tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74639287035959232812024-03-28T23:30:14.348-04:00art and art handlingthoughts about art: making/ handling it...Ben Gagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12683773285202472160noreply@blogger.comBlogger26125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7463928703595923281.post-90136684688577042752014-05-26T14:29:00.001-04:002014-05-27T09:38:30.565-04:00Mark Di Suvero De-installation: " Are Years What?"<div>
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<img alt="File:Are-years-what.JPG" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/92/Are-years-what.JPG" /><br />
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In the spring of 2013, Fine Arts Specialists, was asked
to lead the team that would de-install, pack and transport the monumental Mark
Di Suvero sculpture:<br />
“ Are Years What,” from the Hirshhorn Museum and
Sculpture Garden to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art:<br />
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<a href="http://www.sfmoma.org/exhib_events/exhibitions/568">http://www.sfmoma.org/exhib_events/exhibitions/568</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Are_Years_What%3F_(for_Marianne_Moore)">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Are_Years_What%3F_(for_Marianne_Moore)</a>. This was a great project for us and a reward after years specializing in handling sculpture. <o:p></o:p><br />
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Today is the last day of the exhibition and as it is Memorial day, I'm thinking about its return.This piece consists primarily of steel i-beams, the
largest @ 40’ long and approx. 3,000 lbs. It is bolted together and required
rigging/ crane, art handling crew/ carpenters and tractor trailer
transport. Projects this scale requires
perfect attention to detail. Troubleshooting begins at the start of the
project. Since it would be a cross
country journey, each piece of the sculpture had to be packed and each truckload tarped for protection. </div>
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To minimize costs, the sculpture would require the crane to be on-site for 1
day only. The day before we brought in a man-left and used it to loosen all the bolts so that we could minimize struggling with any bolt that was rusted or stubborn.<br />
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<img src="http://cecollaborative.org/_images/_%20Mark_Di_Suvero%20/a_L.jpg" /><br />
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<img src="http://cecollaborative.org/_images/_%20Mark_Di_Suvero%20/b_L.jpg" /><br />
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<img src="http://cecollaborative.org/_images/_%20Mark_Di_Suvero%20/e_L.jpg" /><br />
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All work including the de-installation and the loading of the two trailers
would have to be synchronized: as each part of the sculpture was unbolted and
rigged, the tractors would have to be in position for the beams to be placed on
the flatbeds. Each trailer was given a specific load plan because of the
various sizes and shapes of the steel. The vertical, taller and shaped pieces
would be placed on the single drop trailer to avoid over height permits and the
40’ long beams were placed on the conventional trailer. FAS would prepare most
of the components to brace pack the pieces on the flatbeds ahead of time, only
cutting 2x4’s as necessary on-site. A crate, approx. 4' x 4' x 8' was built to accommodate boxes of bolts, additional materials and misc. parts. <o:p></o:p><br />
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<img src="http://cecollaborative.org/_images/_%20Mark_Di_Suvero%20/f_L.jpg" /><br />
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<img src="http://cecollaborative.org/_images/_%20Mark_Di_Suvero%20/k_L.jpg" /><br />
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At the end of the day, the sculpture was de-installed completely and packed for transit. Everything arrived as scheduled and the artist, Mark Di Suvero with his team, re-installed it for the exhibition. Now that it is coming back, FAS is busy with the details of the sculpture coming home and we are grateful to be asked back to lead the team for its re-installation.<br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">*photos provide by Joe Turpin</span><br />
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Ben Gagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12683773285202472160noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7463928703595923281.post-64354915744450129222012-07-31T18:40:00.000-04:002012-08-02T18:36:14.326-04:00Izumi Masatoshi Fountain Installation<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NquHScLJuTA/UBhJoFBBTUI/AAAAAAAAATU/fqXim8ckTTY/s1600/Fountain+drawing.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NquHScLJuTA/UBhJoFBBTUI/AAAAAAAAATU/fqXim8ckTTY/s320/Fountain+drawing.png" width="232" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fountain Detail Plan</td></tr>
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When I decided to pursue stone carving I didn't know what I was getting into. I knew I loved it and everyday I rushed to the studio wanting to study and work. Gradually the stones got larger/ heavier and when I graduated I left not just school but all the tools and friends that helped me move those stones. On my own, if I wanted to continue carving, I had to start over. It took years to get all the equipment necessary to safely handle the material by myself. Along the way I ended up becoming an Art Handler for a living. It dovetailed nicely with being an Artist. I could study my own work in the studio and others Art at work. Slowly I started to incorporate what I learned personally into what was required professionally and I became a sculpture specialist. Like everybody else, I didn't realize when I started what I was building as a student.<br />
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Recently, I received an email from a former classmate in sculpture at the U. of Md. We had accidentally run into each other briefly only once since we left school and she remembered me. She was familiar with my blog, <a href="http://artandarthandling.blogspot.com/">artandarthandling</a> and asked if I would be interested in helping her employer with a project that involved the installation of a stone fountain/ sculpture. It was currently installed in Long Island, NY. It weighed approx. 5,000 lbs. I replied, " Of course I would!"<br />
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As a first step, I was sent plans and images. The artist was <a href="http://www.npm.gov.tw/exh96/outdoor/index4_en.html">Izumi Matsatoshi</a>. Reading about him I learned he had worked with <a href="http://www.noguchi.org/">Isamu Noguchi</a> in Japan, an early important influence, whose ideas I would embrace and resist. The fountain was beautiful; it was a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-E80DEE6Uw&feature=youtube_gdata_player">Zen stone</a>. We arranged a site visit and discussed placement of the fountain in his backyard with the General Contractor who would be responsible for the concrete foundation and the water hookup. I would coordinate with him as well as the NY rigging company that would de-install it and the Artists Art gallery in San Francisco which supplied details provided by the Artist to help me understand how I should install it.<br />
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Where he wanted it would not be easy. From the curbed street, obstacles included an irregular flagstone walkway set in stone dust leading to a cedar fence. The fence door opened to another similar flagstone walkway to a flagstone patio, down steps to another flagstone patio set in concrete alongside a swimming pool, then finally to the install spot which was a beautiful flower garden. It would not be easy. I said something like, " ...no problem, we can do it."<br />
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It was a two day installation. On the first day, driving in, the radio said it might be the hottest week of the summer, expect triple digits. I rented a forklift to unload the palletized sculpture off the truck. We set 3/4" plywood over the flagstone for the pallet jack to roll over.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-D76t5NBcG50/UBhaPqv7U1I/AAAAAAAAATk/DdphtNiuN0s/s1600/Palletized+fountain.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-D76t5NBcG50/UBhaPqv7U1I/AAAAAAAAATk/DdphtNiuN0s/s320/Palletized+fountain.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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The stone was heavy, we pushed and pulled it through the door, over the flagstone walk and stopped at the top of the steps. There were 5 of us. We all looked at the install site on the other side of the steps. So far we had been in shade. It wasn't so bad. The technical details: set up the 1,200 lb. adjustable steel gantry with the 15' I-beam, short leg on top, long leg at bottom, rigg sculpture and trolley over steps, after lowering the pallet to the lower patio, re-locate the gantry over the install site, etc.. wasn't the worst. Where the last step ended, the sun was in full force with no relief. The heat would make it difficult. Personally, I can't remember another summer workday like that, almost unbearable. I told the crew if we can lay it on the lower patio, that's enough, we'll finish tomorrow. Afterwards, when it was all over, I thought it was among the coolest projects I've ever done.<br />
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<tr><td><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LrdSjfwHmQk/UBhbkFcZ4nI/AAAAAAAAATs/_5bP_I0LypE/s1600/fountain+and+gantry.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LrdSjfwHmQk/UBhbkFcZ4nI/AAAAAAAAATs/_5bP_I0LypE/s320/fountain+and+gantry.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption">Sculpture is rigged and trollied over steps.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vranrWFD-sQ/UBhdfaPHjxI/AAAAAAAAAT0/zQ0rLAualz8/s1600/Ben+and+fountain.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vranrWFD-sQ/UBhdfaPHjxI/AAAAAAAAAT0/zQ0rLAualz8/s320/Ben+and+fountain.jpg" width="201" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sculpture is set on granite blocks, level. Plumbing is ready to be connected, 2" multi-colored river rocks will be placed underneath to complete the installation.</td></tr>
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<br /></div>Ben Gagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12683773285202472160noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7463928703595923281.post-16219699097729964632012-06-17T18:07:00.000-04:002012-06-21T17:26:40.613-04:00Martin Puryear<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5XGHBncs6cc/T95TPex544I/AAAAAAAAASs/ARZ1_02Eiv0/s1600/DSCN1534.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5XGHBncs6cc/T95TPex544I/AAAAAAAAASs/ARZ1_02Eiv0/s320/DSCN1534.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The landscape around the studio.</td></tr>
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A great benefit in handling Art is meeting working Artists. I get to see what they make and for a short time interact with them in their studio, home and gallery. I'm always respectful of the work and seek to understand what I should do as if it were mine. Personal care along with critical distance can give insights, from where to touch the most fragile object to where to place rigging straps on a two ton sculpture to be picked by a crane. Most times, I'm surprised by these meetings. Because I specialize in what can be difficult, I'm asked to assist on truly amazing Art projects. Recently, <a href="http://www.pbs.org/art21/artists/martin-puryear">Martin Puryear </a> asked me help on his most recent exhibition at the <a href="http://mckeegallery.com/">McKee Gallery</a> in NYC.<br />
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I met Martin Puryear while I was an Art student at the U. of Md. I was still green and didn't know much, if anything. He was a teacher there and friends who studied with him spoke highly of his teaching method. I was never his student but my sculpting teacher, Ken Campbell told me he was the real deal. He had yet to receive his notoriety but I could tell he was serious with ambition. I remember attending a lecture he gave on <a href="http://www.guggenheim.org/new-york/collections/collection-online/show-list/artist/b/?search=Constantin%20Brancusi">Constantine Brancusi</a>. Brancusi was an early hero of mine and I studied his work for clues. Martin spoke with authority/ clarity. It was a great talk with slides. Pictures of the Artist working, descibed by a working Artist was a great treat.Some of the things he hinted at, like scale and scope, I am still working on today.<br />
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I drove up to his studio in upstate NY and even though I had been there before a few years earlier, on another project, I got lost. He lives off a County Rd. that was not easy to find. I made the mistake of googling his address, relying on an iphone app and guessing. Finally I had to call him and he steered me in.
