Public Art submissions: Sculpture for Traffic Islands in a new city development

[Asher Kelman]

This journey started with rescuing from the scrap in in the steel fabricating plant doing work for me. I thought that the 1/8" steel rods used to weave a material in a decorative fence, could be repurposed as central lines for making curves in a sculpture. So I ignored the waves and just worked with an imaginary smooth central curved axis.

I fixed one end in a plank of wood by epoxy-gluing it into a drilled hole I made. Then with pliers and the radius of various cans, jars, buckets and the like, I curved the steel to follow a sketch I had made using 3 strands, each 5t long. At the end of the process, when things were balanced, I epoxied the free ends of the 3 steel rods into the plank and I had a maquette, with the working name, "Partners"

For the first sculpture, I enlarged the work 2:1 measuring by hand the dimensions and using the strength and endurance of several skilled iron workers to reproduce my maquette in solid 1" steel. I was scared of using steel tubing, for fear that sharp bends might cause the walls to collapse. See the process, here. Now I studied the forms and what resonated with me was the interaction of the two forms facing one another. They were in conversation, so that, necessitated my change of name and that new name belongs!

Asher Kelman: "The Conversation"

58" long x18" wide X 27" high 1/10

1" Steel rod 2014 and Acrylic Red

​

Then I decided to enlarge the work 6 to 8 times using 6" or 8" steel tubing and tons of steel. That required reverse engineering. So I purchased a Structure Scanner attachment for an iPad Air II and then scanned the sculpture sending it wirelessly to a software program, Skannect in my Macbook Pro.
Then I sent the form I generated as a .STS file to a company that could extract the central line of the complex curves and generate the exact curves from which to rebuild the exactly 1" steel tubing as so generating a machine file to be scaled up for job estimating by a large industrial fabricator to work in 6" or 8" steel.

Asher Kelman: "The Conversation"

58" long x18" wide X 27" high 1/10

Reverse Engineered Computer Rendering of Scanned and processed file

Scanning with Structure Sensor Scanner on an ipad Air II​

So now the work is out to bid and the project will be submitted to a competition.......with the following renderings in massive versions.....

If made 8x current size, it will span 40ft and be 12 ft wide and 21ft high, using some 240 ft of stainless steel pipe! Has to withstand heat and cold and rain as well as really strong winds!! This is fun!

Asher

 

[Asher Kelman]

Now the next thing is to light it from the inside!

Asher

 

[Doug Kerr]

Hi, Asher,

This journey started with rescuing from the scrap in in the steel fabricating plant doing work for me. I thought that the 1/8" steel rods used to weave a material in a decorative fence, could be repurposed as central lines for making curves in a sculpture. So I ignored the waves and just worked with an imaginary smooth central curved axis.

I fixed one end in a plank of wood by epoxy-gluing it into a drilled hole I made. Then with pliers and the radius of various cans, jars, buckets and the like, I curved the steel to follow a sketch I had made using 3 strands, each 5t long. At the end of the process, when things were balanced, I epoxied the free ends of the 3 steel rods into the plank and I had a maquette, with the working name, "Partners"

For the first sculpture, I enlarged the work 2:1 measuring by hand the dimensions and using the strength and endurance of several skilled iron workers to reproduce my maquette in solid 1" steel. I was scared of using steel tubing, for fear that sharp bends might cause the walls to collapse. See the process, here. Now I studied the forms and what resonated with me was the interaction of the two forms facing one another. They were in conversation, so that, necessitated my change of name and that new name belongs!

Asher Kelman: "The Conversation"

58" long x18" wide X 27" high 1/10

1" Steel rod 2014 and Acrylic Red

​

Then I decided to enlarge the work 6 to 8 times using 6" or 8" steel tubing and tons of steel. That required reverse engineering. So I purchased a Structure Scanner attachment for an iPad Air II and then scanned the sculpture sending it wirelessly to a software program, Skannect in my Macbook Pro.
Then I sent the form I generated as a .STS file to a company that could extract the central line of the complex curves and generate the exact curves from which to rebuild the exactly 1" steel tubing as so generating a machine file to be scaled up for job estimating by a large industrial fabricator to work in 6" or 8" steel.

Asher Kelman: "The Conversation"

58" long x18" wide X 27" high 1/10

Reverse Engineered Computer Rendering of Scanned and processed file

Scanning with Structure Sensor Scanner on an ipad Air II​

So now the work is out to bid and the project will be submitted to a competition.......with the following renderings in massive versions.....

