candlestick

[jake pogrebinsky]

This project was a recycling job,had a remnant kicking about that was a sample for a client from last year,a job that ended up taking a different route.

So no plan,or even sketching,just rolling with whatever the steel wants(So to speak,i can only wish,of course,that everything was just "flowing" wherever IT wants).

The process was very enjoyable,just forging,unencumbered by thought(I'm up against having to produce a bunch of salable kitch right now,in order to once again try to pull myself up by ye olde bootstraps,so this was a welcome,if unexcusable,diversion).
Two things i enjoyed most about it:Crudely,and simply,forging all the parts,nothing technical,no devices,just swinging my small ballpeen wherever the fancy moves me.That was nice.
Also,always wanted to try balancing something,using a counter-weight.Worked out great.Steel is nice and heavy,and balances easily because of it's specific weight.The point of the stand is forged sharp,and the top part is simply divoted with my crude marking/indexing punch.
It hangs in there pretty good,and only goes flying off with a terrible clatter if i get too rowdy swinging it around.Lots of fun to play with! (I truly am an imbecile,but proud of it,since can't help it anyway!Easily amused,that's for sure!)

[ianinsa]

Jake,
As abstract art I like it!
As a candle stick I'm not so sure?
Ian

[jake pogrebinsky]

Ian,i've no clue about "art",abstract or otherwise!(actually,i'm currently working with a friend who teaches modern painting,and learning a little about all that,quite facsinating,and complex,but not my bag for sure).

As a candlestick it's decidedly useless,even unsafe.I live much by candlelight(not having electricity at home),and it's hard to beat a bottle for a decent candlestand.
Two things are important,that the candle is elevated,and,if possible,easily adjustable.
In this wise,the floor-standing job,with the height adjustment,is just sweet(it usually can swing around,too).

But candles are too expensive nowadays to be practical,anyway.And so,unfortunately,i'm less and less guided by any practical aspect in this,and many other branches of the craft.(Boo-hoo ,but,that's 21st century for ya).

[bigfootnampa]

It's COOL!!!! Jake. I'd put a candle in it! Think of the shadows! Sell it to one of those spook houses! My son worked in one this fall and had 9,000 people come through his station one night! That was a record for that location. They charge $20 a head for tickets in that place... do the math... they can afford a neat eerie candleholder! In Fact... maybe they could use a giant version upscaled about 4X!!!

[jake pogrebinsky]

That's great,Clay!Forging is an exellent medium for anything eerie,spooky,and just macabre in general!
A good friend has travelled to Budapest,where there's supposed to be a fantastic Museum of Torture Implements.I've desperately waited for her return,only to find out that her camera crapped out on her just then!!!
There was a couple of photos,only a few,and the stuff looked very crudely forged...I was rather disappointed.
Same with looking up some chastity belts;always wanted to forge one.But all i've seen looked very crude.Surprised me,frankly.
Hey,let's start a thread dealing with odd/macabre forgings!
Need to look for that Trapping magazine issue with an article about the hand-forged leg-hold traps! B)

[beth]

now yr talking! what a great subject - macabre terrifying iron implements ! will start thinking... there are some amazing man traps ive seen somewhere.. and the iron maidens - arent they for locking naughty people into?

as for the candle stick thing agree with you big foot - i love it and i particularly love the spirit in which it was made. and really if we are going to talk about art this method is the highest form, going with the flow and getting into a flow state. a subject that causes much derision, but i see it (only recently has this properly started to sink in though) that we as artists ( and anyone interested in creating ANYTHING is an artist ) are not "coming up with" ideas from ourselves, but more drawing from an endless supply that is linked with everything else on the planet and beyond. i realise im sounding like a yoghurt weaving hippy (which i am most certainly not!) but if you can lose ego with your art, even for brief spells - for an experiment even - making it turns into something entirely different to do. as our russian friend has so beautifully illustrated the process then opens doors that the ego and the negative thoughts that accompany the ego ( like my work is not original - i havent the skill - i havent the tools - i dont have the money - nobody will like it - people will laugh at it - theres no point - i just mess about i dont make ART) would keep firmly shut. altogether a good thing i reckon. sorry bout the art waffle guys - you just touched an enthused nerve!

jake - as for a totally inexcusable diversion or whatever it was - its no such thing, a moment of contentment with the universe and flow which will totally enable you to churn out some more necasary kitsch. this stuff is ageless - and you can still stick two fingers up to the 21st century :)

[Dillon Sculpture]

When you make an object that moves, you give it an interesting life force, whether its as simple fulcrum of a poetic balancing form or a 8 second drag bike flying down a 1/4" strip, one can speek volumes over the other just depends who's viewing.

A quote from Thomas Houseago that struck me recently,

"I am just trying to remind people that you can provide another perspective on how things can look. I am trying to understand what it is to be alive and think and feel, and to explore that in my work. But as a sculptor, bottom line, I am trying to put thought and energy into an inert material and give it truth and form, and I believe there is nothing more profound than achieving that"

[Mainely,Bob]

Just about anyone can make something that just sets there,people do it every day.
Now something that has movement and especially something that can dance,now that`s the next best thing to creating life as far as I`m concerned.
Everything contains energy(it`s all made from whirling atoms)but to create something that sets that energy free even in some small way is to take at least one step closer to a meeting with the Gods.

[ianinsa]

Beth,
"yoghurt weaving hippy"???????????????? What in the name of ZARDOZ? Kind of phrase is that?
Ian

[Sask Mark]

Very nice Jake. It's forgings like yours that really got me into blacksmithing. I love the challenge of trying to make what I see in my mind.

[jake pogrebinsky]

Most sincere Thanks to everyone for these very interesting thoughts.I should cut my b.s. short,for a change,so as i can think about all that has been said.
And i will,in a minute,but can't help briefly saying this:
Recently i've been told,on the subject of modern "art"(the quotation marks are always there for me whenever i use the word),that one way in which it differs is that it asks a question of the viewer,vs providing an expected,comforting answer.
In this case,inintentionally,and among the fellow-craftspeople,it happened to have just such a serendipitous effect,which is very cool,and i think benefits all of us,in some hard-to-define way...
In the original Zen and the Art of Archery the man is very surprised that the point of the whole deal is to NOT DO,not to interfere with something that is BEING DONE ALREADY(in that case,the arrow flying toward it's mark).Because,obviously,it's not only happening,but is doing so in the most perfect possible manner.And we,puny and shortsighted(here i can hear you folks say:"You got a mouse in your pocket?",or,"What's that we-s...t,white man?"),have a choice:Get impatient and ball the thing up,or remain quiet and learn...
That is the essence of "religious" attitude,to have faith in "The fundamental allrightness of the universe"(A.Huxley,my hero and very flawed human being hisself).
Afterall,the iron atoms have done perfectly well for a good long while,since that star blew up(they tell me that H can be compressed into the preceding 25 elements by less dramatic means,but it takes an ex(im-)ploding star to create the 26th,Fe).
It is that stellar pressure that our hammer mimics,that's why i like to credit the iron itself with the particulars of it's deformation.
It's not the control of material,it's the lack of control,that turns out to be most appealing...
Hey,you guys were the first to bring God and the Universe into this!
Thank you,great,humbling thoughts in everyone's posts,very much appreciate it all!

[Bryce Masuk]

Good discussion, I feel much the same as everyone else

I just figure when I am in the flow with life that I can feel it and when I am not I dont feel right.

I really like this piece because it seems like it has something to say or something to be,

I have really liked your work you have posted you have been working hard jake.

money or not something was earned