Windchyme

Fig. 4. David B. Hickman, Team Illusion, welded steel, bronze rod, tinted plastic and surveyors tape, 60 in x 60 in x 35 ft, 1990. tween our modern high-technology society and cultures from the distant past. The ancient resonant sound of steel tubes being struck bv metal weights becomes integrated with the kinetic motion of glistening, billowing nylon sailcloth, This artwork evolved from mv fascination with how seemingly simple the sail is on a modern sailboat. The sail is. however. quite a sophisticated high-technology design often produced by computers. I began hv researching the primitive sail shapes of the Polvnesians and Melanesians, I later combined these shapes with the modern sail design and functions after studying with a sailmaker who designed hightechnology racing sails. That is when I discovered the science and technology used in the design of modern sails and then proceeded to use that knowledge in mv artwork. The modern sail is a derivative of the Bermuda rig, It has evolved into a vertical 'wing'. using the same aerodvnamic principles that allow the wings of birds and planes to lift off the ground. This principle is that the curve in the sail causes the air Oil one side of the sail to move faster than Oil the other side, causing a slight vacuum on the outside or front of the sail that results in the sail moving forward on a boat. It is this curve that [ use on mv sails. but with verv differe-nt results. Sometimes my sails move slowlv up and down in a balletlike motion. rather than flapping like flags or moving like Fig. 3. Russell Herrman, Windchyme, painted steel tubes, nylon sailclo~,s~ess steel cable and boat clips, 14 x 9 x 3 ft, 1986. artists. In art there is a creative connection between what artists see, are taught and discover about the world around them. Just as important is how each artist conceptualizes the finished piece. In rnv case the original idea is the most important part in the creation of my sculptures. In the Windrhyml' series I use free association to show the contrast beRussell Herrman, P. O. Box H82462, San Francisco, CA 94188, U.S.A. Received 2 A/nil 1990. Acceptedfor publiration by Roger F. Malina. The original influences that led to my Windrhyml' (Fig. ~) series were quite diverse, as I believe is the case with all operates cyclically, the card can be removed once the word is complete. As long as the cart is moving, the hand is writing. All of my sculptures are machines that address the issue of utilitarianism and celebrate the activities of invention and play. Specifically, each machine asks a unique question. The topics may be as diverse as the liquid nature of extremely slow moving cloth, a hamster's will in choosing color patterns, or machines designed to take tens of trillions of years to cycle. Faster' was a response to an invitation to create a work that could be 'raced' down the street. The sculpture was designed in a sense to 'talk back' to its creator. As its current program directs the hand to write the word 'faster', the faster the cart is pushed, the faster it demands, on paper, in writing, to be pushed even faster! WINDCHYME 80 Abstracts sails on a boat; in light air my sails are often held aloft, seemingly suspended in midair, quivering in some mellifluous design. Windchyme is made up of opposing materials. An uncontained, irregular triangular-shaped sail, made of Dacron sailcloth, has a balanced metal weight attached at the bottom. Two 14-ft hollow metal tubes rising from triangular steel bases support the sail via a fine stainless steel cable strung between them. The sail hangs suspended from this cable (its only tether) via stainless steel boat clips. Rising up from between the large poles are three metal cylinders attached to small metal rods, anchored by a small steel triangle. These tubes surround the base of the sail and its metal weight. A patient onlooker is rewarded with the sound of chimes emulating the resonance of Buddhist temple bells. This Zen connection is made at the whim of the wind. TEAM ILLUSION...