<snip>

If made 8x current size, it will span 40ft and be 12 ft wide and 21ft high, using some 240 ft of stainless steel pipe! Has to withstand heat and cold and rain as well as really strong winds!! This is fun!

It is wondrous how you have become able to use today's marvelous tools in pursuit of the realization of this work.

In the last image (above), the (in this view) black "socks" somehow create for me a vision of a large creature, perhaps an insect, but really most evocative of a a spider (albeit with only six legs).

A wondrous work, and a wondrous process. Thanks for sharing both with us.

Best regards,

Doug

 

[Antonio Correia]

It is indeed a great work.
I like it and I am almost sure that you will get a good position.
The sculpture is very modern and appellative standing very well on the green grass even if this one may be artificial as the water restrictions in CA are serious.

Does your proposal work includes the grass ?
I think it does include the light system as it assumes a great importance.

Do you have any safety concerns regarding the traffic ? I mean, the light can temporarily blind the drivers if too direct or falling on the driver's eyes...

 

[Maggie Terlecki]

Very cool. I'm amazed by the advances in technology that allowed you to scan this and upload it to your computer to allow you to reproduce it at a much larger size.

More amazed at the vision and confidence on your part to see it as a huge public piece. I could use a dose of that.

All the best with this project,
Maggie

 

[Asher Kelman]

It is indeed a great work.
I like it and I am almost sure that you will get a good position.
The sculpture is very modern and appellative standing very well on the green grass even if this one may be artificial as the water restrictions in CA are serious.

There's a local grass used in Kansas that can withstand dry periods. I'm happy even with yellow dry grass!

Does your proposal work includes the grass ?
I think it does include the light system as it assumes a great importance.

Lanscaping is part of the development, not the sculpture.

Do you have any safety concerns regarding the traffic ? I mean, the light can temporarily blind the drivers if too direct or falling on the driver's eyes...

The lights are designed and directed to only light the sculpture and will not be seen by the traffic. That is an important feature of the layout and is a standard consideration in any public works project!

Asher

 

[Asher Kelman]

Now there's a second traffic island, 76 ft in diameter. For this I designed a model at 1/6 scale with 20ft of steel in a continuous closed loop of complex curves. The full scale sculpture would have 120 ft of steel curled in the same form, but, larger and supported on 3 concrete pads.

Asher Kelman: "The Journey"

CAD reverse engineered from scan of 1/8" steel rod model​

No matter where one is there are other folk one would be passing at a different stage in their own lives. So the idea is to think in terms of the cycle of life and be supportive of everyone along the way.

I did not render this with grass and passing cars, since we already have that idea from it's larger sibling.


Asher

 

[nicolas claris]

Asher Kelman: "The Journey"

CAD reverse engineered from scan of 1/8" steel rod model​

Asher

I like this!
I don't need any explanation to make my own journey looking at it.
Should be fun and joy to turn around with perspective and light playing on curves.

Simply great!

 

[Asher Kelman]

I like this!
I don't need any explanation to make my own journey looking at it.
Should be fun and joy to turn around with perspective and light playing on curves.

Simply great!

Thanks for the visit. I like this too!

How it works as a sculpture: The curves work in a special way that's totally different from appreciating a photograph or a sculpture of a war hero or great leader. With solid works of art, the composition is inherent in the object itself.

With this open tubular steel, however, the landscape, trees and sky all get broken to sections as parts occupy a temporary and constantly changing "window" through the parts that are currently forming a frame for what is behind it. Also, objects at further distances away move at correspondingly greater speed. So everything in the scene now contributes to the dimensional "reach" of the sculpture, far beyond it's physical size. In fact, the further away, the more the sculpture will appear to effect the surrounding structures!

The unique feature of this form or work is that it is very sensitive to the observer's position and so it gets to have a changing personality as we rotate around it. The challenge now is to wait to be selected. One's work has to be chosen by folk! Hopefully, these two offerings, "The Conversation" and "The journey" will meet and surpass the planners' dreams and expectations. Building and assembly is just organization, work and great attention to detail and safety!

Asher

 

[James Lemon]

Thanks for the visit. I like this too!

How it works as a sculpture: The curves work in a special way that's totally different from appreciating a photograph or a sculpture of a war hero or great leader. With solid works of art, the composition is inherent in the object itself.

