Triumphs and Failures

Wow it has been a crazy couple of weeks. There have been days of complete failures and some days of amazing successes. Both are necessary and helpful for getting the ultimate end result that we are looking for. One day I stretched 33 (!!!) pieces of VHB before I managed to secure a frame on it. No exaggeration.

The things that I have been concentrating on are three paintings that are very closely related to the kind of artwork I usually do. I felt that I needed to truly develop and incorporate this new material into the work I am known for. This way my audience can see a true progression and understand how my work has gotten to the point that it’s at. So if you’ve looked at my website or you know my work, you can see in the photos that I am lasercutting my original designs in acrylic but these designs are part of a framework that holds the VHB membrane. On this membrane I am painting with the grease and the grease will actuate when connected to the power box. Combining the static, colourful and solid designs with the wet, black, ‘living’ grease makes for an intriguing artwork.

Here is a photograph of ‘Red Breeze’.

You can see that I have a central red design which represents a breezy light wind. Behind is another layer in fluorescent yellow of the reversed breeze design. Layering the frames adds another dimension to the work. The acrylic and the VHB are transparent so we have alot to look at and explore in the small work. On the front red frame I have a solid black shape at the top and a positively lined design at the bottom. Here I am exploring the thickness of the lines. These two shapes behave differently when actuated.
Behind on the yellow frame I have painted the grease on the negative area of the design. The positive lines are transparent. This will also alter how the membrane behaves once actuated. Unfortunately I had painted another negative design in the bottom right corner. You can see where the VHB has retracted back to the edges of the yellow frame after tearing. It has left smears of the grease on the side when it broke. Unfortunately I never got the chance to actuate the whole thing before it broke.

Here is a photo of the broken work and the sketch of how it should have looked.

This work is still successful for me because as well as spending time making the frames, designing the artwork, painting and putting it together; I wanted to come up with a frame idea that looks like what I have made in the past and it hides most of the cables, clips and copper. To me these things are a distraction to looking at the artwork. They also indicate the process behind the artwork. I think it is nice to have an element of mystery behind the mechanics of the piece. You really get a sense of wonder when you look at it and don’t know how it works or why. It really does look like a thin clear skin that is mysteriously animated. It’s not a computer or tv screen, its not a robot or clunky machinery. So what is it? That is what I hope the viewer will ask.

Here is an example of the front red frame actuating alone.

Here is the artwork with both working layers. Excuse the camera work. Here the work is connected to the power box which is being controlled by a computer to get the three components moving at different frequencies. The voltage for all is the same at 2250 volts.