Brandwein's

Old paper mache projects and new directions

2010-02-14T20:57:00.001-08:00

Here are more examples of past paper mache projects. I am thinking about these now because I am having my sculpture class start making animal "characters". No matter how serious and abstract my work gets I always keep returning to the silly and ridiculous. I don't believe in the zodiac horoscope crap, but I long ago noticed that I was a gemini and that I seem to often be pulled in two (or more) different directions.
This week I have researched more robotic stuff, ordered fine fabric fasteners, fired the two clay pieces pictured below and bought a quantity of reed and raffia ( to make some woven 3-D forms) as well as a soldering gun and station. I also took apart one of my old electric tooth brushes to see if I could turn it into a vibrating motor/apparatus for a kinetic piece. Pam insists that I not solder in the house, so I guess I will be doing this at school until the weather warms up.

In light of the many different directions I am pulled in perhaps a better name for the blog should be "Gemini journeys" or something like that...Hmmm. I welcome suggestions.

2010-02-09T17:25:00.000-08:00

I have had this urge for some years to make my work move...literally. I bought this former cassette recorder last weekend at a thrift store and took it appart to see if I could re-use the motor and other parts (my old electric toothbrush is next). I know nothing about electronics but that's half the fun. Now if I only know where I put my soldering iron.

Have you seen the work of Arthur Ganson? It is some of the most hilarious, spooky, erotic, mesmerizing kinetic art. Check out the video's of his machines:

http://www.arthurganson.com/pages/Sculptures.html

Which one is my favorite? Hmmmmmmmm......

I am not interested in making "machine" art. I want the mechanism to be as inconspicuous as possible. Honestly if I knew an engineer who wanted to collaborate that would be just the ticket...Let me know if you know anybody who knows about hobby electronics cause I could sure use some guidance here.

Yoni Grows Roots

2010-02-06T19:27:00.000-08:00

The image at the top of the page is titled Orange Yoni. I have been obsessed with this shape for years and have made several iterations of it. These pictures are from my sketchbooks and from work in progress so you can see I am planning to add more in the later stages the work. This image was taken before the bisque firing. I'm thinking that all the holes I poked for the wire I plan to add later will help prevent massive cracking when I fire them (Wish me luck). What's it all about? Is it something sexual? While I won't deny it, its not what is uppermost on my mind. Yoni is a word associated with Hinduism. As I understand it, it is symbolic of the universal creative energy. You can read what one reviewer said when Orange Yoni was included in the 2009 Rochester Finger Lakes Exhibition this summer.

Jackrabbit

2010-02-06T15:56:00.000-08:00

I started this as a paper mache demo for my Studio Art classes and it took on a life of its own. I keep wanting to make the ears grow longer. It does not fit into my current "oevre" but I feel compelled to continue on with it some how. I have a lot of ideas and they appear to be going in different directions.

2009-07-17T05:13:00.000-07:00

I'm an artist and teacher working primarily on relief surfaces created with clay, wood, Crayola Model Magic, and other materials. To date, all have been painted with acrylics. As you can see I take much of my inspiration from biological and botanical forms.