new work - step one

Step 1. Make a mold.

Guy Michael has been carving away into the long hours of the night, setting up a form for a new body of work. I am constantly amazed at his ability to sculpt a square block of plaster. 

lithophane, round 2

Lithophanes, round 2. The piece on the left is from our first test with CNC milling a lithophane, and it worked like mad. I am currently teaching a special studio on tile making at UC, so I am going to have my students make lithophanes this winter. Piece 2 and 3 (middle and right) are more affordable options - less time in the mill, and a 3D powder print version. I can't wait to see how these look illuminated. (and a giant thank you to Aaron Rucker)

the internet

My holiday break project... To revamp our website - and create a central place online for not only Future Retrieval, but for our personal blogs as well. (see here and here). Coming SOON!

More from the Still(ed)Life show

Here are a couple of the 3-D still life's from the installation at the Taft Museum of Art. I thought I should get documentation of the what we have left as some of these pieces are finding new homes including the parrot above leaving the studio to become part of the Cincinnati Art Museum's collection.

BYOB Cincinnati

Our lithophane at BYOB (bring your own beamer) at the CAC in Cincinnati. Our low tech approach to high tech, using a slide projector as a light source... The show was curated by Jordan Tate and Aaron Walker, in conjunction with Is This Thing On, which explores the history and future of video art. More images from the opening below.

Hy-Que Monkey in Captivity @ The Pennsylvania Acadamy of Fine Arts Museum

Here, an install shot from the show HERE, at PAFA. Seeing it all finally put together was a great surprise and relief. The other artists in the show are really impressive and the show is so diverse. We are fortunate enough to be displayed in the main corridor of the museum where there is a ton of traffic. Five oddly grotesque porcelain monkeys are posed within the screen printed backdrop drawn from the Medieval Unicorn Tapestries, specifically The Unicorn in Captivity. Installed much like the Wunderkammer, the monkey is working for us, presenting and chained to curious porcelain painted artifacts that serve as iconographic signifiers to material and process, design, kitsch, labor, and the history of decorative arts.

lithophane, round 1

We are working on turning this image into a lithophane. A lithophane is a thin porcelain plaque that when back lit shows a perfect exacting image, "light in stone". So far we have cheated the process a little, and cnc milled an image into high density foam, rather than carving one from beeswax. I hope this works.

postcard

Less than one week until our show opens in Philly! I can't wait to see the space, install, and then relax and enjoy the city.

We are taking a few Taft busts along as well, to show Alphonso the sites...

Still[ed] Life - installation images

Installation images of our show "Still[ed] Life", at the Taft Museum of Art in Cincinnati Ohio. Our show consists of ten porcelain busts of Alphonso Taft, 3d scanned from the museum's bust of Alphonso Taft, sculpted by Hiram Powers. Each bust is hand china painted with patterns from the museum's collection of paintings, Chinese porcelains, and their amazing Federalist era carpets. Porcelain still lives overflowing with exotic fruits and animals were inspired by the Taft's only recent acquisition, a Balthasar van der Ast painting. A huge thank you goes out to the Taft, the curators, and everyone involved in making this show a possibility.

Photos courtesy of Jordan Tate.

From the Taft's website:

"Inspired by the Taft's permanent collection, Parker and Davis' fanciful and ironic porcelains combine the idealized beauty of historical decorative arts with the realism of the naturalist's eye"

home away from home, away from home

We have a new studio! A lovely warehouse downtown, with a ton of floor space. I can't wait to work somewhere where I can spread out, print and cut paper at a larger scale, and run around in. Sometimes living in the midwest pays off.

very planet of the apes

Things are coming together, and we are in full china painting mode. This is layer only one, but I love how the lapels look like futuristic ape robes...

frames

Here are the frames we cnc milled to hold the prints for our Philly monkey project.  There are five that will have silk our screened graphics inspired by the unicorn tapestries. In the center, a porcelain monkey, mounted on a sconce presenting some curious artifacts on a plate that he will be chained to.

The incredible shrinking monkey

Progress on the PAFA project. Shown here is monkey, mini monkey and mini mini maker bot monkey. All of the digital work is being fabricated, most molds made, and the screen printing is done, but there is still a lot of china painting to do.

working

We have been busy busy in the studio, working towards a show at PAFA this October. We are putting together a large wall piece, consisting of handprinted wallpaper, porcelain monkeys, and a few other finishing touches. A couple shots from our studio - the wallpaper getting close to completion... (with the help of our amazing studio assistant Audrey!)

And our monkey getting ready to be sliced, diced, and molded.

Still[ed] Life

Our show "Still[ed] Life" opens today at the Taft Museum of Art! The Cincinnati Enquirer did a nice write up about the show today, which you can read here. We will be posting pictures of our installation over the next few weeks, but if you are in town definitely go check it out. The show runs from August 5th through October 16th, with an opening reception on September 18th. More details to come...

