyes.com/index.html

CALDER, SCULPTEUR DE L'AIR

There is a new documentry out about the life of Alexander Calder. It has been produced and directed by the French film maker François Lévy-Kuentz. The film is entitled: "CALDER, SCULPTEUR DE L'AIR"

The film features interviews, archival film clips and footage of Calder's sculptures to highlight the innovative nature of his work and includes a lot of historical film material to visualise the cultural and social background of his era.

The film has been dubbed with English narration and the US premire of the film was held at the Whitney Museum on February 26th, 2009.

It appears that this film may contain some new footage and interviews that would be of interest to Calder fans. Hopefully the film will become available on DVD at some point as there are only a few video documentaries of Calder's work that are currently available.

George Rickey Video

The following video was produced by Public Art Indy and the Arts Council of Indianapolis for the George Rickey exhibit that is running through September 7th. For more information check out the Public Art Indy site:

http://www.paindy.org/rickey/index.html

SFMOMA debuts new rooftop sculpture garden

The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art is debuting a new rooftop sculpture garden - a great idea! 

It opens tomorrow. It features a great stabile by Alexander Calder, "Big Crinkly". '

George Rickey

If I sat down to make a short-list of Kinetic Sculptors, the second name on that list would be George Rickey.

Like Alexander Calder, Rickey had some training in engineering, and the large-scale outdoor sculptures that made him famous clearly reflect an engineered geometrical approach in their design - such as the swinging blades and rotating cubes that moved effortlessly and unexpectedly on the gimbals he created.

Rickey brought a minimalist approach to kinetic sculpture. His work was more subtle and serious looking than Calder's. While Calder's outdoor mobiles seemed to be adaptations of indoor designs that were scaled up and strengthened for outdoor display, Rickey's work was conceived at the outset to be harmonious with the wind and elements that would move, illuminate, and weather them.

This is not to say that Rickey was merely an outdoor sculptor. In fact, I'm a big fan of his earlier works such as his “carousel” series which were exquisitely delicate, colorful, and playful.

I encourage you to find a copy of "George Rickey - The Early Works", where you can see more of these amazing pieces and trace Rickey's development through the many photos that show his growth as an artist, moving from his earliest Calder-like mobiles on up to his later designs.

Also recommended is a visit to Indianapolis this summer to see a special exhibit of Rickey's works from his estate in East Chatham, New York. You can find out more about this exhibit and read an interview with Phillip Rickey, George's son, also a fine sculptor here:

http://www.indystar.com/article/20090503/ENTERTAINMENT/905030302/1005/ENTERTAINMENT

McCormick Center

Hanging sculpure at McCormick Place in Chicago

McCormick Place is a huge facility, and if you happen to visit it for a convention or trade show I'd encourage you to do some exploring. There are many wonderful sculptures hidden away from the exhibit halls in areas where visitors do not typically wander, such as this piece, tucked away on level 4 or 5 of the South Building. I searched for a placard, but could not find any information about this piece or the artist that created it.

McCormick Place also has works by Tim Prentice, Dale Chihuly, and James Surls