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UAuyJoALm3I/T95UeLqsdnI/AAAAAAAAAS0/08uH0aUIbj0/s1600/Puryear+studio.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UAuyJoALm3I/T95UeLqsdnI/AAAAAAAAAS0/08uH0aUIbj0/s320/Puryear+studio.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Studio</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white;">It was great seeing him again and being in his studio. Sometimes it's easy to forget what Art is about. Whatever it is he has it. The first thing I noticed was one of his sculptures was hanging in the air strapped to a chain fall attached to an overhead i-beam bolted to the studio trusses. "That's new," I said. He smiled and told me something like he was still learning.</span><br />
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We were there two days packing his sculptures. Along with his studio assistants I worked alongside a team from Artex, Inc. They had driven a truck filled with materials and their best packers. It was great fun. Everybody was generous and team oriented. On the third day two trucks came to load and deliver to the Gallery. We now had three trucks total. We filled each box truck with sculptures and in the end took out tape measures to see how it would all fit.<br />
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I was only obligated to help in the packing phase of this project, contracted to make sure everything was good from the studio to the truck. Others would be responsible for the rest. Several of his sculptures were large and heavy. We struggled to get the largest sculptures into the trucks. In the end it was all safely packed and ready for transport. As we were saying goodbye, I felt a real concern about the delivery and installation. The dock door to the gallery is on 58th St. and 5th Ave, NYC. This is among the most difficult places to unload a truck anywhere, let alone three. The largest sculpture had to be rigged for installation. A gantry would be provided but it was up to the team, along with the gallery technicians to install it. I was a little worried and I asked Martin what he thought. We had a short conversation and I told him not to worry, I'd be there in the morning to make sure the trucks were unloaded and I would help install the sculpture which needed to be rigged by the gantry.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8EcCxSr0ZgQ/T98NQDbomMI/AAAAAAAAATI/mcF0hMsmiQA/s1600/with+Martin+rigging.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8EcCxSr0ZgQ/T98NQDbomMI/AAAAAAAAATI/mcF0hMsmiQA/s320/with+Martin+rigging.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">With Martin Puryear rigging his sculpture.</td></tr>
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<br />Ben Gagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12683773285202472160noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7463928703595923281.post-45818020502287383152011-08-31T23:16:00.027-04:002011-09-06T17:35:12.084-04:00Kennedy Museum: Jim Dine<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Sy1H37CC0N8/Tl7zSgdTgWI/AAAAAAAAASI/8thBdkE7G9o/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Sy1H37CC0N8/Tl7zSgdTgWI/AAAAAAAAASI/8thBdkE7G9o/s320/1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>I've been an Art student since leaving home. As soon as I found Art was alive I woke up. Fortunately, a teacher in college helped me find my way and taught me stone carving. He gave me a hammer and chisel and said make something. He asked me to learn about things aesthetics could not express. After a while, I saw in his work what Art attempts to convey and began to understand the distance between stone carving and stone sculpture and how much there is to learn.<br />
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The creative wall in my work hit me after the initial excitement exhausted itself. I don't really remember when that happened but I began to question what and why, instead of just enjoying making sculpture. He could see in what I was making, the trouble I was in. Finally, he said he could start teaching me something.<br />
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Art Handling started after school because it seemed the best way to make money. A friend had seen an add on a bulletin board about a job driving a truck and shipping/ handling Art. I had an interview, was hired and a week later drove a 26,000 lb. gvw truck to Texas. I was hooked immediately: visiting galleries, Museums and meeting Artists all across the country, I started to see what I was looking for by handling the efforts of others interested in the same question and proving it in their work, from ancient Art to what's being made now.<br />
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<a href="http://www.ohio.edu/museum/">The Kennedy Museum of Art</a>, has an exhibition of Sculpture and prints by <a href="http://www.leninimports.com/jim_dine.html">Jim Dine</a>. It opened last month, July 7, 2011. He's an important American Artist. He's represented by Pace Galleries in NYC. I loved going to their <a href="http://www.pacemacgill.com/exhibitions.html">57th St. Gallery</a>. On the DC/NYC shuttle, it was a common destination. Walking into their store room and then into the Galleries themselves was always a treat. You saw on their walls and floors what the Art world thought about the state of the Art and how it was valued. Every month a new show. I'd go in, sign some paperwork and walk out with an Art piece by someone like Jim Dine.<br />
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I was contacted by the head registrar of the Kennedy Museum asking if I would be interested in working with his staff in installing the sculpture for their upcoming Jim Dine show. I was recommended to them as a sculpture specialist and they were interested in a bid to help. Many of the sculptures were over 1,000 lbs. and there were logistical problems just moving the crates into the building. The largest, as measured by the paperwork, wouldn't fit through the dock door. I immediately said of course.<br />
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I was lucky and got the job. He and his staff were great. Being there for parts of two weeks turned out to be amazing. The town of Athens, Ohio was too much fun: excellent locavore food, great beer and live music, from old time to bebop. The people I met treated me like old friends.<br />
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We installed all the sculpture in three days. They were bronzes: large and heavy. Handling them in their crates was difficult but in the end were all placed where an initial site map thought they should go. There was a lot of discussion on object/ floor space relationships. The gantry was set up and we rigged the largest piece. We talked about how the Art looked in the rooms and did what we could: I like seeing tape measures come out and asking if a 1/4" is important. When we were done, it looked good, but we all knew everything was still subject to change.<br />
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I returned the next week to help fine tune the exhibition. Mr. Dine would be there to oversee the final placement of his work in the gallery space. I was introduced to him, his wife, the Artist <a href="http://www.pacemacgill.com/dianamichener-1-1.html">Diana Michener</a> and their assistant, Jason Treffry. I was impressed. Seeing him in the middle of his pieces made me smile. I could see in their interplay what he understood and began to understand why. After a while, he looked at me and said the sculptures have to be rearranged. "OK, how many?" I asked. He replied, " Maybe all of them."<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Vk731I3Luow/Tl7xVjaBv2I/AAAAAAAAASE/W9sVYDOWnZo/s1600/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Vk731I3Luow/Tl7xVjaBv2I/AAAAAAAAASE/W9sVYDOWnZo/s320/3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Ben Gagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12683773285202472160noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7463928703595923281.post-3091855127925941992011-07-31T11:28:00.012-04:002011-08-02T20:55:48.534-04:00The Capitol of Virginia: Bronze Sculpture Install<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qq4FTVr6ICk/TjVxEBFjnbI/AAAAAAAAARo/sdPVz_qpXd4/s1600/sculpture+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qq4FTVr6ICk/TjVxEBFjnbI/AAAAAAAAARo/sdPVz_qpXd4/s320/sculpture+1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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We're in the middle of summer and it's hot. Working outside can be difficult and a challenge to stay cool in projects that require clear thinking and constant troubleshooting. It's easy to try for shortcuts to finish faster. Sometimes, unaware of being lazy, you can get yourself in trouble and make choices that lead to more not less work. Moving Art is always problematic, when it's 100 degrees outside it can be a problem.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HFPizL1XJEM/TjVxfhUR1cI/AAAAAAAAARs/n5zAH9twjo8/s1600/Sculpture+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HFPizL1XJEM/TjVxfhUR1cI/AAAAAAAAARs/n5zAH9twjo8/s320/Sculpture+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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A couple of weeks ago I was asked to be involved in moving and installing a 1000 lb.bronze sculpture for the <a href="http://www.virginiacapitol.gov/index.php?p=restoration">Capitol of Virginia's new Visitor's Center in Richmond, Va</a>. I had heard about the project from 2 separate companies and finally was contacted directly by the staff at the Capitol. Apparently, they hoped the installation could be completed asap and because of it's difficulty there was a lot of uncertainty. The sculpture was too big for the elevator and where it was to be installed there was 32' of steps. From the bottom of the staircase, to the top step, it looked like we had to climb a small pyramid.<br />
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There was a flurry of emails as the project scope began to develop. Finally, they asked if I would work with Artex, Inc. as this would simplify the contracting process. The Capitol was very familiar with both of us. I had previously worked for Artex and acted as the on-site project manager responsible for the safe handling/ packing/ and transporting of all the Art when the Capitol was renovated a few years ago and then again, responsible for the installation of the Art when the restoration was completed. That project was about the best thing I have done professionally. For a stone sculptor, handling the Jean-Antoine Houdon's marble sculpture: the full size <a href="http://www.history.org/foundation/journal/autumn03/houdon.cfm">George Washington</a> and the bust of <a href="http://www.virginiamemory.com/online_classroom/shaping_the_constitution/doc/lafayette">Lafayette</a> was a revelation.<br />
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The bronze sculpture was to be picked up in Fredericksburg, Va. first. Already at 8 am it was 90 degrees and humid. It was packed in a steel handling frame for transport.<br />
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Discussing the project with the owner and the crew the difficulties ahead started to get clearer. The size of the sculpture base @ 72" diameter required us to flip it 90 degrees in order to pass through obstacles, doors and hallways. A forklift would be provided in Richmond to rig it to the door and then we would be on our own. Already dripping from the heat, I started to sweat about the work. As we were leaving, the owner of the sculpture took me aside and said he was most worried about the steps. How were we going to overcome that problem. I told him we were prepared but that I wasn't ready to answer him. He asked how long did I think it would take? " One day," I replied. He smiled and said he and a associate had bet it couldn't be done. I smiled and said I'll take that bet. " <a href="http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/creativeapps/slideShow/Main.jsp?facebook=true&sourceId=984136008703">How about a coffee at Starbucks</a>?"<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JkODhxc6HIM/TjVyxH9cHFI/AAAAAAAAAR4/yZmz_4Iqeuc/s1600/sculpture+5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-JkODhxc6HIM/TjVyxH9cHFI/AAAAAAAAAR4/yZmz_4Iqeuc/s320/sculpture+5.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Ben Gagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12683773285202472160noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7463928703595923281.post-400974633610819302011-06-30T18:54:00.003-04:002011-09-30T10:17:24.480-04:00Buddha: Center for Wisdom and Compassion-Tongnyi Nyingjé Ling<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oNrgSHCycMk/Tgzs9DlrCBI/AAAAAAAAARc/Dttb8CNbfHU/s1600/on+the+porch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oNrgSHCycMk/Tgzs9DlrCBI/AAAAAAAAARc/Dttb8CNbfHU/s320/on+the+porch.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>In May, I got a call regarding a sculpture I had installed a couple years ago wondering if I could provide another estimate to move and install it again. The sculpture was a stone <a href="http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~rone/Buddhism/footsteps.htm">Buddha</a> that needed to be transported from Vienna, Va. to Berne, NY. I was driving, there was a lot of static over the phone and I asked that she email me what she wanted so I could understand the scope of the project. Details in her email included delivery and installation of Buddha asap to the <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Center-for-Wisdom-and-Compassion-Tongnyi-Nyingj%C3%A9-Ling/186691544702561?sk=wall&filter=2">Center for Wisdom and Compassion</a>, a non-profit Buddhist lodge and retreat. There was a special event coming: the visit of <a href="http://www.hhthesakyatrizin.org/">His Holiness Sakya Trizin </a> to bless the lodge and it would be special if the Buddha could be in place to receive his blessing too. He would arrive in two weeks and they had a limited budget. After a few calls I started to understand their request. I am not a Buddhist, but I honor him and those who believe. I had seen and heard the Dalai Lama speak years ago and his message of peace then is needed even more now. Researching Tibetan Buddhism, I began to see who Sakya Trizin is and what he represents. How could I help?<br />
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Unfortunately, because of the budget it was not possible to do the project conventionally. There were a lot of steps and costs: packing/ rigging/transport/installation. However, because of the nature of the project, I found ways to reduce the price. We originally used a small crane to rig Buddha onto the deck but I decided we could do without it and save there. I would make the crate and provide the crew for the de-install in Va. but the largest cost would be transport of that crew to Berne, NY for installation. As our discussions progressed I began to realize that I wanted this project very much to happen. It was becoming personal. I finally suggested I could install Buddha myself if they could have help when the Buddha and I arrived. I believed. I had been preparing for something like this for a long time.<br />
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The Buddha is stone and weighs about 1,000 lbs. It was seated in a corner of a living room with the exit door 29" (w) leading to a raised back yard deck. Because of this limitation we packed Buddha outside. We were able to set up my gantry and rig it to the lawn. The gantry is aluminum, very light, with adjustable legs. We put the short leg on the deck and the long leg on the yard with the i-beam level. The rigged crate floated over the rail and landed softly on the grass below.<br />
