Art Curtain
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Creator: |
Contents
Overview
This project is a large collaboration painting on a canvas, roughly estimated between 10x10 and 12x12 feet. Gromets will be installed in the canvas allowing it to hang from a hooks attached to the ceiling, like a window drape (it will have to be moved by some rope rigging). The paint will be mixed with a flame retardant chemical and seal (Simon suggested TLS, which I've worked with before and had no problems) in case of sparks or other flames from the tools area. This canvas will hang on top of where the blue tarp is now, between the main floor with its tables and the tools area. With the drape and rigging set up, it can be visible, but when we're moving large equipment through the shop or need a breeze, the canvas can be easily moved aside as necessary.
We have numerous members and non-members interested in contributing subject matter and effort. The plan is that sometime in late March or early April we'll have all the materials necessary and start painting.
Calendar
Status
- 3/26/10 - Tarp curtain has been installed on garage/main room doorway. It gives a 12'x12' space for art. It has been rigged with rope to be pulled aside and furled drapery-style to allow passage and ventilation. It is suspended by four screw hooks at ~4' intervals. It is recommended that the art curtain be suspended on the main room side of the tarp by the same hooks. Spacefelix discussed with MrWorld about protecting the paint from cracking and rubbing off when the curtain is furled and unfurled. He said since oil-based paints are used, the art would have to be left to hang vertically for one month to allow the paint to dry. Spacefelix suggested the equipment room's ceiling trusses to hang the art for drying before mounting.
Future Actions/ToDos
- Gather materials, theme ideas and paint!
Members Interested
- MrWorld
- Preauxphoto
- Benalene
- Spacefelix - LED backlighting, rigging and maybe some drawing
- CherryBlossom
- Dickie(drawing)
- Gregabyte
Non-Members also interested:
- Chrys
- Tabatha
Interested in participating? Sign up!
Materials
This is still up to debate, interested members are discussing it now, but these are some of our options.
For Painting:
- Drop cloth canvas (rough guess 12x12) - Big, cheap drop cloth
- Simon recommends buying one large cloth
- Others like the idea of buying smaller drop cloths and sewing them together as we work
- House paint
- Possible to save money buying only primary colors and mixing as needed (confirmed)
- Spray paint
- Flame retardant seal
- Other varnish
- SEVERAL brushes, large and small
For Lighting
- Fiber Optics - Filaments or Fishing Line
- LEDs and control/power.
Subject Matter
Obviously the painting would need to fit the theme of the shop. With many people working on a large canvas, the easiest option to fill the composition would be to have each participant responsible for some space, filling it with characters/objects/concepts/subjects in their own style. All of these smaller images would combine to fill the large canvas. Benalene and MrWorld like the idea of doing small scale drawings as a test and combining them to determine proportion and placement.
After some casual meetings, we've started brain storming subject matter.
The bottom of the canvas would be a silhouette cityscape, the outline of buildings and some Huntsville monuments. Above the city the sky fades from sunset to space-black for a skyscape populated with everything the participants can think of. A short list of possibilities so far:
- Our logo (obviously)
- circuit boards
- gears & clockwork
- giant robots
- daikaiju monster
- an airship
- ceiling cat watches the shop
- pirates and ninjas
- zombies?
- Flying Dragon Knight - dickie
- angels/demons
- Metal Hurlant skull Comet
- a real vampire
- Huntsville icons (Saturn V, Egg Beater Jesus, werner von braun)- Omegix
- Cyborg Von Braun? - MrWorld
- any other concept from nerd culture
- LED Stars & Outlines/Constellations - I believe the most doable option for putting lights on the Wall Art would be to make white/color-cycling light outlines and/or constellations of the images. That way with the lights off, you get a rough idea of what the painting is.
- other participants should feel free to contribute possibilities!
Construction
- Spacefelix recommends that the blue tarp remain as a backing for the artwork to protect it. Given the plans to face the art to the inside of the shop towards the main room, the blue tarp would protect it from the weather and other activities in the garage.
- Since the canvas will be moved by rigging when the curtain is opened, we will need to make sure the paint is not cracked or rubbed away by the rigging and folding.
