HEIAN

Heian is a chest which was designed a few years ago and was partially completed but was set aside until I decided which circuitry to feature in the center of the top.  When I went back to it a few weeks ago, the solution was immediately clear.  I knew from the beginning that it wanted to have a vaguely Japanese esthetic, and the circuitry used in the center (strange circuitry - no idea what it was intended for) works perfectly.  The title chosen is for the period in Japanese history which is about the same time that William the Conqueror invaded England, and is when in Japan  Lady Murasaki composed the world's first novel, The Tale of Gengi .     Dimensions:  14" x 8.5" x 6"H

Detail views of the hinges & lid-stay:  as with other chests, the hardware is visually minimized so as not to distract from the circuitry design.  The hinges on the interior are buried beneath the circuitry, and the lid-stay is a blackened guitar string.  From the back the hinges are so unnoticeable that it's easy to mistake the back for the front.  

 All of this may seem trivial except that the idea behind all of these chests is to create something familiar, something ancient while at the same time futuristic, but something that would seem to fit with any museum's collection of whatever period the esthetics suggest.  While the overall design may be mine, the design of the material itself was never made for eyes to see -- it was only for function, covered with components and buried within some machine.  This is my way of revealing the inherent beauty of the circuitry, but the concept really works only if the object is perfect in its making, and you can accept it as readily as any other treasure in a museum's collection.  Whether it's at least equal as an object of art is something for others to decide.

FROG SCRIBE'S CHRONICLE (with base)

Two views of the sculpture with its base which was completed recently.  (Scroll down to see other views, including back, from an earlier post).  Dimensions with base:  32"H x 19" x 14"

Skymap (completed)

 SKYMAP is a recently completed circuitry chest in a free-form design, 17" x 13" x 6"H.  It somehow reminded me of a chart of the constellations, hence the title.  Since it's a lot less trouble to upload images to the blog rather than my website (which requires my webmaster), I probably will upload selected works to the website only periodically.  If any of the images are not of sufficient resolution, better image files can be emailed on request.                                                  

As with all of the chests, the hardware is minimized so there is no visual distraction from the graphics of the circuitry.  On the interior the hinges are buried beneath the circuitry material, and the lid-stay is simply a blackened strand of guitar string.  The view of the back shows that the butts of the hinges are nearly invisible.