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</div>Ben Gagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12683773285202472160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7463928703595923281.post-52242965107131401582011-05-30T08:54:00.003-04:002011-06-19T17:09:12.169-04:00Planting Spring Sculpture<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0IwCWJxxVMo/TeOTNZ6-qoI/AAAAAAAAARI/Pnk-Ae7uy7Q/s1600/head+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0IwCWJxxVMo/TeOTNZ6-qoI/AAAAAAAAARI/Pnk-Ae7uy7Q/s320/head+3.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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Spring sculpture planting season is back. After a winter of cold and snow, color is awake and flowers are opening. It's a good time to compliment nature with Art. At home in the landscape, what Artists make can bloom too.<br />
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Because I am a stone sculptor, I'm lucky and I get to work with other stone sculptures. Most art handling companies decline these opportunities for obvious reasons: liability and danger. People have gotten hurt and the Art damaged. Specialized equipment is only a first step, how to use the tools and troubleshoot during the project is the Art part. Experience through the job is the least effective way to gain awareness. The practice of art handling, ideally, does not start with the client's work. As scale and scope increases, the ability to test skills diminishes. Who has objects that weigh a ton or more to play with?<br />
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This project involved a stone sculpture purchased in Florida and transported to Md. I was asked to provide an estimate based on size and weight of sculpture: 74" x 45" x 50" @ 3,200 lbs. I was told the installation would be straight forward and accessibility to the clients pedestal reasonable. They asked me to google earth the address. I saw where it would be placed and made a proposal. As the project moved forward and the delivery date closer, the client wanted to make sure I understood what was expected. Meeting him at his house, he showed me where and what he wanted. The pedestal was integrated into the edge of a stone retaining wall. The wall dropped 38" to the main landscape grade covered with decorative shrubs. Beside the pedestal careful roses showed off their spring flowers. Behind the pedestal there was a wall of wild plantings 12" above the pedestal level. Walking through the garden I asked if there was another way inside. The garden gate was only 32" wide. He said to come with him in his car to the house next door where the access would be easier. We drove up the driveway and he pointed through a wall of shrubs and small trees. We walked through them right to the waiting pedestal. He said OK, he'll have a small tree cut down and I could do what was was necessary to get through. I said OK.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CLgt35k-5qc/TeOSNnCwSSI/AAAAAAAAARE/1IzCKo-_CqE/s1600/head+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CLgt35k-5qc/TeOSNnCwSSI/AAAAAAAAARE/1IzCKo-_CqE/s320/head+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Ben Gagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12683773285202472160noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7463928703595923281.post-39836125700880014292011-04-30T09:17:00.005-04:002011-05-04T09:07:09.135-04:00Mint Museum: Stanislay Libensky and Jaroslava Brychtova<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-43V2csawmrg/TbwHabwm2AI/AAAAAAAAAQY/js7khDFMie0/s1600/P5200249.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-43V2csawmrg/TbwHabwm2AI/AAAAAAAAAQY/js7khDFMie0/s320/P5200249.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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Occasionally, you're asked to be involved in a project that comes to you based on goodwill accumulated over years of good service. I had done work for the <a href="http://www.mintmuseum.org/">Mint Museum</a> in Charlotte, NC but had not been back there for years. Through mutual friends, Bonsai Inc., I was asked if I wanted to be involved in de-installing and then re-installing a large scale glass sculpture by the Czech artists Stanislay Libensky and Jaroslava Brychtova. The Museum was relocating to a new building and this was among the last pieces to be moved. Because of the complexity of the project scope, they wanted someone who could troubleshoot problems and communicate practical answers, having me on board eased their worries. It was a commissioned piece made of 10 cast glass panels, each about a thousand pounds. There were two rows of five panels, the top five were bolted to an i-beam welded to structural steel in the ceiling and the bottom five were bolted to a steel plate on the floor. About 1/4" separated the two rows of shapes and both rows were in perfect plane from top to bottom and plumb side to side. Though difficult, de-installing the piece was the easier part. Confirming how to understand how each glass panel related to each other to make the whole was the question and then transferring this data to the new site, on the third floor of the new building, the challenge. Where it was to be installed, construction crews had already set the i-beam in the ceiling and a steel plate was epoxied to the floor. However, only the holes in the above i-beam were drilled. The construction crew did not want to be responsible for the bolt holes in the floor plate, since we were working inside 1/16" tolerance. That was the Art part. I had fretted how to locate the holes, and since it was my responsibility, thought about lasers, fancy tools and other esoteric measurement schemes. We had 24 holes to drill and each drilled hole had to be tapped square to the floor. They all had to be perfect. In the end I decided simple was best. I had a machinist make an aluminum plug the same diameter as the bolt hole in the ceiling i-beam with a 1/8" hole drilled dead center in the plug. A string line threaded through the hole and a plumb bob was lowered to the plate on the floor. It was about 14' between floor and ceiling. We all watched the plumb bob spin until it finished it's dance pointing to exact dead center. It was perfect.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CFdUl-46sjE/TbwJDMS1_6I/AAAAAAAAAQs/OTo24OTiIAw/s1600/P5200261.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CFdUl-46sjE/TbwJDMS1_6I/AAAAAAAAAQs/OTo24OTiIAw/s400/P5200261.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>Ben Gagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12683773285202472160noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7463928703595923281.post-9138053850981311182011-03-31T11:21:00.006-04:002011-04-27T17:44:04.161-04:00Bronze Sculpture Installation<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jBorOpLaXi0/TZSaUrGd1zI/AAAAAAAAAQM/gzxmbVEtWjw/s1600/7%2527%2Bbronze%2Bsculpture%2Bgetting%2Brigged.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jBorOpLaXi0/TZSaUrGd1zI/AAAAAAAAAQM/gzxmbVEtWjw/s400/7%2527%2Bbronze%2Bsculpture%2Bgetting%2Brigged.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><br />
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The weather has been playing tricks, it's early Spring and outside there's snow and icy rain. If you work outside then the work can be difficult and miserable, a good forecast can be wishful thinking. In scheduling outdoor art installations, there's too many fixed factors that prevent rescheduling: coordination of rental equipment, material deliveries and the crew. Sometimes, you just have to put on your warmest clothes and a raincoat and make the best of it.<br />
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In this project, the client had a bronze sculpture in need of conservation, pinned to a stone base about 6' tall that was cracked and in need of replacement. A design for a new limestone base was accepted and manufacture of the base started. As a first step, we had to de-install the sculpture, rig it to the ground for the conservators to do their magic and remove the old base. Because the actual work site was out of town for myself and the crew and all the steps needed to start the project was already in motion, we decided to go ahead and start. The rain was a problem. I had brought extra rain coats and gloves and we soaked thru all of them. I had the crew sit in the truck with the heater on high for a little bit of comfort in between the de-install steps with our gloves on the heater vent trying to dry. It was actually a lot of fun. The crew was great, when you work with people you love, the work can be creative and inspiring. The rigging of the sculpture went perfect. For safety, we waited until the next day to dismantle the base. We would need to use electric hammer drills to break it up. The forecast was suppose to be better.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-41d7deMP-0g/TZSUE3yGOlI/AAAAAAAAAPM/JLhnchmlQqI/s1600/New+limestone+base+designed+and+built+by+FAS+rigged+into+position.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-41d7deMP-0g/TZSUE3yGOlI/AAAAAAAAAPM/JLhnchmlQqI/s320/New+limestone+base+designed+and+built+by+FAS+rigged+into+position.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rpAoyII3mms/TZSUfFPjFsI/AAAAAAAAAPQ/U1hEmMx4OJI/s1600/Sculpture+installed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rpAoyII3mms/TZSUfFPjFsI/AAAAAAAAAPQ/U1hEmMx4OJI/s320/Sculpture+installed.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>Ben Gagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12683773285202472160noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7463928703595923281.post-68357634158460713472011-02-22T10:27:00.005-05:002011-02-22T10:52:22.979-05:00Delaware Art Museum: Al Held, " Rome 11"<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GZlEIA45NPo/TWPUURtu_nI/AAAAAAAAAOc/nVQqphDZgyA/s1600/DSCF0215.JPG" title="Al Held installation."><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GZlEIA45NPo/TWPUURtu_nI/AAAAAAAAAOc/nVQqphDZgyA/s400/DSCF0215.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5576534208432504434" /></a><br />I've been thinking about large painting installation since my last post and I realize it's not often you get the chance to work in that scale and scope. Size is the problem for the artist and collector. Who has studio space and help to work that large and who has a wall to display it? Generally, Museums have their own staff to handle the work and the few Art Handling Specialists who are lucky enough to be involved, are more often assistants in the process and not the lead in the project. For me, figuring out how, is the lucky part. Each step must be reasonable, cost effective and visually self explanatory with safety for the Art and crew the primary starting point. Viewers should be able to see, understand and make sense of the progression of the installation. Indeed, the installation is part of the "Art Show." <div><br /></div><div>A favorite Museum of mine is the <a href="http://www.delart.org/home.html">Delaware Art Museum</a>. I've been fortunate to have worked there installing both large scale sculpture and paintings. In 2005, after renovation and expansion, the <a href="http://www.delart.org/about/pressroom/archived_PR/pdf/PressRelease_updated%20Master.pdf">Museum</a> re-opened. Among the Art works brought back from storage during Museum construction, the great <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Held">Al Held</a> painting:" Rome 11," was returned. I led the team which installed it. Difficulties included common building restrictions: smaller door openings, steps and low hallway ceilings. The main challenge was the actual wall where it would be hung. Below the painting, a stairwell to a lower floor was in the way, with a fixed stair rail in between the floor and wall. Floor load capacity and building configuration inhibited equipment that could be brought inside to rig the painting over steps. In general, I always prefer the crew to work naturally with minimum hardship, in that situation, ladders were not an option. Also, the building was in the last stages of finishing. Construction crews were still on-site, ideally, the install method would have a small footprint, use common tools, minimally intrude on others working and be able to set up and be taken down quickly. I decided to build a rolling deck based on two sections of scaffold. Cantilevered floor joists attached to the scaffold walk boards served as the base. We were able to assemble most of the deck, comfortably on the main floor and then roll the construction over the stair rail. 2" x 4" studs from edge of deck to steps below reinforced the deck for strength.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cc0nm1pcg00/TWPUwCfbniI/AAAAAAAAAOk/PCL6CYyiovM/s1600/DSCF0189.JPG" title=" Installing Al Held painting on site built deck."><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cc0nm1pcg00/TWPUwCfbniI/AAAAAAAAAOk/PCL6CYyiovM/s400/DSCF0189.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5576534685382319650" /></a><div><br /></div><div><i><br /></i></div></div>Ben Gagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12683773285202472160noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7463928703595923281.post-85988979381941096492011-01-31T16:03:00.041-05:002011-02-08T18:15:37.670-05:00Mural Installation: John Bassett Moore School<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/TUcl6X3K2XI/AAAAAAAAANQ/nf1ThxvKAEk/s1600/P4090216.JPG" title="Bower Mural installation with scaffold."><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/TUcl6X3K2XI/AAAAAAAAANQ/nf1ThxvKAEk/s400/P4090216.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5568461149034961266" /></a><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span">Each project is unique, special and an opportunity to learn about Art. It's a privilege to be involved in responding to the needs of individual pieces, to be<span class="Apple-style-span"> in a position to design the total scope of installing Art, especially as scale and difficulty increases. </span> <span class="Apple-style-span">How and where Art fits is an early question and I'm always rejuvenated in that discussion. </span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span">The mural above is by Willard Borow, painted in the 1940's, installed in the </span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span">theater of the <a href="http://www.dcet.k12.de.us/teach/cyberfair/fry/Mural%20Works.html">John Bassett Moore Intermediate School in Smyrna, Delaware</a>. This is one of two murals installed, both 14' (h) x 10' (w). I was asked to design and fabricate the hanging hardware and be responsible for the installation method. This was special because it came from a client I had done work for years earlier. This was the second part of a greater project. I had previously led the team that de-installed these two murals, among others, including a larger 60' (l) mural in three parts that hung 30' (h) over the theater stage. Photo belo</span>w.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/TUlpOTJefbI/AAAAAAAAANk/7zl0YOWWHvM/s1600/Smyrna%2Btheater.png" title="66' Mural over theater stage."><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 285px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/TUlpOTJefbI/AAAAAAAAANk/7zl0YOWWHvM/s400/Smyrna%2Btheater.png" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5569098108599434674" /></a><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span">These murals had been installed for decades in the theater and were badly in need of conservation. Because of limited funds, the mural above the stage was the priority. The two Borow paintings were to be kept in storage until a later date. It was a great surprise to receive the call asking if I would consider finishing the project. How the school found me again was a timely reminder of Art Handling as a personal return business. The school had called the company I had previously worked for and understanding I was no longer employed there they contacted me directly. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span">The conservation of the Borow paintings were finally undertaken under the guidance of the <a href="http://www.udel.edu/udaily/2010/feb/smyrna020110.html">University of Delaware, Art Conservation Dept.