Scenes from my studio (May 24, 2018). Dyed and embroidered velvet moth wings, custom analog electronics, laser cut acrylic, wire sculpture.
Cecropia moth /
Dyed and embroidered velvet Cecropia moth wings (over a Luna) for a work in progress. 2018
Cedar Sphinx Moth /
I continue to make moth wings for my latest Electrolier sculpture. Here is a Cedar Sphinx Moth with a circuit board body and embroidered velvet wings. Later, I will reveal the function of the circuitry and how the wires relate to the overall sculpture... but for now, pretty wings are what I have to offer.
Anatomy of an obsolete moth /
I've spent the past several days heat-bending laser cut acrylic into the shape of moth trails (more on that to come)... and at some point, it occurred to me that I have to redesign all of my electronic animals to accommodate a master controller with a custom remote control. I am fatigued by serious engineering and wanting to make more emotional art, but that might not happen for a while longer. Here is an obsolete moth circuit to express my mood.
Atlas Moth /
Informal studio photos of an Atlas Moth that will fly in my latest Electrolier sculpture.
Low Poly Owl /
I've been working on a series of "low poly" sculptures for my latest Electrolier sculpture. Here are some images of an owl in progress. He was modeled in Blender, unfolded using a research software from a professor at GMU, cut on a laser cutter at Nova Labs, and assembled in my studio. The owl is still in the process of being refined and painted. The image of the pattern corresponds to the owl's right foot. The reason that my Blender model is separated into parts (body + two feet) is related to the pattern's complexity - it's easier to unfold if I process it in pieces.
Embroidering moth wings /
I've been working at Nova Labs in Reston, VA to embroider wings for some of the moths in my new Electrolier sculpture. Here's some informal documentation of my process. The machine is an old industrial "Ultramatic" that was restored by a Nova Labs steward.
I dyed the velvet to give a "loose" colored background that contrasts with the precise stitches. (My registration was off on some of the wings, as you can see if you look closely at the color placement.) I embroidered both sides of the wings, which you can see above prior to assembly of the front and back parts. The middle image shows my "Atlas Moth" circuit board that forms the body -- more on that to come.
Tree cricket prototype /
I'm working on a prototype for a series of tree crickets (for my latest "electrolier" sculpture). This board is a little analog synthesizer with options to adjust resistor and capacitor values, thereby achieving different insect sounds. The video shows only one of the sounds --I'll demonstrate others later.
The wings were laser cut out of Dura-Lar at the Nova Labs Makerspace in Reston, VA. In the video, I'm holding a wire spool to amplify the raw piezo element, for which I need to make a resonant chamber. The piezo is driven with my little "RadioShack copy" amplifier circuit that I blogged about recently (March 12). The board was manufactured in China by PCBWay.
