Artist – Craftsman

Touchstone

[note: this page contains incomplete documentation of this piece.  more documentation, including video, will be coming soon]

Touchstone is conceptually kindred to Less Than Three.  This piece is designed to react to changes in the wearer’s emotional state and externalize them.  Touchstone reads changes in emotional arousal through a galvanic skin response sensor embedded in the brim.  The sensor detects small changes in the wearer’s skin conductivity, which is related to their perspiration rate.  Once the crown is placed on the wearer’s head, it takes a brief period of time to calibrate itself, forming a baseline reading.  After that point it reacts to changes in conductivity, spinning the main top gear and corresponding sprockets at varying speeds based on the current reading.

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Husk
Human Scale
Mahogany Veneer

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Watchglass

This is a piece in a series of pendants representing different aspects of the psyche.  The symbolism in this particular pendant refers to the “watcher” or the skeptic, the part that looks inwards and assesses whether the decisions we make are sound and our emotions are genuine.  The use of a lens element creates an illusion of depth within the piece, so when it is worn it appears that you can see inside the wearer’s chest.

Sterling silver, brass, copper, bloodwood.

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Less Than Three

Less Than Three was conceived as a wearable that would make it difficult to hide emotional changes. Often in our culture to be unaffected is valued; emotional reactions are seen as a sign of weakness. Less Than Three undermines the wearer’s ability to hide internal change by externalizing fluctuations in heart rate.

Less Than Three consists of a large pendant with accompanying battery pack. It reads the wearer’s pulse by a Polar brand transmitter strapped to the chest beneath clothing. The internal electrical components that drive the unit are lit with white LEDs that pulse with the wearer’s heartbeat.

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Ah Ho

In the spring of 2008 I spent three weeks in Minnesota participating in a course about Ojibwe culure and history. We spent a great deal of time on three reservations, and most of our lectures were taught by traditional elders. I made this book on my return in an attempt to reconcile the personal changes I went through as a direct result of that experience.

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Punctum : Front

Punctum is a pinhole camera designed with several intentions:

1. Show the whole image circle on the piece of film

2. Camera should be uncomfortably close for normal portrait framing

3. Camera should have to be handheld

4. Film loading / shutter action should not require inordinate amounts of work. The focus should be on taking the picture, not making the camera operate.

5. All components should be functional either literally or conceptually

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Ward

Ward is a pendant intended to protect the wearer from being internally affected by other people. It is the counterpart to Less Than Three.

On the most basic symbolic level, it consists of concentric circles. As these circles expand, they are protected by various physical barriers. At the center is the alchemic symbol for Sol (or gold), representing a precious and rare inner core. Working in from the outside, the outer ring is made of heavy four gauge copper wire. Suspended within that is a circle of eight outward-facing razor blades (still sharp), which have a slight rust patina.

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Talon on stand

Talon is a pinhole camera designed to emphasize the aggression inherent in the act of photographing.  It creates a small circular photograph and requires very long exposures because of the pinhole and body design.

During the design and construction of this piece I strove to use old or historic building materials as much as possible.  Only natural glues were used, and most joints are pinned or otherwise mechanically fastened.  The lightproofing is done with thin leather strips.  Many of the joints are free-floating, for instance the emblem on the back of the piece is allowed to spin freely within the confines of the setting.  All of the wooden case components are lightly oiled, but otherwise unfinished.

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Front view

This piece is a 4×5 monorail camera based loosely on Jon Grepstad‘s plans, with some modifications to accommodate the materials I had available at the time of construction. It is made of padauk, leopardwood, yellowheart, and mahogany. Through the course of building the camera I became extremely sensitive to the leopardwood sawdust. I have developed allergies to all of the woods that make up this camera.

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