</a> Since the murals could not fit through doors, they were brought into the Theater rolled and re-stretched on the stage floor. Site restrictions included a sloped theater floor, fixed chair rows and 32" aisles. The bottom of the murals were required to be hung above child hand height, placing the top of the murals above 18' (h). Because of the thin aisle width everything was tight. T</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span">he face of the scaffold was approx. 12" from the wall, just enough </span><span class="Apple-style-span">room to carry the murals between the wall and scaffold, position the lift to carry the mural to the exact install height and have reasonable reach for tools and hand</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; ">s.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span">Art in venues outside urban centers, Museums, galleries, auction houses and private collections is a great reminder of their original intention. Sometimes people in the community just </span><span class="Apple-style-span">love it.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; "><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/TUl1R5jz5RI/AAAAAAAAANs/Ns8Ez_bf5y8/s1600/P4090192.JPG" title="Borow Mural being stretched on stage floor."><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/TUl1R5jz5RI/AAAAAAAAANs/Ns8Ez_bf5y8/s400/P4090192.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5569111364589577490" /></a><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/TUl197--QiI/AAAAAAAAAN0/YbtyHcaYM9w/s1600/P4090195.JPG" title="Borow Mural placed on theater floor."><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/TUl197--QiI/AAAAAAAAAN0/YbtyHcaYM9w/s400/P4090195.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5569112121154617890" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/TUl3ZJ6Cs8I/AAAAAAAAAOE/DueErXFfWzo/s1600/P4090206.JPG" title="Borow Mural handled between scaffold and wall."><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/TUl3ZJ6Cs8I/AAAAAAAAAOE/DueErXFfWzo/s400/P4090206.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5569113688260129730" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/TUl4bqfX9mI/AAAAAAAAAOM/6cpkJbKs330/s1600/P4090238.JPG" title="Finished Mural installation."><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/TUl4bqfX9mI/AAAAAAAAAOM/6cpkJbKs330/s400/P4090238.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5569114830878013026" /></a><br /></span></div><div><i><br /></i></div>Ben Gagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12683773285202472160noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7463928703595923281.post-6492513415161732762010-12-31T06:22:00.024-05:002011-02-02T15:53:00.522-05:00Sculpture Installation: Craig Kraft<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/xRyqCu1WNZE?hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/xRyqCu1WNZE?hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />Fall Sculpture planting season is over and as the end of the year slips by I always reflect on the projects I've been lucky enough to be involved in. Installing Art for Artists and individual collectors is a great favorite, there's always strong personal feelings involved and I can't help but be carried by it. Many Artists bear their work like parents and this added complexity, love, is another layer of care and responsibility. Where possible I try to act as they would, as if I were the Artist. Idealistically, this completes the process: the work is born in the studio and I help deliver and place it into the world.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.craigkraftstudio.com/aboutcraigkraft.html">Craig Kraft</a> is a Washington DC sculptor who works with neon. He called me on a recommendation from a local Museum about a sculpture he wanted installed in front of the new <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/21/AR2011012102973.html?hpid=topnews">Watha T. Daniel Library</a>, logistically it was difficult. The sculpture was large, over 20' tall. Practically, it was almost impossible to truck, it was over wide and over tall. It was an illegal load as is and permits for it would be difficult and expensive. Luckily, the installation site was just 2 blocks away from his studio. He had made the piece outside, near the curbed street and you could almost see where it was going from his front door. We joked that we could get there by pallet jack on the road. It was almost a clear path, we'd just have to miss a few branches and be careful at the stop lights. Unfortunately it was a one way street going the wrong way. After a couple of days thinking about it I made a few calls. Finally with the help of a local company which I use sometimes with rigging and specialized equipment, we came up with a reasonable solution. On an early Saturday morning we arrived on site, rigged the sculpture to a boom forklift, stationed traffic control personnel along the path, taking extra care at the traffic lights and drove it to its new home, twisting it to miss any tree branches that tried to grab it. We were able to bolt to it's new base in two hours.<br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:78%;"><i>*video <a href="http://www.myspace.com/bengagestonecarver">music</a> by Ben Gage and the Mammoth Hunters, excerpt: "So It Goes"</i></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span"><i><span style="font-size:78%;"></span></i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:78%;"><i><b><br /></b></i></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><i>ps: <a href="http://poemstothrowintoafire.blogspot.com/">Merry Xmas</a> and a Happy New Year</i></span></div><div><i><br /></i></div>Ben Gagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12683773285202472160noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7463928703595923281.post-14631402868231531612010-05-02T07:10:00.044-04:002010-07-04T14:34:05.378-04:00Planting Sculptures<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/S912LRsEmNI/AAAAAAAAALA/6dnPXzlrLzo/s1600/P9110072.JPG" title="Bronze sculptures by Leonard Baskin and Jean Ipousteguy on granite bases."><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/S912LRsEmNI/AAAAAAAAALA/6dnPXzlrLzo/s400/P9110072.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5466655458796542162" /></a><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/S92D5vYS0yI/AAAAAAAAAMA/1S1g28YF_Wc/s1600/P9090054.JPG" title="William Tucker bronze sculture installed on gravel bed."><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/S92D5vYS0yI/AAAAAAAAAMA/1S1g28YF_Wc/s400/P9090054.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5466670550691795746" /></a><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Planting sculptures can be as easy as setting something freestanding on the ground, grade or grass or more complicated if the Art needs a base for balance or permanent placement. I like to think of it like the flowers in the garden: will it be an annual or perennial? If an annual, than just setting it outside may be enough, it's accepted that stuff may happen as time and weather changes, a bloom only lasts so long, if a perennial than there are more complicated considerations. For outdoor Art to last season after season the object needs to be understood a little differently. Weather and changing soil conditions are a constant worry. In high winds things can be blown over and in cold climates frost heave can move and topple most sculptures. Ideally, the connection between the Art and earth should have roots, like plants. Generally, a concrete or stone base on grade is a minimum with a foundation or footer below the <a href="http://blogs.usatoday.com/weather/2008/10/q-what-is-the-f.html">frost line</a> a step up. The above 1st photo shows two bronze sculptures, </span><a href="http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/baskin_leonard.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Leonard Baskin</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">: </span></span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Hephaestus</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">, </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">65 1/8" X 20 7/8" X 18 7/8" @ 593 lbs. and </span><a href="http://www.jean-ipousteguy.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Jean Ipousteguy</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">: Man Passing Through the Door, 77 1/4" x 54 1/4" X 46 1/2" @ 1359 Lbs. Each is installed on</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"> granite pavers over gravel. The Baskin sculpture is attached to a granite base paver with a stainless steel rod/ pin laid on the granite patio dry, without mortar or epoxy. Because of the weight and base design of the Ipousteguy, this sculpture was allowed to sit on the granite patio without pins or base stone. The second photo shows a bronze sculpture by <a href="http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/tucker_william.html">William Tucker</a>: </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Gymnast 111, 88 3/4" x 60 3/4" x 36 1/8" @ 1032 lbs.</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"> It is installed directly on gravel, freestanding, with no pins. If unsure, on heavier,complicated or difficult Art, an engineered solution by a structural engineer or Art Installation Specialist,complete with drawings, details and materials is highly recommended. </span></span><i><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" font-style: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"> Remember, sculptures can be large, heavy and dangerous, safety for the Art, Art Handlers and everybody else involved, from client to casual viewer, is first.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></span></span></i></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/S912cAqUkGI/AAAAAAAAALI/SZjCrWNavhI/s1600/065.JPG" title="Raymond Mason bronze sculpture on powder coated stainless steel pedestal installed on gravel."><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/S912cAqUkGI/AAAAAAAAALI/SZjCrWNavhI/s400/065.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5466655746283573346" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/S912xTyVDhI/AAAAAAAAALQ/8H_SPg7AmlE/s1600/061.JPG" title=" Powder coated stainless steel pedestal installed on gravel."><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/S912xTyVDhI/AAAAAAAAALQ/8H_SPg7AmlE/s400/061.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5466656112194686482" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The above bronze sculpture is by </span><a href="http://hirshhorn.si.edu/visit/collection_object.asp?key=32&subkey=10024"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Raymond Mason: </span></a></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><a href="http://hirshhorn.si.edu/visit/collection_object.asp?key=32&subkey=10024"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Falling Man</span></a></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">, 48 1/4" x 10 1/8" x 27 5/8" @ 865 lbs. It sits on a stainless steel powder coated pedestal I designed. The client asked to see the landscape through the sculpture. The feet of the pedestal sits on a bed of gravel with no concrete foundation. The client understood the sculpture is subject to ground movement, freeze thaw cycle, but they were comfortable with knowing that and had the means to adjust as necessary. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/S92Be5kel8I/AAAAAAAAALg/Hh_ndvRwsp0/s1600/074.JPG" title=" Olafur Eliasson crate rigged over steps."><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/S92Be5kel8I/AAAAAAAAALg/Hh_ndvRwsp0/s400/074.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5466667890547529666" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/S92B5ZltNcI/AAAAAAAAALo/QIEYhdJAu4M/s1600/075.JPG" title=" Olafur Eliasson lava stone in steel handling frame."><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/S92B5ZltNcI/AAAAAAAAALo/QIEYhdJAu4M/s400/075.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5466668345819215298" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/S92DWyNVimI/AAAAAAAAAL4/-nIrREv2Sl4/s1600/P9180121.JPG" title=" Olafur Eliasson sculpture pointed due north with Ben Gage, stone wrapped in plastic to protect it during patio construction."><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/S92DWyNVimI/AAAAAAAAAL4/-nIrREv2Sl4/s400/P9180121.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5466669950155721314" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span><p class="MsoPlainText"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">This last sculpture is by </span></span><a href="http://www.olafureliasson.net/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Olafur Eliasson</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">: </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">“Large Compassâ€</span></i></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">, it consists of lava rock, steel and aluminum. This was a complicated piece. It came from Germany, and a studio assistant of the artist flew in to oversee it's installation. The sculpture was to be installed in a patio. A landscape architect had already made early decisions as to where and how. Concrete had been poured based on a structural engineers plans and I was brought in to place the sculpture exactly. Logistically, we had to rig the crated object first over limestone steps, the legs of the gantry were set at different heights with the i-beam level. The lava rock weighed a ton and was carved like a pendulum or plumb bob. The design of the handling frame was amazing. A threaded rod was attached to the stone and held to a structural steel beam above it. Turning the rod clockwise like a screw raised the stone enough so that we could partially remove the bottom of the frame it was sitting on. Turning the rod counter clockwise lowered it to the concrete base where we could find perfect plumb and locate where to drill the concrete to pin it. The difficulty was in the final adjustment of the sculpture, by millimeter. The Artists's assistant told me it had to be placed perfectly due north. The lava rock was magnetic and the steel needle attached by a rod in the center of the stone was to be oriented in one direction only. He brought out his compass and we fiddled to get it right. I remember after a while he said OK, but he was still perplexed. I asked what else could we do? What he was using was a professional, German made compass, we had to trust the tool. He looked at me and said he noticed I had an iphone, had I downloaded the compass app by chance? I smiled, apologized, I hadn't.</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoPlainText"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoPlainText"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"> </span></span></p></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/S_rXjr1oyOI/AAAAAAAAAMI/Xk9nQLh3VV0/s1600/P5240268.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/S_rXjr1oyOI/AAAAAAAAAMI/Xk9nQLh3VV0/s400/P5240268.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5474925305085348066" /></a><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Here's one of my sculptures, planted in that spot about 8 years ago. Pink Tennessee marble, the top stone is pinned to the bottom stone and it sits on a 7/8" flagstone laid on the tamped garden topsoil. I look at it every now and then to see if the earth moved under it and adjust as necessary.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/TDDThBH-CdI/AAAAAAAAAMQ/9sd1vZSKpzM/s1600/In+the+sculpture+garden.jpg" title="In my carving garden."><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 295px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/TDDThBH-CdI/AAAAAAAAAMQ/9sd1vZSKpzM/s400/In+the+sculpture+garden.