With this open tubular steel, however, the landscape, trees and sky all get broken to sections as parts occupy a temporary and constantly changing "window" through the parts that are currently forming a frame for what is behind it. Also, objects at further distances away move at correspondingly greater speed. So everything in the scene now contributes to the dimensional "reach" of the sculpture, far beyond it's physical size. In fact, the further away, the more the sculpture will appear to effect the surrounding structures!

The unique feature of this form or work is that it is very sensitive to the observer's position and so it gets to have a changing personality as we rotate around it. The challenge now is to wait to be selected. One's work has to be chosen by folk! Hopefully, these two offerings, "The Conversation" and "The journey" will meet and surpass the planners' dreams and expectations. Building and assembly is just organization, work and great attention to detail and safety!

Asher

Hello Asher

These are both intriguing! Would be nice to view them at such a grand scale ! What I don't understand is how one could expect to have these selected without a detailed proposal. I can't image city planers selecting anything based on a couple of images? What am I missing or does the city have an unlimited spending amount for art? How does the process work? I already have a detailed plan on how to steal it and a budget with a 20% contingency for unseen circumstances, if the project was completed. LOL

Best, regards
James

 

[Rachel McLain]

Lovely Asher! I really have enjoyed seeing all your sculptures.

I've been contemplating how to make photography into public art lately, so this is timely for me to see what you're doing. Thanks for sharing!

Rach

 

[Phil Marion]

reminds me of the two large slides in the courtyard inside Palazzo Strozzi of Florence
https://www.google.ca/search?q=Flor...rKncAhVn5YMKHUtUC7wQ_AUICigB&biw=1594&bih=671

 

[Asher Kelman]

reminds me of the two large slides in the courtyard inside Palazzo Strozzi of Florence
https://www.google.ca/search?q=Flor...rKncAhVn5YMKHUtUC7wQ_AUICigB&biw=1594&bih=671

Phil,

I am thrilled that you made that connection. I had never heard of this previously.

What is beyond amazing is that I have been working for the past week on a variation of my curves tube paradigm to build a sculpture that children can play in and slide inside the hollow tubes made up of a lower part of curved steel and the sides of glass!

Children are far more fragile. Toddlers can’t be mixed with 10 year olds! I am designing a system to presort children to size and prevent dogs from entering and also making it a place for sitting and selfies!

This connection you have given me so reinforces my concepts to date. Still, it is so much more challenging to make a compact sculpture that is safe for children than this wonderful giant set of curvaceous tubes which fits into levels of an existing building with its own support structure.

Thanks so much for your links.

You made my day!

Asher

 

[Peter Dexter]

Well Asher a fine sculpture plan you have. With that fire engine red color I am immediately reminded of sixties era works by Alexander Liberman like Orbits from 1967 and lacking the red color Beulah i , 1971 by William Tucker. You can make curvalinier designs with tube or steel pipe without crimping using certain tools. A student of mine once bought a set of pipe benders and made a stunning piece with elaborate curvatures and no crimps out of two inch steel pipe. However there is certainly nothing like having a metal fabricating company at your beck and call to handle the technical/construction aspect.

 

[Asher Kelman]

Well Asher a fine sculpture plan you have. With that fire engine red color I am immediately reminded of sixties era works by Alexander Liberman like Orbits from 1967 and lacking the red color Beulah i , 1971 by William Tucker. You can make curvalinier designs with tube or steel pipe without crimping using certain tools. A student of mine once bought a set of pipe benders and made a stunning piece with elaborate curvatures and no crimps out of two inch steel pipe. However there is certainly nothing like having a metal fabricating company at your beck and call to handle the technical/construction aspect.

Peter,

What a delightful set of inspirational connections you have made. Liberman’s oblique slices of giant diameter steel tubes is a simple but powerful approach to creating impressive, surprising and inviting forms.

The implementations I have seen are so perfectly awesome as public art!

Asher

 

[Dr Klaus Schmitt]

Well done, I quite like it Asher!! Certainly better if it is lit!

 

[Asher Kelman]

I really value the feedback as it not only is encouraging, but also, with reference folk can givecto works that are unknown to me, really helps expand my knowledge of the further possibilities that my motif can take.

Asher

 

[Steven Dillon]

Impressive. You are indeed, a man of many talents.

 

[Asher Kelman]

Impressive. You are indeed, a man of many talents.

Coming from a great observer of natural beauty, that is a wonderful comment and appreciated.

Asher