(Alphonso Taft with chinoiserie patterns from the Taft's collection, 12" x 7" x 5.5", porcelain and china paint)

coming soon

We have been in the studio constantly, working towards our big show at the Taft Museum of Art here in Cincinnati. Installation starts next Monday morning at 10am sharp, and we could not be more excited. So, until then, here is a tiny peek from the studio...

Working class monkey

 

Yes, the monkey is digital! Almost squared away with Taft Museum show we are already getting busy for the exhibition at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art Museum.

to be glazed

Guy has carved and cast these amazing sconces, and now we are finally ready to glaze them. They seem very Emile Galle to me, with their lovely flowing lines and edges. Here goes nothing...

the jell-o mold competition

We have just received video back from my brother Ben, taken at the Jell-O Mold Competition at the Gowanus Studio Space in Brooklyn tonight. It is hilarious! I have no idea what song this is, but the jiggling goes along perfectly. Ben is our newest collaborator, making our jell-o creation and plopping out the lion head on site, and we could not be happier with the result. Thank you Ben for all the hard work!!

the monkey

oh monkey, do we have big plans for you this summer...

awesome

Myself and Guy have been working closely with Jordan Tate to build a space in the photo department at UC loosely named "the awesome room". We are filling it with a MakerBot, 3-d scanner, decal printer, thermofax, glow in the dark printer, maybe a letterpress, and any other crazy equipment we can find. The idea is to have an experimental space that functions as both a studio and a lab, supporting the use of alternative processes and equipment. This is only the begininning.

Model Citizens NYC 2011

"Force of Hound" die cut paper, screen printed wallpaper, and porcelain with china paint and luster. 5' x 18' x 4.5'.

Our piece for the Model Citizens 2011 show at the Chelsea Art Museum during New York's Design Week. This is a combination of a lot of ideas happening in both Guy's and my own studio - taxidermy, porcelain figurines, hunting scenes, and topiaries.

Opening night - Saturday May 14th. The place was packed - and we met some amazing designers from all across the country. We also spent a day at the Cloisters admiring the Unicorn tapestries (one of the major influences for this piece), and were thisclose to getting standby seats at SNL. A giant thank you to Mika and Kris for including us once again!

FRESH figurines

"Beasts of the Chase" 12" x 7.5" x 8" each. Porcelain with china paint and decals.

This piece will be part of the FRESH Figurines exhibit at the Fuller Craft Museum this October.

pink noise - the record

Pink Noise is a collaboration between myself, Guy, and sound artist Ken Montgomery. It started as a simple tour of the ceramics studio at UC, and quickly turned into an amazing sonic experience. Ken has played the piece for audiences across the country, and the three of us have performed live sonic (blindfolded) tours of the initial recording to a select audience. We are now finally getting a record together, that will be released in a limited edition coming soon.

My wonderful studio assistant Jamie helping out on the letterpress. We started printing the album covers yesterday on the old C&P.

in the studio

Currently working on a giant still life. Giant is a relative term, especially when talking about porcelain, but we are aiming for something that can really stand on its own. So, this is a start.

obsessive

a sneak peek of how we spent our spring break. who needs a vacation, when you can china paint and cut decals until your eyes bleed?

head sandwich

Mike has been working all week, making the master mold of Taft. This is the first thing that caught my eye in the studio this morning.

in progress

Attorney General, Secretary of War, Father of US president William Howard Taft. Our favorite thing about him is his stately pose and the mean carbuncle on his forehead.

still life

Still life - the first one. Inspired by Dutch still life paintings, we are working on a ceramic version for our show at the Taft Museum of Art this summer. Stranger fruits are currently be molded, as well new takes on older ideas we have been tossing around.

unleashed

We are working on a pack of hunting hounds for upcoming exhibitions. The porcelain heads are in production and the armatures are close to the final design. The finish is the next exciting part!

Alfred NY

We were recently invited by the ACC to give a visiting artist talk and demos at the New York State College of Ceramics, and had one of the best weekends in long time. We stayed with Amy and Max, ate a ton of good food, saw some amazing work, and met the kindest group of ceramic artists I have ever come across.
On our way out, we sampled the Rochester, NY antique scene which did not disappoint. This smoking monkey automaton was a little tricky to get through the airport (along with all the plaster molds and china paint) but totally worth it.

studio play

We come up with a lot of crazy ideas in the studio - but I really like this one. Hanging Dead Project part 3. We will see...

Alphonso Taft

We have been offered the opportunity to show at the Taft Museum of Art next summer. The work for the exhibition will be in response to the museum and its very special collection. First off we needed to to take a 3-D scan of the marble bust of Alphonso Taft, sculpted by the great Hiram Powers; which we are very excited to have the chance to work with. Above you can get a peek at the scanning process happening in the museum. Believe me there will be much more coming in the next few months regarding this unique encounter and the development of this project.