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5490120509955639762" /></a><br /></span><br /></div></div>Ben Gagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12683773285202472160noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7463928703595923281.post-79125813969565109782010-03-28T08:19:00.022-04:002010-03-28T18:53:04.204-04:00Antony Gormley<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Wff9XzjrBq4&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Wff9XzjrBq4&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br /><div><br /></div><div>Spring has finally made it. It's a good time to plant sculptures. In the patio, landscape or garden, Art will grow with the flowers, vegetables and trees and begin to achieve a more natural lifespan and life. Freed from climate controlled interiors, objects wear like you or I. The changing light and weather will add dimension and character to the form. With a natural backdrop of unpainted color, birdsong and wind, understanding of the work can suddenly shift from aesthetics to personal adaptive presence, defining the mutual space in private ways a Gallery or Museum cannot design.</div><div><br /></div><div><i>One objective criteria of Art is how it survives in the wild, unprotected....</i></div><div><br /></div><div>The above video is an illustration of an <a href="http://www.antonygormley.com/">Antony Gormley</a> sculpture installation. It's made of cast iron, and weighs about 2,000 lbs. Three stainless steel metric pins extend from the feet of the sculpture to beneath the limestone patio paver glued into holes drilled through a re-enforced concrete footer. Because the sculpture was to be installed against a wall, we had to cantilever the i-beam of the gantry and rig a counterweight of stacked palleted stones to prevent the gantry from tipping. This sculpture is made to rust. As it ages, the stains will leave it's mark on the floor and a brown trail will flow where the water goes, expanding continuously the Art's physical reach.</div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><a href="http://www.myspace.com/bengagestonecarver">music</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"> except: " the Lack of Love," Ben Gage and the Art Handlers</span></i></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Ben Gagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12683773285202472160noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7463928703595923281.post-41168642773897194842010-02-21T08:08:00.031-05:002011-02-27T17:18:16.818-05:00Louise Bourgeois<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/S4FwAUl5r7I/AAAAAAAAAK4/_yWXk4coTqc/s1600-h/003.JPG" title="Louise Bourgeois @ Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden."><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/S4FwAUl5r7I/AAAAAAAAAK4/_yWXk4coTqc/s400/003.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5440752975670259634" /></a><br /><br />It's been a difficult winter, back to back snowstorms without a break from the bitter cold have kept 3' of snow on the landscape and it's just now melting. In the evening half light the white surface glistens as if it were polished marble. I love thinking I live in a great stone quarry garden. The snow piles softened by wind blast resemble modern sculpture and sometimes I recognize forms I've moved, made or imagined.<div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/S4Fli0fu7ZI/AAAAAAAAAKQ/OzQWja_Az2E/s1600-h/015.JPG" title="West Virginia snow in the evening half light, my driveway."><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/S4Fli0fu7ZI/AAAAAAAAAKQ/OzQWja_Az2E/s400/015.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5440741473721970066" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/S4Fj8N-HtwI/AAAAAAAAAKI/h_Vn5AB8mfY/s1600-h/P9160075.JPG" title="Louise Bourgeois @ private residence."><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/S4Fj8N-HtwI/AAAAAAAAAKI/h_Vn5AB8mfY/s400/P9160075.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5440739711033784066" /></a><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:arial, sans-serif;"><em style="font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">The great Artist <a href="http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&rlz=1C1CHMA_enUS346US346&resnum=0&q=louise+bourgeois&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=OTaBS_HrHs2VtgfMyZHmBg&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CBwQsAQwAA">Louise Bourgeois</a> has created a body of work in a variety of materials including marbles of different colors, especially beautiful white stones. This past year I have been involved in two projects installing several of these sculptures: an exhibition at the <a href="http://www.artknowledgenews.com/Louise_Bourgeois_Major_Retrospective.html">Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden</a> and another for a private collector in Washington DC. These pieces were carved from blocks and left intact as if they had just been cut and lifted from the quarry. You can see the chisel and tooling marks left on the sides of the stone. Her polished forms escape from the top.</span></span></em></span><br /><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:arial, sans-serif;font-size:medium;"><em style="font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span></em></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:arial, sans-serif;font-size:medium;"><em style="font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">In DC, as part of a larger project, a private collector asked if I could de-install, help transport and re-install 2 stone sculptures from their old to new house. <span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:arial, sans-serif;"><em style="font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; ">The heaviest piece was about 3000 lbs. It was a busy production, we packed them on pallets, loaded the pallets into an air ride box truck, delivered same day to the new residence where we transferred the load onto a small crane truck, which rigged the the pallets to the back porch and our access door to the inside space. The next day we installed them. In the morning when we returned to work on their other pieces, I met the client who asked that they be moved. " The sculpture didn't feel right where they were in the new space." I smiled and said of course I could. When the Art speaks, I try to respond.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/2zn42ncGC08&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/2zn42ncGC08&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /></span></span></em></span></span></span></em></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:arial, sans-serif;font-size:medium;"><em style="font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:arial, sans-serif;"><em style="font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; "><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/S4FjI05vsbI/AAAAAAAAAKA/ZQkATM_bYL8/s1600-h/P9180128.JPG" title="Louise Bourgeois @ private residence."><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/S4FjI05vsbI/AAAAAAAAAKA/ZQkATM_bYL8/s400/P9180128.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5440738828131217842" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/S4FpWi8fQ_I/AAAAAAAAAKg/GTzcs2758LI/s1600-h/001.JPG" title="Louise Bourgeois @ Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden."><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/S4FpWi8fQ_I/AAAAAAAAAKg/GTzcs2758LI/s400/001.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5440745660898821106" /></a><br /><br /></span></span></em></span></span></span></em></span></div><em style="font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; "><em style="font-weight: bold; font-style: normal; "></em></em></div></div><br /><br /><br /><div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><br /></span></i></div><div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><br /></span></i></div><div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><br /></span></i></div><div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><br /></span></i></div><div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><br /></span></i></div><div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><br /></span></i></div><div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><br /></span></i></div><div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><br /></span></i></div><div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><br /></span></i></div><div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><br /></span></i></div><div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><br /></span></i></div><div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><br /></span></i></div><div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><br /></span></i></div><div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><br /></span></i></div><div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><br /></span></i></div><div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><br /></span></i></div><div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><br /></span></i></div><div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><br /></span></i></div><div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><br /></span></i></div><div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><br /></span></i></div><div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><br /></span></i></div><div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><br /></span></i></div><div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><br /></span></i></div><div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><br /></span></i></div><div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><br /></span></i></div><div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><br /></span></i></div><div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><br /></span></i></div><div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><br /></span></i></div><div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;">*video <a href="http://www.myspace.com/bengagestonecarver">music</a> excerpt: " Just Us Too." Mack on bass, Ben Gage on guitar.</span></i></div>Ben Gagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12683773285202472160noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7463928703595923281.post-1641292340387742772010-01-20T15:39:00.022-05:002010-01-27T17:37:50.386-05:00Stones for a Carver<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/S19B3ng8f3I/AAAAAAAAAI4/rcqcear4UYE/s1600-h/IMG_0174.JPG" title="5,000 lb. marble block in the studio."><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/S19B3ng8f3I/AAAAAAAAAI4/rcqcear4UYE/s400/IMG_0174.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431132099387883378" border="0" /></a><br />Sometimes you meet people on this job that change how you think about Art, Artists and stuff. It's unexpected. You see/ handle a piece of Art or meet someone through the work and you're humbled. Somehow things are different after wards. A friend emailed me with a question about a stone sculptor who might need help in moving large blocks of stone in his yard and studio. Because of medical issues he was no longer able to do it himself but the stone needed to be moved and they were wondering if I could help. I arranged a site visit, met the Artist and his wife, studied the stones and asked what they wanted. I have to say I was totally impressed. The stones were beautiful: pink, black and white marbles, all heavy, with a 3,200 lb. block in the yard and a 5,000 lb. rectangle waiting in the studio. The stones had to be moved from where they were in Takoma Park, Md. to California. It would be difficult.<div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/S19wRI8WqBI/AAAAAAAAAJo/5BWa6LNkPgs/s1600-h/IMG_0179.JPG" title="marble blocks exiting the studio."><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/S19wRI8WqBI/AAAAAAAAAJo/5BWa6LNkPgs/s400/IMG_0179.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431183115392821266" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/S19QPLDoTrI/AAAAAAAAAJI/vqQQi56NvmU/s1600-h/IMG_0178.JPG" title="in the driveway, a 2,000 lb. block rigged by forklift."><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/S19QPLDoTrI/AAAAAAAAAJI/vqQQi56NvmU/s400/IMG_0178.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431147897228381874" border="0" /></a><br />In his living room after discussing the project, I apologized for not being aware of his work. He had been carving for 30 years in one of my favorite Md. neighborhoods. I had lived in a nearby apt. and worked as an art handler in a warehouse a couple blocks away and didn't know him. Surprisingly, a student of my teacher <a href="http://artandarthandling.blogspot.com/2009/07/stone-sculpture.html">Ken Campbell</a>, who happened to be a next door neighbor, had even been the guy responsible for introducing him to the Art form. Hearing that guys name evoked strong memories of another time. I couldn't believe we had never met. Here was a guy who developed a passion for stone sculpture and built a life around it at his home. Stone carving is not easy, the work is difficult, messy and loud. Imagine hearing a hammer day and night in any neighborhood. It's a big investment especially when you start to work big. It takes effort, money and ambition. Looking at his place I saw he had added an i-beam from a second story floor extending out to his driveway. In his studio there were two i-beams with trolleys and chain falls. He told me he and his wife had moved those stones themselves and I believed him. He began to talk about how he had gotten the stones I had just looked at. The white marble came from a lot he purchased years ago from the <a href="http://www.arlingtoncemetery.org/visitor_information/tomb_of_the_unknowns.html">Tomb of the Unknown Soldier</a>, a monument in Arlington National Cemetary. He started with 40,000 lbs. and what I saw was what was left. He had sold and carved the rest. The U. of Md. had gotten the other half. I told him I was part of the team that unloaded that stone from a tractor trailer while I was a student there. I had carved blocks of it and had blocks left in my yard in WV waiting. I knew nothing about their origin.</div><div><br /><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/S19RiqZ4XNI/AAAAAAAAAJQ/J0RlZoH5NYw/s1600-h/IMG_0185.JPG" title="4 pallets of marble blocks packed on flatbed for a trip to California."><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/S19RiqZ4XNI/AAAAAAAAAJQ/J0RlZoH5NYw/s400/IMG_0185.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431149331572350162" border="0" /></a><br /></div><div>It was a 2 day project in December. Snow, icy rain and terribly cold both days. Trying to hold costs down, I brought one other art handler. I felt if he could bring those stones in, I could take those stones out. We rigged and packed all the stones that would travel on 4 site built pallets the first day. The second day, because of the small driveway, we parked the flatbed tractor trailer going to California in a lot a block away. Using my flatbed truck and a rented boom forklift, we shuttled the palletized stones from the house to the tractor trailer. Afterward, my friend said it was the hardest project we had ever done.</div><div><br /></div><div>Al Johnson, thank you very much for helping me understand what and why the work. </div><div><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/S19Oky0-cyI/AAAAAAAAAJA/pg81CwxtN60/s1600-h/IMG_0192.JPG" title="a 3,200 lb. white marble block, given to me by Al, sitting on red stones waiting to be carved."><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 216px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/S19Oky0-cyI/AAAAAAAAAJA/pg81CwxtN60/s400/IMG_0192.