Posts Tagged ‘whimsical sculpture’

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Ceremonial Whistling Bottle


2011
05.02

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Posted in Ceramic Musical Instruments, MugPhlute Chronicles | Comments Off on Ceremonial Whistling Bottle

Ceremonial Bottle - Whistling VesselThis a different sort of whistling vessel – ceramic musical instrument.  Only the fact that it plays two tones slips this into a category as an instrument, otherwise it is a tone sculpture.  Some 25+ wheel-thrown and hand-built pieces of stoneware were assembled to bring this piece up to its maximum height of 25 inches.  Now that it has been bisque fired to 1700 degrees (F), the actual height is closer to 23.5 inches.

This ceremonial whistling bottle sounds when one of two events happen.  By removing the small, stopper-head on the back side, the vessel can be filled with water.  After replacing the stopper, the entire piece can be rocked forward (ceremoniously bowing), until water escapes through the rolled tongue of the larger head at the top.  Due to the design of the tube that feeds the spout, a slight back pressure forces air up a second tube that will play the whistle locate beneath the surface of the nose on the larger head as the water flows from the spout.  The second way that this piece sounds happens when the partially filled vessel is rocked back to its upright position.  Air passing back through the tube and airway spout create a column of air that plays the whistle in the smaller bottle-stopper head. Yes. I know that sounds complicated… but it is that level of sophistication that the Inca figured out several hundred years ago.  That is a sophistication that I still find humbling in today’s world of high tech.

There are intentional sides to this piece that reveal characteristics of a woman, a posture of worship, a gargoyle-like protector, and the mechanical mysteries of sounding a tone and delivering a stream of water.  I will leave it up to Dr. Ephriam Bowen to tell the story behind this ceremonial vessel.  In the meantime, the stoneware survived its initial firing and awaits staining and glazing.  Pictures of the construction process will be coming soon.

 

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“M” is for Maquette


2011
04.06

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Posted in Artist's Thoughts, Ceramic Musical Instruments, Construction Techniques | Comments Off on “M” is for Maquette

I have some serious doubts that ancient, mesoamerican musical instrument builders spent time building maquettes of the ceramic musical instruments they created.  Maquette has French, Italian, and Latin genes, originally translated as “speck” or stain”. In contemporary use, it is more commonly used by architects and sculptors to mean a small-scaled, study model for a larger piece. Arguably, ancient Mayan and Incan musical instruments that feature a character holding/playing a much smaller ceramic musical instrument qualifies, I suppose, as a maquette.

Maquette and Sketches of Whistling VesselFor me, the retired architect, building a maquette for a complex piece that is intended to be both sculptural and functional makes sense. Certainly, sketches are my first step in visualizing what is coming from the mind’s eye and to establish some sense of scale, but there are other benefits. Clay is a very malleable and forgiving media that enables the artist to make mid-course corrections and changes in the designs. Building a small maquette helps to reveal some of those options that might otherwise hide themselves in a two-dimensional drawing.

The maquette and sketches in the picture on this post are for the whistling vessel that is currently under construction. Not wanting to fire the work in multiple pieces, the interior height of the electric kiln became a major factor in the scale of the project. Between the sketching and the constructing of the maquette, a number of changes happened to the original concept as the piece evolved into something that (potentially) will be an unusual whistling vessel. In this instance, the pouring of water through the vessel will play a tone as the water escapes the spout, and, the vessel will play a different tone through the stopper as the vessel is tilted back from a pouring position to its upright state. If it works, I will be thanking that Physics of Fluid Dynamics professor from decades ago. If it doesn’t work, I’ll be blaming the “C-” that I received in the course *grin*.

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Whistling Vessel Video


2011
03.21

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Posted in Ceramic Musical Instruments, Multimedia | Comments Off on Whistling Vessel Video

I forgot to add a link to the Whistling Vessel Video that I loaded onto YouTube last week. There will be better videos but probably not better tunes coming from the vessels *grin*.

Here is the Windows Media Video file (.wmv) version, uploaded for WordPress:
Whistling Vessel Testing.

Experimentation continues on ceramic musical instruments. New pieces are expected out of the kiln next week (not much of a cliffhanger, right?).

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Sculpture in Music?


2011
02.28

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Posted in Artist's Thoughts, Ceramic Musical Instruments | 2 Comments »

Ocarina - Clay Musical InstrumentDeb and I have both laughed at the influence that “Davey Jones” from Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest may have had on this particular piece.  I had mentioned something about the remarkable make-up job and the animation of Davey’s tentacles while watching the movie just recently.  I can accept that there may have been a seed planted, but I’d really like to think that this particular clay musical instrument, an ocarina, is an exploration of sculpture.

