A Copper Alliance Member
Copper in the Arts
Issue #54: October '11 - Cont'd
Copper in the Air
Balance in the Universe copper sculpture by Gary
Christopherson.
Photograph by Gary Christopherson
It was only in college that he discovered art when his then-girlfriend was required to create an Alexander Calder-type mobile. But she was having difficulty with it so Christopherson offered his help and found that he really enjoyed it. Though he began with Alexander Calder as an inspiration, he wanted to take off in a different direction. “How does one do things in a more interesting, different and hopefully better way?” he asks.
His first mobiles were all copper wire based.
“What got me going on copper is that copper has a number of characteristics that make it fun to work with,” he says. “It’s easy to use from a bending perspective and it is malleable.”
He has crafted well over 200 mobiles and stabiles using all manner of copper; from tubing, to wire, rod, sheet and plate, to create light and delicate mobiles, some stationary sculpture and, well, everything in between. But unlike many copper artists, he will not chemically apply patinas.
“The great thing about copper is that it changes, going from bright copper to red to brown and then blue-green patina, naturally,” he admits of his copper and wood pieces. “I also wanted to work with a natural material and copper pairs well with wood, American black walnut is what I use, and there’s a brown-red tone to the wood which compliments the copper.”
Forever copper sculpture.
Photograph by Gary Christopherson
Christopherson does not apply a clear coat on either his interior or exterior work.
“Generally it will slowly but surely patina on its own,” he says. “The lacquer strategy works fine if you don’t have movable copper material,” as he does with his mobiles. “Outside, for example it will wear where ever the two contact points are with two pieces of copper,” he says. Therefore the lacquer wears off and needs to be re-applied and ultimately affects the art. A natural maturation is best for his approach. Though chemical patinas are off limits, heat application is another matter. “The differential application of heat is something I play around with, and I feel it’s within the natural characteristics of copper. It’s an issue of how something is applied in a non-chemical way,” he says.
He sources all his various copper materials from ThyssenKrupp since they have a vast selection. Coming up in 2012, Chris will have a group showing at the Ratner Museum in Bethesda, MD, something he doesn’t do often.
“I owe a lot to copper, It’s been a terrific material to work with and has allowed me do a lot of wonderful things in the art world,” he says. “Copper has been great to me.”
Resources:
Gary Christopherson, University Park, MD, (301) 318- 3760
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Greg Wilbur: Using An Ancient Process to Create Contemporary Artworks
Greg Wilbur teaching a class in metalsmithing.
Photograph courtesy of Sierra Nevada College
"I buy large sheets, usually 4' x 8' heavy 16- to 20-gauge copper or 3' x 9' commercial bronze, mostly new,” he says. “Local dealers often contact me. I cut the sheets to different sizes depending on what I've decided to make. Sometimes I give jewelers and hobbyists the scrap, but I have about 50 pounds accumulated over 30 years that I need to recycle.”
Wilbur has a BFA in jewelry/metalsmithing and a BS in art education from the University of Oregon in addition to a BS in general studies from Western Oregon University.
Last summer, he taught "Moving Metal: The Art of Raising," at Sierra Nevada College. He brings his own tools and materials to the classes he conducts, including cross-peen, steel-forged raising hammers and stakes that he both makes and buys. The projects produced require hand strength and are time consuming but he works closely with students one on one to guarantee everyone finishes a piece.
Wilbur emphasizes to students the simple but stark differences between both Western and Eastern concentric raising.
"In the Western technique, you are pushing away from yourself whereas, with the Eastern style, you are working towards yourself,” he comments. "I squish, hammer and make form from one sheet of metal. I don't do any welding or soldering. I hold the copper on a stake and hammer just behind that little area where it comes in contact with the stake, move the piece a bit and knock it down, working in concentric circles from the sheet's center to the outer edge. Depending on the design, I do between two and 200 courses of this raising. One piece of metal could take half a million blows to reach its potential. The whole process of using just one piece of metal is sort of a Zen concept to me, something I've stuck with for over 30 years."
Copper concentric chasing sculpture by Greg Wilbur.
Photograph courtesy of Greg Wilbur
"Once the metal is struck it becomes brittle,” he says. “I stop hammering and anneal the piece by heating with a propane torch to a temperature around 1,000 degrees, then quenching by plunging into water or air cooling to make it more malleable.”
His signature look has been developed over years of practice.
"To finish, I often hammer with a slightly convex-faced planishing hammer, in conjunction with a planishing stake, which expands the metal a little, gives it a facet look and can take out surface irregularities,” he says. “I use heat patinas on some pieces and certain acids such as copper nitrate, silver nitrate and liver of sulfur on others. Wonderful bright reds on copper are only derived by heating very hot and plunging into boiling water, an oxidation reduction process.”
Wilbur has exhibited at American Council Craft Shows in San Francisco and Baltimore, Smithsonian Craft Show, Philadelphia Museum Crafts Show and the annual Oregon County Fair. He participated in a three-person show at the Museum of Contemporary Crafts in Portland. His work can be seen at Velvet da Vinci in San Francisco and Waterstone Gallery in Portland. He
co-founded the highly rated Art in the Pearl Festival and has appeared on the Oregon Art Beat.