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431146069658333986" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /></div></div>Ben Gagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12683773285202472160noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7463928703595923281.post-16101965821130082142009-12-19T16:05:00.032-05:002010-02-21T13:03:25.413-05:00Buddha<object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/4AP06emayNE&hl=en_US&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/4AP06emayNE&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="344" width="425"></embed></object><br /><br />Art handling is all about balance, understanding the physical presence of the object/ Art and recognizing how to touch it. " ..Do know harm.." is a pretty good mantra, how to do it is the Art: Art handling part. In this business you learn through experience and that is at once the problem and reward. It's a practice, like other professions, and the ideal is something that's mandatory in it's practice. Of course this can be difficult and impossible, especially in groups where consensus is absolutely necessary. As the Art gets as big or bigger than us it becomes less personal and this distance represents the difference in the quality of the Art Handler. <a href="http://chestofbooks.com/reference/Bepler-Handy-Manual-Of-Knowledge/Weight-Of-A-Cubic-Foot-Of-Earth-Stone-Metal-Wood-Etc.html">Here's a list of possible sculptural materials and their weights.</a> Handling stone sculpture is a good measure. Marble can be 171 lbs. a cubic ft. A life size figure is heavy.<br /><br />I love the range of Art. Objects are always dissimilar. The Art part of Art Handling is the creative prerequisite. How am I going to do it is something I always begin with. In doubt I let my instincts take over and I stop and reconsider when I have none. I wrote in an earlier post about the <a href="http://www.nationalgeographic.com/terracottawarriors/">National Geographic's: Ceramic Warriors Show</a>. I was primed for it by having just installed a stone Buddha for a private collector. It/ he/ is/was beautiful. I love that part of the world and the imagery / philosophy of both Warriors and Buddha seem culturally supplementary. I'm ripe for Zen, how little I know of it. The Art Handler's responsibility is to be perfect. Handling stuff like this, one after the other, is a barometer of where we're @.<br /><br />I received a call based on this blog for the first time. I was asked the possibilities of de-installing and then re-installing Buddha from it's present residence to another house not too far away. At the site visit, I verified it was about 1200 lbs. The client and I hit it off, the Buddha was well loved and he wanted an aesthetic treatment commensurate with what <a href="http://www.cosmicharmony.com/Av/Buddha/Buddha.htm">Buddha</a> represents. He had already spoken to a rigging company and was apprehensive about their methods. He told me he had gone through the yellow pages in vain and by accident found me. The search had taken some time and he wanted to know if I could do it ASAP as the household move was immanent. There were difficult obstacles in both locations: steps, doors, truck accessibility, object placement, that required a gantry, crane truck, etc. and since I owned all the rigging equipment, that part was not a problem. I told him I would build a handling frame/ pallet on site and I could de-install/ pack/ re-install Buddha in one day. Before I left I asked him how did he get it in the house in the first place. He told me a story about purchasing the Buddha from a dealer in Asia. It was crated, shipped and delivered to his house and left in his front yard. He was wondering what to do about it when he was visited by 15 Tibetan Buddhist monks. Somehow along with himself and another friend they managed to bring the Buddha into the house and install it on it's wood pedestal, but he said it was not easy. I loved that image. As I was leaving, he asked how many guys I would bring? I told him two.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">We set up the aluminum gantry with two chain falls on the i-beam and placed Buddha in position. We wrapped two straps on either side of the figure with opposite chokes, careful where the tension would touch the body and hooked them to the chain falls. In slow motion we raised each chain fall by chain link feeling the balance and adjusting as needed. Without a sound the seated Buddha rose. In the air it floated perfectly level. The client looked at me and said something like, .." You made it levitate."</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/Sy4ut51jsXI/AAAAAAAAAIY/Jf0WYbnhm4E/s1600-h/PA190031.JPG" title="Buddha with rigging straps, ready to be raised by gantry."><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/Sy4ut51jsXI/AAAAAAAAAIY/Jf0WYbnhm4E/s400/PA190031.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5417318767927734642" border="0" /></a><br /><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"> Video</span></i><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"> <a href="http://www.myspace.com/bengagestonecarver">music</a></span></i><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;">: excerpt.." Perhaps it Matters." Mack on bass, Ben Gage on guitar</span></i><br /><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" title="click to read Xmas poem." style="font-size:x-small;"><a href="http://poemstothrowintoafire.blogspot.com/">Merry Holidays</a></span></i></b>Ben Gagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12683773285202472160noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7463928703595923281.post-3271053289667155782009-11-19T08:15:00.053-05:002009-12-07T17:57:00.825-05:00National Geographic Museum: Terra Cotta Warriors<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/05/AR2009110503562.html" title="Ben Gage with Chinese Master and Warrior: click to view Washington Post article and video."><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 350px; height: 234px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/SwXBif9JwUI/AAAAAAAAAIQ/osHPOzzrjMk/s400/Ben+and+Warrior.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5405939726165852482" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">This week, the </span><a href="http://www.nationalgeographic.com/terracottawarriors/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">National Geographic Museum</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> in Washington DC opens a wonderful show centered on the fantastic Ceramic Warriors found in China in the grave of China's first emperor, </span><a href="http://asianhistory.about.com/od/profilesofasianleaders/p/qinshihungbio.htm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Qin Shihuangdi</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">, 35 years ago. These objects date to the 3rd century BC, and of that army of soldiers, 15 warriors and related artifacts including a full size horse are now installed in the newly designed Museum space. It's a dramatic history lesson in clay of a buried past by an ancient culture a hemisphere and 2 millennium away. It's accidental discovery by local farmers sounds more like fiction than history, a story better suited for movies than museums. The Washington Post has a photo essay </span><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/gallery/2009/11/18/GA2009111802677.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">here</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> and an article </span><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/gog/profile/terra-cotta-warriors-guardians-of-chinas-first-emperor,1154989/critic-review.html?hpid=artslot"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">here.</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> Looking at the figures outside their context, with little understanding of their original intention, Art and sculpture are among the only words to describe them. </span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">I was honored to be involved in the installation. This is an ultimate project. How do you prepare or train for something like this? For an Artist/ Art Handler it's the mountain top. As a stone carver much of my own inspiration comes from what remains of Antiquity. I was eager to meet the Warriors. To be able to practice in public the work you do in private is a privilege. Friends who run a local Art Handling Company asked if I would want to be considered as the rigger for the project. The Warriors are fragile, heavy and difficult to handle. The project scope required a rigging/ sculpture specialist. They could provide an introduction. Our initial meeting with the Museum's staff in charge of the installation went well, I left with a folder of pictures, crate sizes and floor plans which I promised not to lose. Months later I found myself bringing my gantry, slings and misc. rigging tools in my pickup to the museum. This level of anxiety is fuel and I enjoyed the preparation. The degree of complexity required a commensurate response. I was warned ahead of time that there would be an official group of Chinese specialists responsible for the installation and although an interpreter would be involved, I should expect a language barrier. I looked forward to this point, I would have to speak through the quality of my presentation, tool choices and anticipation of their motives. When the first day arrived, on our introduction, I knew immediately who the Master was. I bowed and said I was in their service. After our hellos and a few unsure words I took them outside to show them the unassembled parts of the gantry. The Master nodded.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></div><div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Opening the first crates felt like releasing a message in a bottle</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">. </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">I was unprepared for the figures individual expression and physical presence</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">...</span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">We were asked to float each Warrior from their padded protected case</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">to their display destination. </span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The Chinese specialists spoke</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">in hieroglyphs and gesture. It was like music, someone would count and on 4 we all would assist on the beat to the spot. </span></span></div><div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></i></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Some mornings I would arrive on-site ahead of the crew, meet with the museum staff, discuss objectives for the day and study the next challenge. When the crew arrived I would install the gantry in the way I saw resolved any technical problem or with everybody involved, discuss and create an alternative install solution. The Chinese Master would see immediately how much I/we understood and perhaps could not explain. Even though we had never met, we had to be great partners: the work, Art and venue deserved it. I believed the distance and difference between us in technique and troubleshooting should translate visually and we could build on that. The first break came in the middle of the project. We took the weekend off. I had a couple days to understand the scope, technical and personal, objectively. I gathered additional tools for the next week and thought they don't even know my name or who I am. If I wanted them to trust me and my approach to an International treasure in their care, they should know that. I looked up google translator and wrote out the information on my business card in Chinese. On Monday I presented them the card and each of them took the time to read the characters I couldn't. They smiled and we all nodded:</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 25px;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;"><b><span title="Ben Gage" class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:19px;">本蓋奇</span></b></span></div><div></div><div><span title="Fine Arts Specialists, LLC" class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 25px;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:19px;"><b>美術專家,有限責任公司</b></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 25px;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:19px;"><span title="Master Art Handlers: Sculpture, Paintings, Project Management, Fabrication" style="background-color: rgb(235, 239, 249);">大師的藝術處理程序:雕塑,繪畫,項目管理,製造<br /></span><span title="Difficult Projects are our specialty: Install/ de-install, rigging, pack/ crating" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">困難的項目是我們的特色:安裝 /解除安裝,索具,包裝 /裝箱</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 25px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><div><br /></div><div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /><div><br /></div></div></div></div></div>Ben Gagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12683773285202472160noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7463928703595923281.post-2872244355156767552009-11-03T14:37:00.029-05:002009-12-02T11:17:42.323-05:00National Air and Space Museum: Boller & Chivens telescope<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/SvCJCD1i7eI/AAAAAAAAAH4/8cNTJQdKKv0/s1600-h/P7130158.JPG" title="Trying to fit largest telescope part through the door."><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: left; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/SvCJCD1i7eI/AAAAAAAAAH4/8cNTJQdKKv0/s320/P7130158.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399966621699861986" border="0" /></a><br /><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/tn9kqopQB4w&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/tn9kqopQB4w&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="344" width="425"></embed></object><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">On September 30, The National Air and Space Museum on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., opened a<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);"> </span></span></span><a href="http://www.nasm.si.edu/exhibitions/POPobservatory.cfm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">Public Observatory</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> to celebrate the International Year of Astronomy. Inside, "... </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">t</span></i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">he centerpiece of the Public Observatory Project is a 16-inch Boller & Chivens telescope. The telescope was originally part of</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><a href="http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/news/2009/fe200912.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">Harvard-Smithsonian's Oak Ridge Observatory</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">in Harvard, Massachusetts. It was used for astronomical research until recent years, and is now on loan to the National Air and Space Museum for the Public Observatory Project."</span></i></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></i></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">I was fortunate to be involved in this project early, helping to prepare details for installation scope and pricing and also serving as the technical advisor, in DC, between the Air and Space Museum and the art handling company which was awarded the contract. The installation of the actual Observatory would be undertaken by a local crane company. I was to be the on-site lead object handler/ rigger for the installation of the telescope under the direction of the great staff at the Museum who put the project together. I saw that they treated the telescope as sculpture and wanted art and art handlers. Conceptually, this was close to what I have been thinking about since I found <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcel_Duchamp"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);">Marcel Duchamp</span></a>: the re-examined object.