Ascension Sculpture-Before, During, After

eligius1427 - Monday, October 5, 2009 - 1:32pm

Hi all, just got sent some great photos of a site before we put the sculpture in to after the plantings had grown. What a difference it makes to have the landscaping mature. There are earlier posts on this sculpture, but here is the concept for the sculpture, which was to small to read on the presentation pages that i posted.

Ascension

In developing the concept for Ascension, the rose bloom was at the heart of every sketch. I felt that an organic shape would be best in a nature setting, something that would exist in harmony with the gardens, interacting with and complimenting the roses during the summer and standing up to become the focal point in the winter. It also seemed appropriate to respect the memorial behind the gardens and I wanted something airy so as to not completely block the view of the Memorial Wall. After a hundred sketches ended up as crumpled little sculptures themselves, a design emerged which seemed to explode with life, rising out of the ground powerfully, yet soft and elegant in form. A form that seemed to adequately represent growth and the vibrant nature of a garden full of beautiful flowers. I chose the name Ascension because it felt like the sculpture was still evolving, as if this was just an early snap shot in its life cycle, and it would keep growing larger and larger rising to a monumental scale. My hope is that Ascension will create a stimulating visual experience for decades to come.

Jake

Ascension 20: Site before sculpture was installed

Ascension 4: Sculpture site right after install

Ascension 21: Sculpture Site after plantings matured.

Ascension 22: Close up of sculpture with mature plantings

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Nice

warren - Monday, October 5, 2009 - 4:07pm

Jake, yes it really does look nice with the plants, of course looked good without them too. Color of the plants go nicely with the stainless steel.

www Metalrecipes -- heat and beat to the desired shape, repeat as necessary.
warren

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Thanks Warren.

eligius1427 - Saturday, October 10, 2009 - 10:02am

Thanks Warren. I agree about the color, I really think i complements the stainless well.

Jake

Jake Balcom
Mettle Design
Lincoln, NE

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Jake, This is a perfect

Rich Waugh - Monday, October 5, 2009 - 8:11pm

Jake,

This is a perfect example of what I was talking about on another thread - seeing this piece in the full context,with all the plantings matured, makes a huge difference in my appreciation of it. Now I really appreciate the piece, something I couldn't honestly say when you first posted it.

This is good! Not at all your usual style, but it works so well with the plantings and really conveys a strong feeling. Don't ever let those plants die...(grin)

Rich

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Thanks Rich, the goal was to

eligius1427 - Saturday, October 10, 2009 - 9:47am

Thanks Rich, the goal was to create a sculpture to interact with the garden, so in my mind it should look better with the matured plants. It's also important to remember, that with public art, there are so many non art related factors that influence a design and the budget is set before you draw your first line. Your concept is picked first, then you make the changes to appease the numerous concerns of the different people involved. It's really quite the process and can be very humbling. I really liked creating the hollow forms, but miss all of the textures of some of my other work.

Dam thing sure is shiny though, lol

Jake

Jake Balcom
Mettle Design
Lincoln, NE

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Awesome work Jake! The

Jamie Santellano - Tuesday, October 6, 2009 - 12:32am

Awesome work Jake! The sculpture looks great with the plants. It has been cool to see the growth of the plants and how much they compliment your work. Congrats on your success...your work inspires me! Thanks! Jamie Santellano

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Thanks Jamie, I've liked

eligius1427 - Saturday, October 10, 2009 - 9:49am

Thanks Jamie, I've liked watching it evolve over the summer as well. It's given me some insight into some concepts I'd like to try in the future.

Jake

Jake Balcom
Mettle Design
Lincoln, NE

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Beautiful!!

Bob Turan - Tuesday, October 6, 2009 - 8:57am

It's really beautiful! Makes me want to stop cutting firewood, and get back into the studio and do some welding!

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Better finish the firewood

eligius1427 - Saturday, October 10, 2009 - 9:51am

Better finish the firewood first, it's going to get cold. Plenty of time for studio work when it's freezing outside. We just got our first snow this morning, had to come sometime i guess.

Jake

Jake Balcom
Mettle Design
Lincoln, NE

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Good job!

Dick C - Tuesday, October 6, 2009 - 10:50am

The piece look very nice in the setting. The people there should be quite happy with it.

Personally, I think the foliage could be lower. I like the way the outer ring of "leaves" is more visible in the earlier photos. That's a small thing though. I'm sure they're much more visible when you're standing beside it.

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Thanks Dick, when i created

eligius1427 - Saturday, October 10, 2009 - 10:00am

Thanks Dick, when i created the model I imagined plants/roses through out the planter and even in and amongst the sculpture pieces but with space between the plants. I decided to let the horticulturalists pick the plants since i wanted the piece to act and be treated like an addition to the flowers on display and I'm really happy with their choice. I agree that it would be nice to see the lower petals all of the time, but i like how through it's interaction with the other plants you won't be able to see them in the fall, but you will in winter and spring. The sculpture changes with the seasons, much like regular plants, which i think is pretty cool. I'm kind of biased though, lol.

Jake

Jake Balcom
Mettle Design
Lincoln, NE

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Hi Jake, Your sculpture

NELSON - Saturday, October 10, 2009 - 1:09pm

Hi Jake,
Your sculpture looks fantastic in that garden setting. At the time I`m working on a similar project. Anyhow, those petals of your sculpture show some grinding lines lengthwise, that look very well by the way. As any texture works against the principle of keeping SS rust free, isn`t that a concern provided the location near dirt and moisture may induce corrosion ? Did you electro polish or is there any basic maintenance done to avoid rusting? The reason for the question is that my proposal is for a similar setting. Another one, the round concrete structure was made in one piece, or are those preformed sections? I love the whole thing. Keep warm . Nelson.

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Thanks Nelson. I'm only

eligius1427 - Sunday, October 11, 2009 - 8:23pm

Thanks Nelson. I'm only slightly concerned with the bottom of the sculpture being in the dirt. Technically it should be fine, my concern is if they start using fertilizers in the planter. Fertilizers often contain chemicals which promote rust, but I warned them of that possibility. If you don't do any mild steel work around your stainless project, you use dedicated flapper/grinding wheels for your stainless, and you weld it appropriately you shouldn't have to worry too much about contamination/rust. If you have salt water near by however, you need to make sure you use a stainless that is appropriate for the salt in the air. Rich or Ries would probably be good people to ask about that. Not much concern for salt water here, lol. To be on the safe side, I passivated the entire sculpture with citrisurf. It was very economical(although I obviously didn't have it shipped to S. America) and it created a fantastic shine to boot. The great thing is that it is environmentally friendly and easy to apply, so if there are any problems we can include the passivation in a routine maintenance schedule. As for the concrete planter, it was put in place many years earlier, but it appeared to be made from preformed sections grouted together. I have photos of the bracketing system so if you have any other questions feel free to email me.

Post picts of your concept when your able, my curiosity is getting to me, lol.

Jake

Jake Balcom
Mettle Design
Lincoln, NE

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