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Build out 4 now available
This is Pablo. He and I are going to do something a bit strange in the art world. I'm going to create an Ephemeral sculpture with him. The sculpture is built without any glue or supports. Its sort of like Jenga. Its built in sections, placed to be balanced. Small pieces of wire may be used to hold something in place temporarily. The objective is to build it with more and more unusual objects until it can hold nothing more.
So whats the point?
The point is to learn more about balance and how like objects can be formed into a single whole. Its meant to show how ephemeral life is, including art. Most important, it shows that not all art must be sold for a profit
Each addition to the sculpture will be posted here.
If you have a strange or unusual object that you'd like me to add to the sculpture, let me know!
The objective isn't to just stack items. Its to create a piece of temporary art that is pleasing to the eye.
So Just what are Constructs?
Constructs are pieces of art which are formed from individual objects. They may take the form of a sculpture or three dimensional wall art. There are two forms of constructs:
Conceptual: Formed of objects which are connected and create a single piece of permanent art
Ephemeral: Formed of objects which are not connected. The construct is temporary and may last a day or year.
A Little Background

So it all began with Lambchop. A friend had given me a bunch of studio donations and in it was this tiny plush doll of Lambchop the adorable sidekick of Shari Lewis (look it up if you have no clue who they are). Most of the items I put out in our freebie box in front of the house. But I had to keep Lambchop. So when I was cleaning the studio, I had no clue where it should go in an already heaping studio. So I had this ceramic cup of a wild looking middle eastern gentleman. So I decided to put Lambchop in the cup for the moment. Its cute right? I'd find a better spot for it later.
But I kept looking at it, thinking "there is something I'm missing here". This feeling usually means I've got a new creative idea coming on, but it wasn't quite ready to show itself to me.
So I went out to the porch studio and was photographing some sculpture work, when I glanced at a pile of items I'd been putting on a shelf. Some of these I'd had awhile. I also had a very unusual glasswork candle holder I'd just brought up to the front. So what if I put these items on top of the candle holder and arranged them in an unusual pattern.

Then it hit me! Lambchop was trying to tell me something. These were creative constructs. But not the kind that someone could buy. They were.....hmm....come on Grey its on the tip of your tongue....EMPHEMERAL. They were artistic constructs that may change at any given moments. I suddenly looked around and realized that these were NOT the only ephemeral constructs around me. They were everywhere!
This wasn't by chance. I'd had the habit for years of taking items which I'd purchased for my art and placing them in interesting configurations until I decided I needed them. This helped me not forget that I had the items. Its just that I had never looked at them as art because they were so momentary.

They were Ephemeral Constructs and they were all around me. From the selected objects I'd placed on shelves, to objects I'd stacked together because I like looking at them. They all had momentary beauty that would last only a short time before being reconfigured.
So what could I do with this? These weren't my typical Conceptual Constructs. Those were meant to be static creations that remained once completed. But there must be a way these fit into the pattern of my life as an artist.
BUILD OUT Day 1
This is challenging because it has to be in complete balance or one addition can topple the whole structure. I've had to rethink some of the pieces I want to add. I've got an idea how to make the structure more solid without using glue. We'll see what might work.
BUILD OUT Day 2
This is teaching me so much about balancing aesthetics and form with fundamental rules of building a structure that can stand on its own without any supports. Its very much like balancing dominoes. If one falls they all fall.
BUILD OUT Day 3 FAIL FAIL FAIL
So Design #1 fails. The whole structure is too wobbly. Objects added to the sculpture fall apart at a rate thats too fast. So I took it apart and I am trying a different design. Lets try Pablo the skeleton in a reclining position and see how things go. Here is the base.
I took some time to examine the new structure and I do find its much more stable than the last. I'm discovering ideas to keep thing solid that I'd never thought of before. So here is the next build out.