Ericano Bulb Installation

Biomorph has now been installed at Esvelt Gallery in Pasco. You can see the show M-Th 8am - 8:30pm or Friday 8-noon. Or you can join me for a reception at 1pm on January 14. The show is up through Febraury 6. Laura Ahola-Young has some fun and interesting paintings in the show and if you like my work, you might like hers, too.

"Ericano" bulb installation view

At the show I have two wall installation pieces and a dozen or so free standing sculptures (pictures to follow eventually). The Ericano bulb installation was much easier to install. I made a paper grid and had someone else drill all the holes and put in all 100 L-hooks (by hand, thanks Randy). 

setting up for the installation, first page of grid leveled and taped to the wall

After the hooks were up and the bulbs placed, the gallery director came in and expressed surprise that "it worked." Since this is roughly the same response I've gotten since the first bulb installation in 2002, I wasn't exactly surprised, but it is an interesting reaction.

entire grid taped to the wall, ready for drilling

The paper grid saved a lot of time--even if you account for someone else working on one installation while I set up the second. The total time might actually be more because doing the grid at home was annoying in a small space, but it was quite nice to be out of the gallery in time for a late lunch instead of a late dinner.

bulbs with "safety wire", airplane parts, and flossers

A few of the bulbs for the installation only came together fully in 2014, after we got back from our travels. I was epoxying right up to the point when I loaded the car. Luckily, only a handful of pieces in the installation have non-ceramic additions; most are entirely clay. 

notice the pink scraps on the floor? shavings from flossers that were too thick to fit into the (other) fired bulb

Most of the non-ceramic additions were simply epoxied in place, but my husband "safety wired" the ceramic bolts on one of them (the red bulb with yellow and green bolts). He is an airplane mechanic and apparently they use this general technique to keep hydraulics from moving. He wired up all the bolts with one piece of wire. Pretty handy.

wall installation from the side (I'll have to take new pictures soon)

Interestingly enough almost all of the additions seem to blend into similarity when they are hung together. When looking at the whole set of 100 bulbs, they all seem basically the same size and color is more noticeable than material. Except for the pink and blue floss one on the top row which is noticeably larger and a bright color.

 

hanging bulbs with non-ceramic additions

Even the ones with bolts, airplane parts and white sticks coming out of them are difficult to see from a distance. The people helping to install the show talked about their favorites and what each one looked like, but this was because they were in the same space as the installation. This one is really better to see in person. 

the painting to the right of the installation has a grid of very similar shapes across the whole surface