surprise....it's done!

Well....wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles.....I finished the installation today. And I most definitely have a tale to tell about the final day. So grab the beverage of your choice and sit back 'cuz I got some 'splainin' to do.

It actually begins yesterday afternoon, which I have a slightly new perspective about after having a bit of much deserved sleep. I need to elaborate on the events at the end of the afternoon, when Albertina came to my rescue. As mentioned in the last blog entry, Tina escorted me to Grainger and the other hardware store, but neither could help me. She spent at least half an hour on the phone prior to that, calling woodturner/boardmember/veryimportantpersononmyselectioncommitteeforthisresidency Jack Larimore to ask where the "real" hardware stores" were in town. It was Jack who suggested Grainger. She then got on the phone with Grainger, trying to locate my coveted ferrules.

After we returned from our unsuccessful field trip, Albert was back in the center and ready for action. He looked up the company on the web who made the ferrules I had and found out what stores carried them. (pretty much the major chains like Home Despot, Walmart, Lowe's, Sears, etc.) He then got on the phone and persistently asked the right questions until he found a Home Despot (do I even need to mention that the typo is intentional any more?) in North Philly who seemed to have the quantity I needed.

I really needed the help at that point. The setback, in addition to being in the heat all day installing the yellow group had really exhausted me. I don't know exactly what I would have done to resolve the problem, but it was basically solved by 6pm last night. I decided to go home and do the errand in the morning before going to the Wood Turning Center for another day. I am so thankful that they came through when I really needed it.

I'm also thankful for my new tool, which I unfortunately can't find the name for, but here it is. It's like a giant pair of clippers, except that the cutters have various size holes for the various size ferrules that you can crimp. Oh baby! This was a great purchase for this project and I hope I will have some future need for it.

So....back to my story. This morning, I drove all the way up to the Home Despot in North Philadelphia. This makes the third Home Despot I've visited in Philadelphia, and the sixth time I've visited this store this week, if I'm not mistaken. Besides the treat of getting to blast my new Imogen Heap album in the van all the way there, I was rewarded by this really cool old smokestack that Home Despot had taken the brilliant opportunity to add their logo to. This could be construed as disgusting consumerism, but I actually felt grateful that they hadn't torn it down. It made me realize that one of the biggest things I hate about Home Despot is the atmostphere. This made it feel more personal. So there. From hereonout in this blog entry only, I will remove the "s" in the middle of their name.

I got my ferrules and returned to the Wood Turning Center by 9:30 a.m. By 11:30, I had completed the entire red group - with the newfound energy of the morning, the fact that I finally had all my hardware, and the giant cup of coffee I had earlier, as well as the experience gained from yesterday, I was cranking! As I mentioned before, this is new territory for me, so I had a steep learning curve yesterday while I learned to work with steel cable, ferrules, and turnbuckles for the first time. Not to mention the heat. I've never had to work with the weather in this way before.

So I also realized at this point that I didn't have enough cable to complete the project. I did some quick math, and ran out to the nearby Home Depot to get it before Vince showed up to videotape me. I have been making friends at this particular Home Depot. It didn't hurt that on this trip they were playing Fatboy Slim AND Prince on the muzac system in the store. This could be just a little bit sad, but I chose to see it as an omen and bopped and sang my way through what looked like my last visit to Home Depot for this project. Whee - life is goooooood!


When I got back, Vince was there in the light well, filming some detail shots of the installation. I am so glad that we have a videographer on this project. I have only begun to have some photos taken of my installation process in general and since it's one of the biggest components of creating this kind of art, it's so important. Vince has a really good eye, so I'm definitely glad to have him on board.

Okay, I'm now realizing that I hadn't gotten all of the way done with the red group, so Vince filmed me while I did that. I can't wait to see the footage he got. I think Tina took this great photo of me and Vince working together. I've had experience working with people documenting my work on video and photos, but it's still always curious to me to be there in that moment. I was determined to finish the installation today when I saw how fast it went this morning, so I had no problem slipping into "work mode" for the camera. I basically made sure I was facing the camera as much as possible, which is a funny thing to have to be conscious of, in my opinion. But really important, so I will try my best to accommodate.

I finished the red group. Onto the last group. I looked down at the pile of wire and it looked a little sparse. Oops - I should have multiplied the amount by two this morning. Ugh. Back to Home Depot. As I said before, I've made some friends there this week and so they made it a little better to be there for the third time that day. I was in such a good mood today since I knew I would have the weekend to see some of the other things on my list, so nothing was going to faze me.


I was about 2/3 of the way through the blue group when I noticed that leaves were swirling into the light well and it was getting dark fast. I looked up and it appeared a storm was brewing. It has been the norm here to have an afternoon or evening thunderstorm, and I had managed to escape that all week. I yelled into the Wood Turning Center for whoever could hear me "I'm just letting you all know that if it rains, I'm staying out here and working and somebody will need to come take photos for the blog." You never know how long these storms will last, and there was no way I was going to let it get in the way of progress. What's an Oregon girl to do - run for shelter? Puh-leeeeeeez! I am embarrassed to carry an umbrella in public most of the time! I have my pride!

The nice thing about the rain here, is that it's so humid that it doesn't even matter that it's raining. When it rains in Oregon, it's usually cold, so you don't want to be in it for too long. This summer, I have had a number of walks through the rain showers and it's been quite lovely. After spending the last three days sweating in this light well, it was actually quite comforting to have the rain come.

I think the shower lasted less than thirty minutes. Enough to get me wet, enough to make my fingers pruny, enough to make my sneakers squeak and the staff giggle when I walked through the Wood Turning Center. It just made my hot soapy shower at the end of the day all the more wonderful.

So.....then it was done. Wow. I cleaned up my debris and took some photos and movies to document it. This picture of the installation from inside is the best I can do from one position. One thing I like about my past installation work is that the viewer has to move their body in some way in order to appreciate it, and this is no exception. You really need to walk along the windows to see each piece centered and then move in to see the detail of each group. I love the way the color draws your eye out of the interior space. So much of what's in the building is, well, wood colored. I know this should come as no big surprise, but it certainly does help my work to have some impact around here.

This piece feels pivotal for me. It really pushed my boundaries in so many ways. First of all, the experience of working with a historical space and letting that inform the concepts. Then working outside was a big one. Using the lathe as a big part of my concepts was also new. I was making the comment to Vince today that "it looks like my work, but it's different." I think Suzanne was outside the window and laughed when I said that, but this is what I feel--it's one thing to find a voice as an artist, which in my case has been as strong a verbal as a visual voice. This is the first time the visual voice has changed dramatically in seven or eight years. And yet, I think someone who knows my work would guess that it was mine. This makes me very excited. I have spent a lot of time this week thinking about how much this residency has pushed me, which of course has a lot to do with my willingness to push myself. How can I create that environment in the future? Will it take more residencies, or are there other ways I can challenge myself when I'm home alone in my studio? I am interested in cultivating this more intentionally in my life. Stay tuned for details and then you can be the judge about whether or not I'm successful.

This final image is from the end window, an angle I hadn't considered when designing this project. I love the way it is so chaotic from here, am also interested in the primary color mix. This is one thing that I want to work into my statement after the experience of installing, as well as something that I thought of in a conversation with Vince today where I linked this installation to the practice of espalier in gardening. I'm always coming back to the Man vs. Nature thing, aren't I? Well, it's such good fodder for a simple girl like me. Simple Life. Hah. Paris Hilton, move over.

Okay - it's time for me to go. It's Friday night and there's a martini out there with my name on it. Hendrick's Gin, up with a twist. Yee Haw.