<br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The telescope arrived @ the Museum in 4 major components. The heaviest was about 1000 lbs. The doorway entrance was 38 1/4" wide, the largest telescope part was at 38" wide on a pallet 42" wide. I remember going to a meeting at the Air and Space Museum where a room of experts met to discuss individual responsibility. As each of us described our parts and answered questions, I was asked to give details on how we were going to get everything in the room through the door: telescope parts, misc. tools, gantry and crew with a floor diameter of 22', as there would be many physical problems to the observatory, including an incomplete dropped floor</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">with exposed plastic conduit which had to be surface protected. Access to finished floor height would be made after the installation. I don't remember how I answered that.</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">For many personal reasons this project brought to closure an adventure that began as an Art student trying to understand how to handle difficult heavy stones for sculpture. Rigging started as a studio endeavor with ropes and old scaffold and slowly progressed to slings, gantry's and cranes as I began to recognize the rules of rigging and how these rules are used to communicate safety to others in the field, especially with people you have just met on the project site. Proficiency in hand signals, strapping techniques, knots, etc.. is a shared language. Expertise is apparent immediately. Going from project to project, often in different cities and countries, with unknown contractors and crews allows all the responsible parties a way to talk. Each decision underlines how much each of us knows in the moment. For me to have been able to find myself in this environment participating in a dream project with other passionate professionals, working on a crew of best friends I taught and learned from with tools I chose and helped buy, answered many questions about the quality of my own work and direction. It also made me thankful for the hidden gifts of the Art life. Many of us are asked what are we going to do with Art when we are students. I said I didn't know and probably didn't care. To travel idiosyncratically as Artists do day to day, and then find that the life style has value is very much a surprise. For example, I am currently on a project which I'll blog about later, but it involves a </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 255);"><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2009/11/05/ST2009110504294.html?sid=ST2009110504294">Chinese crew</a></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> responsible for installing large, heavy, beautiful objects with only a minimum knowledge of English. They represent a Collection which humbles me. Through mutual hand signals and techniques we're talking. During a particular difficult rigging moment, they were speaking in Chinese and I responded in English and our hands moved in similar directions. Afterwards we looked at each other and just laughed.</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><br /></span></i></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;">video music: " excerpt <a href="http://www.myspace.com/bengagestonecarver">Digging a Hole</a>."</span></i></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 17px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;">Phil Clark: drums, Scott Patti: rhythm guitar, Ben Gage: Lead Guitar </span></i></span></span></div>Ben Gagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12683773285202472160noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7463928703595923281.post-42195555471465004412009-10-11T07:06:00.027-04:002009-12-02T11:34:02.210-05:00Anne Truitt<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/StHS0aiBW2I/AAAAAAAAAHg/jkbU8xOSft0/s1600-h/emmerich_1986_announcement_5x7_t.jpg" title="Anne Truitt sculptures."><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 265px; height: 216px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/StHS0aiBW2I/AAAAAAAAAHg/jkbU8xOSft0/s320/emmerich_1986_announcement_5x7_t.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391322026856242018" border="0" /></a><br /><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 298px; height: 216px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/StHAuLkBFDI/AAAAAAAAAHY/0ZoO8f4VW2s/s320/ann+truitt.jpg" title="Anne Truitt" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391302128549565490" border="0" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;font-family:'Times New Roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(170, 170, 170); text-align: left;font-family:Verdana,Arial,sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;">photos © annetruitt.org</span></span></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style=";font-family:";"><a href="http://annetruitt.org/home/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Anne Truitt</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> , the great artist, sculptor, teacher, author, mentor….will have a retrospective of her work @ the </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><b><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span><a href="http://hirshhorn.si.edu/exhibitions/view.asp?key=1&subkey=208"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Hirschhorn Museum of Art: Anne Truitt: Perception and Reflection: October 8, 2009 to January 3, 2010</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">. It gives me a formal opportunity to thank her for her help in shaping my work/ process and to share with others who don’t know about her contribution not just locally in Washington DC, but Art in general in the 20th century and beyond. The Washington Post has written 2 articles about her </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/08/AR2009100804772.html?hpid=artslot">here</a> and <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/08/AR2009100804718.html?wprss=rss_print/style">here</a> and I just found this from <a href="http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/Anne-Truitts-Artistic-Journey.html">Smithsonian.com. </a></span></span></span></span></b></span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">I met her while I was a student at the University of Md. She was an iconic figure there and people, both teachers and students alike, felt fortunate to be included in her orbit. Sometimes I would carry her school bags to her car. She was well regarded not just because of what she had already done and was doing but also because she could speak personally about a profession like Art. She made Art accessible and we believed her. She was true to the dialectic. We never felt patronized. She spoke with us about subjects around and above us. Her discussions focused less on our art work and more in the quality of our convictions in the work: the technique which allowed the truth of it, not the paintbrush or chisel. She just wanted it to work.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">In my last year at the University I asked her to be my thesis advisor. She said she had stopped taking anymore students and besides I already had a commitment to a point of view: stone sculpture. Would studying with her be helpful? My carving teacher Ken Campbell had just retired and I told her frankly she was the only one in the faculty who understood what I wanted to understand. She asked me about stuff and I couldn't answer her, the words just stumbled one after the other until finally I gave up. She said not to worry, she would help. What was important was that it was in the air. My job was to stay sensitive to it and that I would get it later.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'Times New Roman',serif;"><br /></span></p>Ben Gagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12683773285202472160noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7463928703595923281.post-77930263614764671892009-09-23T13:22:00.015-04:002009-12-21T07:51:34.632-05:00De-installing Aristide Maillol<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/Srp24YCsMmI/AAAAAAAAAHQ/SqaTPvk0wWg/s1600-h/P9210159.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title=" Aristide Maillol sculpture rigged onto site built pallet."><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/Srp24YCsMmI/AAAAAAAAAHQ/SqaTPvk0wWg/s320/P9210159.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /></div><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/iRn_XULdbz8&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/iRn_XULdbz8&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="344" width="425"></embed></object><br /><br />Every now and then I get a call asking if I can undertake a project asap. The Art involved is usually valuable and difficult to handle. I almost always am unable to do a site visit. The information trail is just enough to understand scope and because of the immediacy of the project, resources both in help and tool choices are restricted or non-existent. Typically, it’s difficult to create a team on short notice, and since the percentage of projects which go through based on these requests may average one in ten, I am hesitant to ask other professionals without some guarantee. It’s like crying wolf, after a while who listens. I am sensitive about asking people to change or break their schedule, especially on the proposal level. Still, I’ll go ahead and try to figure out how to do them, I love the challenge and the work.<br /><br />This project involved de-installing and packing a great sculpture by Aristide Maillol. It’s cast lead and preliminary weight estimate was at 2500 lbs. I knew the piece from books. As a sculptor I took survey art history classes in school and where I could, I searched for the pieces from favorite artists in Museums all over the country while I was driving an Art truck over the road. I had even worked on a similar sculpture years ago, a different posed figure by the same artist. I was comfortable with the scope as I understood and imagined it.<br /><br />The client requested the sculpture to be palletized and because of the weight, I was responsible for loading of the sculpture onto the truck. The drivers were not prepared to handle something like this. The sculpture itself was in the middle of a large yard. I had no photos to describe the installation, only an earlier photo of a previous installation. I was told shrubs would have to be removed for access and the lawn surface protected from any equipment I chose to use. Everything I would need had to be brought and built on-site, from tools to materials. Luckily, a landscape company who worked there on the grounds was offered as help. I called the owner and it was a welcome conversation: they had an all terrain forklift and operator, experience in working with the sculpture and several guys available who could assist. By Friday we had finalized the deal. On early Sunday morning I left in my pickup truck with my carpentry setup, gantry and rigging equipment. Driving 500 miles, with a forecast of heavy rain, I hoped to get to the sculpture by late afternoon to take a look at what I was up against. Finally, on-site, looking at it reclining, I relaxed. At a hotel nearby, after beers and pizza, I finally went to sleep. In the morning there was a nearby Starbucks for coffee and a Home Depot to buy pallet and packing materials. The work day was overcast, but it did not rain. Starting at 8 am, everything had to be finished by 2-3 pm. The truck pickup was scheduled to arrive between 2-4 pm that same day with direct delivery to a different city the next morning 780 miles away. The clients representative was generous and gracious. Up close the sculpture was powerful masterwork.<br /><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;">* Video music: " Excerpt: <a href="http://www.myspace.com/bengagestonecarver">When Giants Walked With Us</a>" </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;">Jesse Meman: Flute, Ben Thompson: Xylophone, Ben Gage: Guitar </span></div>Ben Gagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12683773285202472160noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7463928703595923281.post-53590333565056991642009-08-18T08:45:00.020-04:002009-12-03T17:58:25.952-05:00National Museum of Health and Medicine: Walter Reed Army Hospital<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/SosbN1b1J4I/AAAAAAAAAGg/5hvX_LgzkWs/s1600-h/wr+17.jpg" title="Concrete slab from Iraqi field hospital displayed in National Museum of Health and Medicine."><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/SosbN1b1J4I/AAAAAAAAAGg/5hvX_LgzkWs/s320/wr+17.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371416905065506690" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div style="width: 480px; text-align: right;"><embed src="http://static.photobucket.com/flash/rss_slideshow.swf?rssFeed=http%3A%2F%2Ffeed781.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fyy93%2Fstonesculptor1%2FNational%2520Museum%2520of%2520Health%2520and%2520Medicine%2Ffeed.rss" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="360" width="480"></embed><a href="http://photobucket.com/redirect/album?showShareLB=1" target="_blank"><img src="http://pic.photobucket.com/share/icons/embed/btn_geturs.gif" style="border: medium none ;" /></a><a href="http://s781.photobucket.com/albums/yy93/stonesculptor1/National%20Museum%20of%20Health%20and%20Medicine/" target="_blank"><img src="http://pic.photobucket.com/share/icons/embed/btn_viewall.gif" style="border: medium none ;" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><br />I began my first job as an art handler like many of us, answering an ad for art handlers posted on a bulletin board. I didn’t even see the ad; a friend called and told me about it. I had never considered Art handling as a job. I didn't know anybody who did it for a living but I was just out of art school, hanging out and thought maybe I could do this for a while. A group of four of us talked about it and decided that we’d interview together. We were all friends and unemployed and needed the money. We scheduled a meeting and after the interview, I walked out the door thinking the interview went great and I had a job. What I wasn’t ready for and what I didn't really understand was the job description: drive a climate controlled, 5 speed transmission 2 axle box truck from Washington DC to where ever: California, Florida, Maine, etc…. and pickup and deliver art. I had never driven a truck, had little experience using a manual transmission and didn't really understand what I was suppose to do when handling the art. I came in on a Saturday for a test drive. Surprisingly, the guy who was giving the test turned out to be a friend from my old neighborhood, who actually had been class mates with a sister in grade school and had become an artist. I hadn’t seen him for years. ( Mike Semyan is a great painter.) After driving around the block and going over what all the buttons and switches did in the cab all he could say was good luck: get to wherever you’re suppose to go, pickup/ deliver the Art and come back home. The next week I was headed for Texas. It was all new, unknown, uncomfortably strange, dangerous and I loved it immediately.<br /><br />When I was an art student, I would work on stuff, most times I’d hit a wall and end up not knowing what to do next. I’d work and after a while my carving teacher, Ken Campbell, would come by, shake his head and say turn it over and look at it again. It took me a long time to understand he didn’t mean the stone. I’d turn the stone over and over and after the dust settled, I’d still only see a carved rock and not a sculpture. It was only later that I understood that opposite, peripheral, complimentary, perpendicular thinking is a technique like another hammer or chisel that you find in your bag with the other tools only with practice and luck. From the National Gallery of Art, <a href="http://www.nga.gov/education/american/abstract.shtm">http://www.nga.gov/education/american/abstract.shtm</a>: Artists make these transformations in an effort to communicate something they cannot convey through realistic treatment. Works of art that reframe nature for expressive effect are called abstract.