playing with the Portal

Yesterday I visited the preschool -  now that the children have moved in - and showed them how to use the theater curtains and read them the book (photos of the book coming up very soon!). And of course I took some photos - but I haven't yet gotten the permission from the parents to use the photos - so therefore I've blurred the faces above . (If I don't get the permission I'll have to switch their faces for my son's face in different ages in photoshop ... so I still can use the photos for applications and such. Because I don't want the photos the blurred way!)

Update: I got the parents' permissions!

... et voilà!

I just have to get back another day to take some photos with kids in the stairs. Because they were having a day off yesterday, which was the reason we chose that day for mounting the art pieces (two other artists also installed their art in other parts of the school the same day). I wonder how the kids reacted today?

mounting!

Today it finally happened. I'm super exhausted right now, but pleased.

at the industrial powder painter

Today I visited Guson, the industrial powder paint company that I use for my public commissions. There's a layer of grey dust over everything there and the place is probably a location trendy interior stylists would die for. I inspected all the parts for my commission - perfectly bright coloured looking kind of out of place - and packed them for tomorrow. Because tomorrow it is finally Mounting Day!

I'm still around ...

checking the fitting

I've tripple-checked the measurements for the hand rail - and made a real size 2D copy of the hand rail to test the fitting - to avoid any unpleasant surprises when it is time to mount the art piece. So everything should be fine ...

... and then superman

It feels great to finally see this commission taking form in real size. But in some way I feel like I'm working on a miniature now... because compared to the one I made two years ago it is kind of small. Superman above is one meter tall. The Phantom having a luncheon from 2011 would be - if he could stand up in his full hight - two and a half meter tall.

Snow White in progress

Snow white in progress; with distances marked out and then in a break when being welded by Arta.

back working!

I was waiting and waiting for a rainy day to go back working - not been that many rainy days this summer - but finally I had to go back anyway last week (in spite of sunshine). I'm now in the execution phase of this commission and it's exciting to see it all take form in aluminum. I like the way the aluminium looks in this phase in the workshop; rough edges, scratched and dirty with fingerprints. In some way I would like to keep it like this, but that's not what I promised to do ... so I can't.

... and it is completed

I looked at it and I thought it was good.

(I will come back another day and take better photos though - the bright light today didn't do the colours justice. Cloudy weather, like yesterday, is the best)

putting it all together

I'm a bit too tired right now to comment the process of mounting, it will have to wait until everything is finished. We'll continue tomorrow.

before mounting

The façade looking very empty and all the pieces for my art piece inside the sports hall waiting to be mounted.

commissioned colours

yellow

Black

Orange

Green and the backside of blue (there are also red and light grey)

black and white

Today - even though I'm still on vacation - I checked out how the powder spray painted white worked together with what I masked out three weeks ago. I must say I'm pleased with the result! The other parts in colour looked fine as well (I'll show you tomorrow), the only thing left to do for the powder spray paint company Guson is to lacquer with a special anti-graffiti layer. In two weeks time I'll be in the middle of mounting the art piece. But until that week: no work ...

those last details

To get some faces and other details on my art piece (my public commission) I today masked out some of the black and handed the pieces back to the company Guson for being pulver spray painted white. They have until the beginning of August to finish the job of painting my approximately 60 pieces.  So far everything seems fine - touch on wood - and I hope I'll be able not to think about it at all when I'll be on vacation in July!

red riding hood

Red Riding Hood playing in a pond Yesterday we delivered all the aluminium parts to be painted ... but first we had to wait - for 4 hours - for the elevator to be repaired!

obsessed by aluminium

I must admit that I'm someone who can get totally obsessed by things. Right now it's the aluminium (metal in general probably): the shine and the aesthetics of the backsides (the welding, screws and distances). I've tried working with glass - not me. Enamel - kind of me. Metal - me! I see so many possibilities. [...could just be a fling. When you're in the middle of it you can not distance yourself and see what's true love and what's just infatuation. Anyway I'll enjoy it while it lasts...]

me in action

photo: Lars Jonsson

photo: Eric Magassa Sometimes I need photos of myself working on my art ... but then I realize I have none ... When it comes to commissioned public art pieces I have many photos of work in progress. some of my assistants working, but none of me. (I'm somehow reluctant towards marketing my art with photos of me, but sometimes you might need to show who you are, to be a bit more personal) So this week I asked people at KKV to take my photo. As you can see I have fun when working!

instead of screenprinting

fitting, drilling, welding aluminium (last one not me, but my helper Arta)

the figure group

water cut aluminium parts for my small model (of the real figure group for my commission)

... or at least I consider it pretty small

Here you can get an idea of the actual size of the figure group.