Resources:
Greg Wilbur Studio, Portland, OR, (503) 236-1594.
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The Combustible Side of Copper Art
High voltage display panel with brass and
copper findings.
Photograph courtesy of Rusty Oliver
Well-versed in hearing puns about his name, he often opens up with the line, “My name is Rusty, and I work with metal. If you have a hard time remembering that, I’m going to take it as some kind of indicator.”
It’s far from coincidental that Oliver’s interactive art shows are entwined with metal, just like he is on a daily basis.
In 1997, Oliver opened a collective known as the Hazard Factory, which he relocated to its current 2,200-square-foot Seattle, Washington space five years ago.
King County’s Hazard Factory is comprised of about 30 members who are heavily involved in an annual power tool drag race in the region, with the event taking planning and preparation from all of them and other volunteers throughout a year’s time.
Oliver also teaches welding, metal-casting and fabrication classes, when he isn’t off making friends with flames.
Surprisingly enough, in his years of perfecting fire art through copper, steel, and aluminum structures, never once has he burned himself in his process. And, although regional fire departments originally saw Oliver as a threat, they’ve recently been recognizing more value in his art and the benefit of appreciating their common ties.
High voltage display panel with handmade
copper and brass switches and voltage fixtures.
Photograph courtesy of Rusty Oliver
“Lately, I’ve been casting Nerf guns and turning them into flamethrowers, implementing a copper manifold, while the propane propels fire almost four to six feet outward.” Oliver says, “The form of the object is really elaborate. They look like these insane, crazy, giant science fiction weapons. But they seem like something that would much rather shoot an enormous ball of plasma or an open flame rather than a soft Nerf ball. This is what a Nerf gun wanted to be when it grew up. It’s funny, but it’s also a comment on the object and the role it plays in society.”
He also builds aluminum, steel, and copper-constructed wings for fire performers and is newly casting bronze, too.
“Copper is nice because it’s a very malleable, easy material to work with, it’s reasonably tough, and it’s really pretty,” Oliver says. “I usually have 200 pounds of it on hand in sheets and washers. It has a timeless quality.”
For the copper element of his live sculptures, Oliver sources his samplings from Alaskan Copper & Brass Company in Kent, Washington.
He’s brought his fire art into public art walks in both Olympia and Seattle, along with Amsterdam’s Robodock Arts Festival, with its focus largely on industrial arts.
In the past, when not spending 50 hours a week in the Hazard Factory and teaching an industrial-based sustainability and green manufacturing course at Seattle Central Community College, Oliver did commissions working as a personal instructor at people’s homes, showing them the fragile yet fruitful way of laboring artistically with fire.
“Basically, everyone’s a pyromaniac,” Oliver concludes. “I just chose to go pro.”
Resources:
Hazard Factory, Seattle, WA 98108. (206) 200-9496
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Copper in the Arts: NEWS
Large Salvador Dali art collection on display in Austin - October 08, 2011
Medusa, by Salvador Dali
Photograph courtesy of The Russell Collection
Salvador Dali: The Argillet Collection showcases works by the notorious Surrealist Salvador Dali (1904-1989) and other artists from the movement, including Christine Argillet, the daughter of the prominent art collector and publisher, Pierre Argillet. His friendship and working relationship with Dali spanned more than five decades. Her group of Dali's etchings consists of more than 200 rare titles.
As a child, Christine and her father spent many fascinating years interacting with the eccentric artist. The wildly imaginative Dali was legendary for his quirky antics and sometimes disturbing visual images.
Dali’s name is synonymous with the Surrealist movement, a group that viewed the subconscious as a wellspring of the imagination. This remarkable circle of artists, writers, filmmakers, and theorists attempted to fuse the conscious reality with the unconscious dream state. This synthesis aimed to strip ordinary objects of their normal meanings. Putting the mundane back together in new ways forced the viewer to consider their deeper, more psychological significance.
Watching Dali create was fascinating to young Argillet. She recounts a particularly vivid memory of the artist’s constant experimentation.
“One day he found a dead octopus that had washed up on the beach,” she recalls. “He immersed the creature in acid and pressed it directly on a copper plate.” Later, he elaborated on this image to create his striking “Medusa”.
“Even though I couldn’t understand all the artistic implications as a child,” explains Argillet, “I could recognize that spirit of creativity. It was an education for all my life in terms of freedom.” Argillet recalled Dali’s hijinks involving his antenna-like moustache. He would pick mysterious herbs from the hillside by his home in Spain, then mix them with his grooming cologne. To the young girl’s amazement, by applying the potion to his moustache, the hairs would begin to wave back and forth. To this day, Argillet still doesn’t know if the trick was real or a chemical reaction. “With Dali,” said Christine, “everything was strange and possible. He was working magic all the time.”
Resources:
The Russel Collection, 1137 West 6th St., Austin, TX, (512) 478-4440
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