<br /><br />Every now and then I would be involved in an Art Handling project that would make me struggle conceptually for reasonable answers. The road from idea to manufacture can be all curves and broken bridges. The problem generally would be something I’d never done before with new techniques I’d have to integrate and introduce to the client and the groups I work with. Last year a request came from the National Museum of Health and Medicine, located at the Walter Reed Army Medical Hospital in Washington DC. They wanted to move and place in exhibition a 7’ x 7’ x 7” concrete slab, cut out from the floor of a field hospital in Iraq. For the full story, here’s the link, <span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><a href="http://nmhm.washingtondc.museum/exhibits/balad/balad1.html">http://nmhm.washingtondc.museum/exhibits/balad/balad1.html</a>. The main problem: how to bring the object in through the front door, maximum width @ 54”, down the hall, past several tight turns and into the room where it would be displayed. Riggers had already been consulted but the Museum wanted another opinion. They requested the doors not be removed and that a display/ mounting solution be incorporated in the final design, weight of slab and mount approx. 2 tons.<br /><br />Turning the problem in my head, with great input from the client, meant understanding how to pivot the slab on its side, at an angle where the outside dimensions would ideally be around 53” maximum so that it would slide through the front door. The final structural, engineered solution would be a handling frame to protect the slab during transit, with an integrated rigging solution manufactured in the mount to rig the object/ mount with either a gantry or forklift to the required angle, then back down to its horizontal display position and finally, also be beautiful enough for museum quality presentation.<br /><br />I jumped at the chance to understand how to do that.Ben Gagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12683773285202472160noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7463928703595923281.post-31940137010109958042009-07-17T06:36:00.011-04:002009-12-21T07:53:03.217-05:00Stone Sculpture: Ken Campbell<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/SmHWucSxyVI/AAAAAAAAAEI/uOakuUQtqfc/s1600-h/blogger7.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 128px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/SmHWucSxyVI/AAAAAAAAAEI/uOakuUQtqfc/s320/blogger7.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359801124904880466" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/SmD8ZMF0qII/AAAAAAAAAD4/kQYJHoLdPnw/s1600-h/Blogger2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 164px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/SmD8ZMF0qII/AAAAAAAAAD4/kQYJHoLdPnw/s320/Blogger2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359561066243467394" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/SmD8Uszc4cI/AAAAAAAAADw/pbJpRQdjyOU/s1600-h/Blogger3.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 179px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/SmD8Uszc4cI/AAAAAAAAADw/pbJpRQdjyOU/s320/Blogger3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5359560989125435842" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The advantage of being an artist who works as an art handler is the continued opportunity for advanced study, especially if you can find yourself working inside your discipline on the job. For the stone sculptor, handling other stone sculptures offers us a glimpse not just how these pieces were made but how they feel. The reward becomes both aesthetic and technical in the execution of our own work. It’s a personal blessing to have been responsible for master work as diverse as ancient Chinese, Classical Western and modern sculpture.<br /><br />Generally, artists find themselves as a result of systems/ schools/ teachers. Awareness of tools and aesthetics start from this exposure, along with going to galleries, museums, reading, listening and hanging out. If we're able, we travel, perhaps attend graduate school or an atelier, find a peer group and begin our careers. Sometimes we find work in a foundry or other Arts related business. Our tool box is filled with what we've been given and our individual creativity, ambition and circumstances finds the other stuff which defines our voice and art however we can.<br /><br />I am a stone carver. I studied under a great teacher/ artist/ stone carver: Kenneth Campbell for about 5 years in the University system. He came from Boston/ Provincetown, lived and worked in NYC, maturing in the midst of what we now call Abstract Expressionism. He was @ the center of that era’s star formation. The “Club” use to meet, drink and hang out in his studio. He was a true believer/ practitioner. As a result, his method was abstract and non-objective and so was his teaching method. There wasn't much to talk about because for most it was nonsense with no real nouns except for the stone you're working on, to look at as an example. He wanted us to not copy anything and to find our own way thru the process of working/ being.<br /><br />He didn't always carve stone. He was a draughtsman and a painter. In his forties, he told me, “The objects just popped out of the canvas." William de Kooning showed him that. To become a sculptor was the next natural step. However, because he started late, he was basically self taught. His technique, idiosyncratic and personal, is a pure expression of what Abstraction demands. I didn't know that until I got my first art handling job.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/SnGCbLO-tdI/AAAAAAAAAGA/9CZPfSDtY90/s1600-h/Ken+nd+stone2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 202px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/SnGCbLO-tdI/AAAAAAAAAGA/9CZPfSDtY90/s320/Ken+nd+stone2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5364212034558670290" border="0" /></a><br />As an artist, most of the time, except for your own work, you're only allowed to look at other's work. You cannot touch it. If it's a painting, a photo or wall piece, you cannot look at the back of the piece to see how it’s made. If it's a sculpture put against a wall you can't get critical distance to understand the 3rd dimension. We learn to know Art mostly as a visual experience and that becomes a valuable virtual tool.<br /><br />Stone sculpture does not exist only in the visual world. It can be heavy, big and dangerous. Injuries happen all the time. Handling it requires an intuitive reading of balance and weight. Damage usually happens on the first move. With the variety of forms we handle, from ancient to modern, the ability to adjust equipment, tools and personnel brought to the job, immediately, describes the quality of our efforts. Handling these sculptures in Museums, Galleries and Private Collections is an eye opener. You have to be perfect not just in the technical aspects of the project but also in the protocol with everyone involved. There's a lot at stake. Communication of intention and then it's execution defines us. Ambiguity equals doubt. As an example, generally, if you go to any collection with 19th century marble sculptures you will see that most if not all are chipped at the bases. It’s understandable for ancient sculptures to be damaged; visually the broken parts have been fuel for artists the last few centuries, but in more recent times the chipping is the result of failed moves and a reflection of the quality of the art handlers and their techniques. It is unacceptable now.<br /><br />I remember on my first jobs moving stone sculptures as an art handler, what I learned from Ken Campbell didn't communicate well. On his own stuff, he used construction scaffold with a piece of galvanized i-beam cut from a highway girder. He wasn't a modern rigger with slings, trolleys and gantry's, he used ropes and knots, actual ship rigging, which he learned growing up in New England along with a lot of manual tricks: wood shims and balance. Bringing a similar tool bag brought a lot of ridicule and questions, especially when I was around professionals: museum staff, rigging companies, and collectors, who were dogmatic in what was acceptable. I had to adjust pretty quickly and learn to communicate in their terms, if I wanted to be included in that group. For a long time art handlers were only there to listen and assist. I understand now that that’s correct. There is a deep need to elevate skill sets and protocol, especially as the projects get difficult and participant responsibilities more examined. However, for the Artist,with practice and sensitivity, awareness/techniques discovered and nurtured in the studio can become unique, specialized tools, capable of complimenting and adding to, current professional Art moving standards, especially, when all the pragmatic choices seem to have run out: the Art in Art Handling.Ben Gagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12683773285202472160noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7463928703595923281.post-26392794757821172322009-07-01T06:00:00.000-04:002009-07-01T08:04:52.689-04:00For Mark Planisek<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/nnufh45tEYI&hl=en&fs=1&"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/nnufh45tEYI&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />The Washington DC arts community had hard, sad news this week. Mark Planisek: artist, art handler and friend passed away tragically, struck by a vehicle in a crosswalk near the Clarendon metro station after leaving an art opening at the Arlington Arts Center in which he was exhibiting, " Sparkplug: New Work."<br /><br />I first met Mark while I was still driving a truck moving Art in a company I used to work for. We didn't work together often, I was an over the road driver and he mostly worked locally. However, every now and then we'd meet and in the small cab of the truck we became friends. He was a conversationalist, at night we talked about a lot of stuff but it always ended up @ art. He was a true believer and he had ambition. After a while he gradually decided to leave, it's a difficult job, the money's variable, every day can be different, with scheduling and plans often times impossible to make. He was fortunate to get a great job at the National Portrait Gallery where he found a living and the time to practice his art form.<br /><br />The last time I saw him was in late March at the The Ritchie Avenue Cultural Center in Takoma Park, Md. where I was giving a talk on Art and Art Handling. I wasn't really expecting anybody to come but after they turned the lights on, there he was. He came up to me and even though it had been a while since we had last seen each other, wherever the conversation started, we ended up talking about Art. He reminisced about a project he helped me with @ the National Portrait Gallery and how much he enjoyed being part of the crew. The video shows that project. We were part of the group that de-installed " Grant and His Generals." It was a difficult de-installation. It is a large heavy curved painting hung in a stairwell. I felt fortunate to be asked to be involved as I love this kind of work. There was much concern about keeping the integrity of the curve as it was taken off the wall and then brought up the stairs. We were able to design a handling frame on-site that responded to these details. When successful, these projects can show the Art in Art Handling.<br /><br />Mark, if you haven't met him, is wearing blue jeans and a blue shirt. He's in the middle of the group, on scaffold, in the first scene. It hasn't been easy to reflect on his passing, from the emails and messages I get everyday, I see it's been true for many others also. The news has hit me at a time where I have been in the studio, carving, unsure, wanting more from the form than possibly I can make, struggling for meaning. Mark has amplified the search.Ben Gagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12683773285202472160noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7463928703595923281.post-7291887724937203712009-06-23T18:02:00.000-04:002009-06-24T06:26:02.681-04:00Steel Sculpture in Manhattan<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/SkFqn0ZoPPI/AAAAAAAAAA0/oID1wK3EhGo/s1600-h/Samaras+in+NYC.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/SkFqn0ZoPPI/AAAAAAAAAA0/oID1wK3EhGo/s320/Samaras+in+NYC.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5350675064606440690" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/SkFqhQ2zAGI/AAAAAAAAAAs/bb8L4J4qNoo/s1600-h/Samaras+NYC+intall.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_sNaRYcIDwpQ/SkFqhQ2zAGI/AAAAAAAAAAs/bb8L4J4qNoo/s320/Samaras+NYC+intall.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5350674951985889378" border="0" /></a><br />Public Art always involves folks like you and me who seek it out, in whichever building or landscape it's installed, we're suppose to look , learn and enjoy. This process begins from the moment the Art is wanted and the project has been budgeted. From an Art installers point of view, companies/ individuals are allowed to respond to the RFP: the formal proposal of the project, only if they're eligible because they've navigated the process, proved themselves worthy and found themselves in a position to be asked. Whatever your credentials or ambition unless you know how to be recognized, even if you have all the necessary paperwork and insurances, you're not necessarily invited to submit a proposal to install the Art. If you want to do this and you are lucky to be invited in the room, get all the info about the project, attend the site visit and meet with everybody else who wants it too, it begins a personal and professional travail, at once cooperative and competitive, to get it done perfectly/ beautifully. This project involves a steel sculpture @ 107" x 72" x 13" with a steel pedestal @ 4' x 8' x 1", both @ about 1300 lbs to be installed in Manhattan. Because of the sizes and weights involved, the logistical difficulty of unloading from the street and bringing them both through a 34" door, the limitations of equipment choices in an enclosed space with floor load bearing restrictions and low ceiling height of 12' 4", professional rigging companies were brought in by the other Art Handling companies as their experts. Generally, Art Handlers have not been seen to be qualified to do this kind of work, even within their own companies, and justifiably so, these projects are dangerous. There is always something that cannot be planned, a tool which was not brought or a dilemma which creates an uncertain drama without an immediate answer. There is little training for this, certainly not on the job site. Luckily, I'm a stone carver who carves heavy, large stones. I love this kind of work and the energy and trouble shooting it demands. It seemed natural to me, early in wanting to do this professionally, seeing which kinds of people and companies were involved, that an Artist could find a place in this. I believe the installation process from start to finish is Art.<br /><br />The Art Handler is an extension of the Artist, the representative of the person who made the Art: the aesthetic pathway the Artist expresses to us, from inspiration to object, who generally isn't there. We speak/ act for that person. However, the Art Handler, is bound by a pragmatic budget and the constraints of others involved where Art criteria, experience can be minimized because it's a business and competitive pricing is the major concern. Generally, it's for the better, limits have a way to help navigate the choices, however difficult. The Art Handler will have insight, sensitivity and do the right thing as if it is their own piece. We have practiced this on our own stuff and it's the technique which opens solutions. Anyway, the Artist myth is always about struggling, the Art part is making it work, regardless of the problems.<br /><br />Who speaks for the Artist?Ben Gagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12683773285202472160noreply@blogger.com3