Around the time we received a commission to do a large outdoor public sculpture, Rie was deep into reading about Darwin's studies of barnacles, I was infatuated with the fungus that was sprouting all over our small enclosed alley next to our studio, and we were both wanting to do a project that would utilize a local metal spinning business.
Brainstorming - Early sketch
Brainstorming - First crude conceptual paper maquette
After deciding that we wanted to do a sculpture that utilized spun steel as the main design element, we began defining some of the parameters such as the size and configuration of the sculpture. It was decided that the final piece would be an curved wall of spun shapes approximately 80' wide. It is broken into sixteen 5' wide sections. There are 5 different sizes of spun steel shapes.
After defining some of the parameters, we began working on a maquette that would be used to design the layout, and as a reference for construction drawings as well as the 3D renderings. Hundreds of scaled wood pieces were turned on the lathe representing the 5 different sizes of spun steel pieces that would be used in the final piece.
Getting ready to trim some of the wood maquette pieces on the bandsaw after they had been turned on the lathe
Scaled pins were made to represent the distance that each spun piece would protrude from it's support structure. We had initially planned on using 6 different lengths of pins, but ended up having to use 11 different lengths.
View showing detail of the scaled grid and pin system used to design the layout of barnacles
Working on the layout maquette
The drawing on the right side of the table was used as a starting point for laying out the spun steel pieces.
A section of the layout maquette that was used to generate blueprints and as an aid in generating 3D renderings.
Working drawing with notes regarding size, height, and placement of the spun steel pieces.
Working on a maquette that represents one section of Barnacles
In addition to our computer generated 3D renderings, a maquette representing one of the sixteen sections that comprise Barnacles was made for our presentation to the Kansas City Municipal Arts Commission.
Barnacles - Partial Front View
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