So this is a big week.
It’s been one year since I said that I would try to put out a blog post
every Tuesday. With 40+ posts since, I’d
say I’ve done alright. But the real big
news is the public artwork I am working on with
Christina Lopez for
Bartlett Events
in Roxbury. For those of you who don’t
know Bartlett yard is an abandoned bus depot in Roxbury that is under new
ownership. There, several artists have
been selected to paint murals and install artwork. The space is intended to help revitalize a community
plagued by crime and neglect.
Ultimately, the whole bus depot will be torn down to make way for
affordable living spaces for people in the community and artists. The opening event is this Saturday and should
be a pretty great time with artists painting as well as food trucks and other
activities.
Christina and I are privileged to be given the only interior
space on site for our work. To Draw
attention to the intrinsic beauty of the urban decay Christina decided to paint
all of the fixtures exuberant colors.
Together we went over every doo-dad and fixture. This week I will be white washing the walls
and installing a fiberglass sculpture in the center of the space. I know what you’re thinking, “You’re going to
make a six foot resin sculpture in under a week?” and I say unto you,
“yes.” Madness.
This sculpture will eventually be white with gray tones. This is the 1/10th scale model I'm working from
Sexy, no?
So i drove to Egypt to buy styrofoam in a very large block. Turned out it was such a large block that it didn't fit in the rental SUV so they had to cut it... 4 times!
This resulted in the most lengthy part of this entire process: glueing the stupid thing back together again.
Mapping out the grid
I made a new hot wire using my trusty old Lionel train transformer, PVC, an extension cord and some guitar string.
The guitar string wasn't quite long enough to cut the block all at once, so I had to cut at an angle.
This is where it stands thus far.
I'll be updating as the week goes on
