April 25, 201115 yr Its been finalized, I have been awarded a public art commission for this summer, it will be located in McCabe park, Nashville TN. Aileron will be18' tall 25' wide forged from 2" 3" and 4" solid steel square billet, 2"x18" and 3"x12" steel plate, 1/8" bronze wings will be 30" wide and 12' long. It has one 360 degree horizontal movement, video at http://gallery.me.com/dangerdillon/100000
April 25, 201115 yr Congratulations! That's awesome news. I just found out a month ago, that a sculpture I was proposing for college did not go through. That is an impressive piece. Nice big stock sizes.
April 25, 201115 yr thats one beautiful piece of work. lots of sweat, probably burns and blood too, now just look at the fruits of your labor........and the balance, I bet that was a trick to pull off congrats
April 25, 201115 yr Congratulations on the commission Mike. Great video, nice to see your babies all together in one place. You definitely have a "style". -DB
April 26, 201115 yr Author Thanks, here is a bit of background on the project, they said they would post the other three submissions soon. This was about the 30th RFQ I have sent out and my 3rd time short listed to give a proposal. The first was "Firebird" and the second one I lost to one of the same artist I was up against for this one. Between my wife and I we had over 150 hrs. in the proposal and model, a pretty large investment for a 25% chance, but worth it! http://artsnashville.org/pubartprojects/mccabe/mccabe.php
April 26, 201115 yr Congragulations! I do have what might seem as a silly question. Is this a piece you have already created or are the photos of a small scale model you have made and edited into a photo? It is very nice piece!
April 26, 201115 yr Author The model does appear full scale but is actually 6 to 1? 2"=1'. No photoshop, just a beautiful day and a low camera angle, I think the short green helped with the illusion.
April 26, 201115 yr Beautiful work. I like the way the lower section on "Aileron" relates to and transitions into the upper mobile section. I'm also always interested in work that combines different materials. What is the material that the "blades" are made of in the piece on the video? It almost looks like stone. Also I have a few technical questions...are you ever asked to have an engineer look at a design when doing public work, and is there a way to stop the movement of the pieces during high winds? Thanks again, and congratulations, Dan
April 27, 201115 yr Author Dan, not sure which piece your referring to, the video shows several sculptures, this one the wings are bronze, "Up and Away" I used stone. The two projects I have done as public commission are stamped by an engineer but I do enjoy that process myself either rebuilding old machines or coming up with theses contraptions. No lock outs on my sculptures yet but I like the idea! Not sure how far I will be able to push it, did here about a sculpture of a working guillotine though, it was bought by an insurance company.
April 27, 201115 yr Michael, Cant wait to see the sculpture in place. Hope you get the opportunity to post lotso work in progress pics. I like the look and the scale of your work. I would like to see your shop sometime if I wouldn't be in the way. Ben
April 28, 201115 yr Author Always wanted to be a rockstar... but my rhythm is more like Navin in "The Jerk" Ben, in the way usually means "just hold this here wile I hit it and don't move!"
April 28, 201115 yr Ha! Don't know much about rock stars. But I would like to see some of the big machines being used by someone who knows how. Next time I find myself at PDK or Cobb County I'll try to sneak over for a bit. I'll hold the metal still; too dumb to be scared.
May 20, 201115 yr A somewhat technical drawing. This will be fun to watch come together. I hope you post alot of photos.
June 8, 201114 yr Author Moving slow, hope to get some material soon. Cool rendering done by the architect for the grounds.
August 2, 201114 yr Author Finally got some iron, almost 3 tons! First at the forge a 311lb. chunk of 3" plate 40" long with one end 6 1/2" wide and the other 10" wide. Tapered the 10" end down to 2" and put a slight curve in the hard way with the 100 ton press. We will pull the other end down to 4" square tomorrow, another 103 degree forecast, yippee!
August 3, 201114 yr cool work, love the Firebird, could watch that all day, the way it moves, very elegant. thanks for the tour of your work.
August 4, 201114 yr Michael, Excellent ideas you have for your artwork and on such a large scale. - Oh the joys of a large workshop and big hammers. Keep it up.
August 4, 201114 yr Danger, You the MAN! I always thought BIG iron was fascinating, just 'cause it IS big. I have no idea what he has been doing for the last twenty five years, but I always respected Albert Paley's work for that same reason. You got the BIG now. Do be carefull , don't drop a bit on your toe.
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