Knot Here, and Knot There

Junior Block Project #4 is composed of a found wooden chair, an old walking cane, and many yards of cotton cord. This piece was inspired by a clever book I found titled "Why Knot?" written by the famous tightrope walker, Phillipe Petit. Monsieur Petit discusses and demonstrates the how's, why's, and histories of 80+ knots in a very entertaining way. He apparently knows how to tie hundreds.  I used about 20 different types of knots on this piece, with some of my favorites being repeated several times. I don't think I ever really counted how many total knots there are; but of those only nine are functional, and actually hold the chair together.

In these modern times of ours, knot tying is fast becoming a lost art. The tying of knots has been largely replaced by: Duct tape, Zip-ties, twist ties, Super Glue and so on. There are kids I know who grew up never knowing how to tie even a simple knot because their shoes had Velcro straps instead of laces. There are only a few professions remaining that still require knot tying. These usually involve livestock or boats of some kind. I'm hard pressed to think of any leisure activities that make regular use of knots. Camping perhaps? Mountaineering and sailing, for sure. This is indeed a sad state of affairs. However, there is still hope. Perhaps such films as "50 Shades of Gray" could spark a new public interest in "recreational" knot tying. But a mere hope is all that it is.

The multiple non-functional knots I used in this piece to represent our society's loss of it's general knot knowledge and usage. There is also a certain pathos and a bit of irony in the idea of using a cane, designed to aid and support a human body, to repair a chair which is another structure designed to support the human frame. There is a little obsessiveness in the abundance of the non-functioning knots.

I felt I had no other choice than to title this piece as, "This Is Knot Your Seat".

The dramatic lighting effect was both loved and hated by my classmates. What do you think? 

"Untitled" : A Performance Art Piece

This is project #3 from the Spring semester of my Junior Sculpture (or Block) program. Please watch this 1 minute video, and if you find yourself intrigued then you can read the "inside story" below. Enjoy!

I became aware of these "Drawing Robots" a few years ago, and thought that at some point I'd like to do something with them.  These little robots run on batteries and have a small motor with a short axle. At the end of the axle is a small yellow plastic disc mounted in an off-center fashion. As the motor turns the axle, the weight of the off-center rotating disc, creates a wobbling motion which then causes the robot to move in a circular way.

My goal was to make these little robots do something they weren't designed to do. In this case, to make sound. On one robot I substituted the pen-legs for a ping-pong ball, the spring from a doorstop, and a wire brush. This one became known as "the Sweep Bot". Also, I glued a short metal rod onto the "wobble disc" and added a nut to the end. This put substantially more weight further out from the center, and created a very exaggerated wobble.

The same enhanced weight arrangement was added to the second robot along with golf tees for legs. This one I named "Tap-Bot" as it literally tap danced when the motor was turned on.

The third robot was given the same weight set-up as the other two. Long, thin dowels were added for the legs. Bells were affixed to the legs and the whole thing was wrapped in a sheet of Mylar. This one I named the "Tall Bot".

The two short bots were placed in small wooden boxes with holes drilled into the sides. These enclosures amplified the sound produced by each one. The Tap Bot was especially loud as you can hear in the video. The Sweep Bot did produce a "whooshing" sound, but it was not loud enough. I purchased special light bulbs to use as footlights that were designed to change colors automatically or in response to a remote control.

In the video the flying bot finale was a complete surprise to my audience. When I'm working on a project I tend to keep some aspect of it a secret. I like to surprise my professors and the other students when it comes time for our presentation and critique. The professor who was grading my project said "I've been teaching a long time and I've seen a lot of  strange things. That was one of the strangest! I want to congratulate you Buck, on allowing yourself to get so...weird".

I was at loss as to what to call this piece. In the past I have stated that naming something "Untitled" can be a bit of a cop out.  But in this case I made an exception.