So many traditional brass instruments are remarkable works of functional, sculptural art and for the most part are admired only as a delivery system for music, and not as works of art that stand on their own merit.  Flutes and tone sculptures from numerous ancient civilizations are highly decorated, well formed works of art that are celebrated in museums across the globe.  Somewhere along the industrial revolution time line, we lost the celebration of the artist-craftsman-instrument-maker and the products of their hands. This Oca-regal is simply an effort to add attention to the sculptural qualities of a simple, ceramic flute.  This is a variation on a theme from my previous projects, but I am thinking this direction may have some merit for instruments that are intentionally made to be displayed rather than locked up in an instrument case.

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Clay Ocarina – “Escape” Series


2011
01.30

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Clay Ocarina - Ceramic Musical InstrumentWhile I am patiently waiting for all of the new Udu’s to dry, I have ventured back to a familiar friend for a new series of ocarinas.  Changes in the way that I construct and assemble the airway tubes made things much more predictable for extending the tonal range of these pinch pot construction ceramic musical instruments.  New to this series is the addition of facial features embossed on the front surface of the ocarina.  These gnome-like faces are figuratively escaping the bonds of the clay but do not reveal themselves in complete detail.  They are a metaphor for the music that also escapes the hollow body of the instrument, reaching the human ear only when someone (musician) is there to force the music to leave.

This limited series is hand built from a small batch of recycled stoneware that I have been hoarding for over a year.  During that period, the aging process produced a very plastic and workable clay perfect for pinch pot construction.  So far, there are 5 of these ocarinas completed and ready for firing.  Ocarina Detail - Sculptural FaceEach has been designed for display as a wall-hung sculpture and each one is a fully functional single octave+ flute that employs typical penny whistle or song flute fingering.  Construction generally takes about 3-4 hours for each, excluding time needed between construction and carving phases to allow the clay partial drying.

With a little luck and a happy reduction firing schedule, the Escape Series will make it into the gallery in about three weeks.

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Experimental Ceramic Drums


2011
01.13

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Posted in Ceramic Musical Instruments, Construction Techniques, Shows and Sales, Wheel-Throwing | Comments Off on Experimental Ceramic Drums

Experimental UduI would love to give someone else credit for the inspiration of this piece.  I looked at so many images of Udus,  Doumbeks, and Directional Conga drums.  Somehow, this assembled mixture of parts is the result of numerous sketches and several great ideas from other artists.

First of all, the stoneware drum is assembled from 6 wheel-thrown parts.  The upper-most portion is designed to accept a stretched, goat skin head that will be secured just below the lower lip of the top opening.  A ring-hole that references the side hole of traditional Udu drums is one of two outlet holes that come into play when the drum head is played…it could also be played, using this hole, like a Udu.

The lower portion of the drum is a closed bowl resting on a permanent ring stand.  This is probably a no-no for the percussion community, but this piece is intended more for display than actual use and I wanted the vertical display to be the only option.

The bell-shaped piece connects to the upper drum-bowl and is a funcional outlet for sound, much like a directional Conga.  The sculpted face has been pushed/altered from the wheel thrown piece to imply a human element attempting to escape the bonds of the ceramic musical instrument.  That aspect may be emphasized at the glazing/staining stage to relate the bell-horn shape with the trapped face.

To provide interest on what might be a plain back to this instrument, two wheel-thrown rings are attached that might function as strap connectors… I am a bit shaky on that thought at the moment but will wait to get a feel of the overall weight and strength of the piece before determining if these rings will provide a function other than decoration.

Four other experimental clay drums are currently drying in hopes that some of these will be ready in time to be featured in the upcoming Alumni Art Exhibit at Belmont University’s Homecoming next month.

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Leftover Clay – kiln god


2010
12.30

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kiln god - Leif the Guardian of MugPhlutes & HornsThis is what happens when there is leftover saggar clay and I’m sitting around over the holidays watching too many movies.  Due to the groggy composition of this particular clay, it isn’t the sort of medium that would find its way into a ceramic musical instrument, so, this lump became my first, stand alone,  kiln god.  And yes, there are similarities to the busts that top the lids of my latest saggar projects (shocking, eh?).

Leif,  Guardian of MugPhlutes and Ceramic Musical Instruments, will take his place above the door of the gas kiln next month after a bisque firing.  The tradition of kiln gods among potters is probably a hold over from an early civilization that believed in animism and polytheistic worship…not so for me, this is just a(nother) touch of whimsy.  Leif began as an anatomically correct Nordic nude wearing nothing but his horned helmet.  Since December has had its snowy-cold days, Leif sprouted some semblance of cover.  We couldn’t have Leif’s parts freezing (or burning) off, now could we!?

Leif’s story?: Prized horns of victory, like the one he clutches here, deserve attention and protection during their construction and firing.  Leif has wrapped himself around a cauldron of fire, passing his spiritual powers on the instrument before placing it into the tempering flames.  (That’s the best I can do on short notice).

Leif stands (or sits in this instance) roughly 8″ in height.  The larger portions of the head, body, and legs are hollowed out. The caldron (urn) between Leif’s legs is a 3″ tall pinch-pot.