Environmental Sculpture
ENVIRONMENTAL SCULPTURE & PUBLIC ART
Large scale environmental sculpture is my favorite artistic medium. Christo, Noguchi and others are among my childhood heroes.
The Roof Project
Axe thru Roof
A visit to the Berlin Wall around 1985 sparked the inspiration for “Axe thru Roof” the first in my series of environmental sculptures. Then for the next few years I erected a series of sculptures on and around my house in Costa Mesa, California (Coastal Orange County).
Bomb thru Roof
The bomb thru the roof was my next and perhaps my best project. It was made of a wooden framework covered with thin sheet aluminum. This one made the front page of the local Orange County newspaper, but why wouldn’t it?
Power Lines and Tower thru Roof
I don't remember why I put the power-lines up. But I like them.
Carl's Jr.
A neighbor who worked for a sign company asked me if I wanted an old Carl’s Junior Happy Star sign, how could I say no? I planted him in my front yard, wrapped him in canvas (a la Christo) and planted some flower seeds.
As they bloomed I gave Happy a pair of shorts and sunglasses. As the holiday season came around Happy glowed with a set of decorative lights.
Downpour- Cut in Half Pianos
Most people probably haven’t much experience in cutting two pianos in half and planting them in their yard but I have. This was inspired by the adage “It’s raining cats and dogs”. Well at my house it was raining pianos.
These two pianos I got as klunkers who's lives as musical instruments had seen better days. With the idea of planting them in the backyard to make them appear as if they dropped out of the sky I had two options. Either dig huge holes to drop them into or cut them in half. Deciding to take the less menial approach I proceeded to disassemble the instruments and cut each piece where it was needed to be cut and reassemble the instruments. It was quite a monumental task, but rewarding. After completing the second instrument I felt as I was getting pretty good at it but realized that there wasn't much future in pursuing that skill any further so I stopped at the second one and haven't found the need to do any piano cutting since.
Piano from Ceiling
After the pianos falling from the sky and into the backyard art piece I felt as though it would be marvelous if a piano had also fallen from the sky, gone thru my roof and protruded thru the living room ceiling. This piano was made from foam core board cut and assembled into a half of a grand piano shape and covered with wood grain contact paper. The keyboard I made from painted wood pieces.
Happy Couple Bed Board
There's love, then marriage, then death. Or something to that effect.