360 view of Calder's "Five Blossoms"

SketchUp

I wish, somehow, I could stretch out my days like an accordion and create more time for all of the interests that I have...sculpture, origami, unicycling, juggling, classical guitar, zen, and reading - to name just a few...

One of my interests is digital art and 3D modeling.  I've wanted to learn how to do this for many years and awhile ago I discovered a great program called "SketchUp" that is easy to learn, powerful, and best of all: FREE.  I also discovered another great (free) program called Kerkythea that imports SketchUp models and allows you to create photo-realistic renders of them.  I thought I would share some of the images that I've made using these programs.

Hot Wheels "Silhouette"

Beatles radio concept

DQ - Orange Julius

Dan Grayber sculpture

Dean Castle

Honda CT 70

Nagra III tape recorder

Schwinn Unicycle

Shoji Lamp concept

Snow-Trac ST4

Stiltsville House - concept

Cody box kite

I've had a lot of fun making these and I hope you enjoy them!  

The Flamingo - restored

A few months ago, I posted some photos and comments about the restoration of Calder's "Flamingo" in Chicago.  This work is now finished and the Flamingo has once again arisen in Federal Plaza in all of its glory.

Judging from some pictures taken by Lee Bey, the restoration has made a noticeable improvement to the appearance of this sculpture. 

photo by Lee Bey

You can see more photos and read Mr. Bey's commentary here.

I discovered an interesting bit of trivia as I was exploring the comments Mr. Bey's article.   Back in 1974, Calder was having great success in Chicago - he had been commissioned to create two sculptures, one for the lobby of the Sears Tower and another for Federal Plaza (the Flamingo) and on October 25th, a major exhibit of his works was opening at the Museum of Contemporary Art.  To celebrate the occasion,  Mayor Richard J. Daley declared the day as "Alexander Calder Day" and held a parade with circus wagons, clowns, unicyclists, and several marching bands.  Alexander Calder himself was in the parade, introduced as "Alexander the Great" and rode on top of a Schlitz beer wagon pulled by 40 horses.  

Now that would have been something to see!   

"Works of Calder"

"Works of Calder" is a short black and white film about a young boy who happens to wander into the studio of Alexander Calder and is astonished by the amazing creations he finds.  The film shows sweeping views of the interior of Calder's Roxbury studio and the artist himself at work.

Filmed by Herbert Matter and rarely seen since its debut in 1951, this interesting - and I might go so far as to say bizarre - film features a soundtrack by John Cage and narration by Burgess Meredith of all people!  You might remember him as Rocky's trainer, Mickey Goldmill, in the first three films.

Thanks to my friend Jeff for sending me a link to this great piece of history!



Works of Calder on Nowness.com.

More photos from Chicago

I thought it would be nice to share some more photos that I took during my recent visit to Chicago. 

totem by Yaacov Agam - 150 N. Michigan Ave

"Monochrome for Chicago" by Nancy Rubins - Navy Pier

"Cloud Gate" - Millennium Park

"Crown Fountain" - Millennium Park

"Flying Dragon" by Alexander Calder - The Art Institute of Chicago

"Flamingo" by Alexander Calder (maquette) - The Art Institute of Chicago

"Streetcar" hanging mobile by Alexander Calder - The Art Institute of Chicago

The Art Institute of Chicago

The Flamingo Gets a Facelift

I recently spent a few days in downtown Chicago and, as always, whenever I visit the Windy City, I try to drop by and say hello to a few "friends" such as the "Picasso" in Daley Plaza, Chagall's "Four Seasons" on Dearborn St, "Cloud Gate" in Millenium Park, and of course my favorite - the "Flamingo" by Alexander Calder in Federal Plaza.


This visit, however, would be a little different than previous ones. I had read that the Flamingo was undergoing a major 1/4-million-dollar renovation and I was really excited to see what it would look like while "under wraps".

My first impression took me by surprise. It looked like the Flamingo had been carefully boxed up and left at the curb to await the arrival of a huge FedEx truck for pickup and delivery. I half-expected to find a shipping label and a "FRAGILE" sticker slapped on the side somewhere.  I suppose it's understandable that I would feel this way since I've packed up hundreds of mobiles and stabiles and have spent countless hours figuring out ways to deal with the enclosure of unusual and fragile shapes for safe shipping.  I felt like I could relate (in a small way) to the efforts the restoration crew must have taken to enlcose the Flamingo like this.  My understanding is that this was not done to protect the sculpture during restoration, but rather to prevent the byproducts of the restoration process such as dust, paint, and debris from getting distributed in the air all around the plaza.

Calder Flamingo Restoration                 - photo by R.Bissell

My second impression was the same one that I always have every time I visit this sculpture...an amazement of how BIG it is. Looking at it this way, enclosed within a geometric shape, I realized that my house could easily fit inside a container this huge.

As I walked around looking at the "Shrouded Flamingo" from different angles, my third impression was how interesting and beautiful the scaffolding and plastic sheets looked in the early morning light. It was impossible to not make a conparison to a Christo installation.  I've never seen one in person, but having seen this, I think I've probably come away with a close approximation.  It is quite interesting to view a large iconic object completely obscured and gift-wwrapped  in the middle of a city plaza.

Calder Flamingo Restoration                                   - photo by R. Bissell

As far as I know, this is the first major renovation to the Flamingo since its installation more than 38 years ago.  The restoration includes a top coat of an extra durable primer followed by a full repainting in the trademark Calder Red that can be found on so many of his stabiles.  I'm sure that it will be magnificant to see when the restoration is complete but I'm really happy that I was able to see it like this...it was probably a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Alexander Calder's 114th birthday

Courtesy "Sweet and Swanky Cakes" via Flickr

It's Alexander Calder's 114th birthday!  I was hoping for a reappearance of the wonderful Google doodle that we saw last year, but I don't see it.

Here is a link to it in case you missed it last year.  It's a great representation of a Calder mobile and you can even make it move around!

http://www.google.com/doodles/alexander-calders-113th-birthday