Friday, September 16, 2011

Outdoor Installation Status Update

I've been working on creating a 35' outdoor art installation for the ConstellationCenter construction site in Cambridge, MA for almost one week, and I'm very pleased with my progress.

So far I have:

- Monoprinted 53' of cotton with the textures of construction fencing. There are four different pieces of fabric. Three are 16' long and one is 68" long.

- Hand stamped squares and circles that are a part of the design, and handpainted them in.

- Coated one of the 16' long pieces of fabric with watered down matt medium so it's stiffened and also water resistant.

- Cut most of the holes out in the first 16' long piece of fabric. I will have all of the holes and flaps cut by the end of the day of today.

- Ordered and received 10,000 short and thin, and 5,000 longer and thick black, cable ties to secure the art to the chain link fence it's going to live on through May 31, 2012. I don't honestly think I need that many but I wanted to be sure I have more than enough.

Next steps:

- Coat the remaining two 16' and the one 68" pieces of fabric with watered down matt medium, starting next Monday night when I have permission to do it in my "studio annex." I had to pause doing that because of odor issues from the matt medium as it was drying.

- Cut the holes and flaps in the two remaining 16' long pieces of fabric, and cut flaps only, in the 68" long piece, all as quickly as possible, definitely by the end of next week.

- Sew channels at the top of all four pieces of stiffened fabric.

- Buy PVC (I think) piping or something similar that will hold the top of the four pieces of fabric straight when I install it on the chain link fencing.

- Find one or more people to help me install it.

- Get everything I need to install the piece ready, including scissors, ladders, plywood or boards to temporarily put on the stone ground at the site so there’s a flat surface for the ladders.

Installation will be sometime between September 26th and October 2nd, weather permitting. I don't want to install it when it's raining, and I won't install it on Rosh Hashanah. So that leaves me either Oct 26th or 30th or Oct 2nd, because of commitments I have on the other days.

I'm also working on web design and writing projects, the finishing touches of the Squiggles and Squares show in New Bedford, MA, designing my 2012 calendar, getting ready for The Constructed Surface at the Krause Gallery the Moses Brown School in Providence, RI, and also for Natick Open Studios, which are both in early/mid October, community service, eating, sleeping, and etc.

All do-able if I stay focused.