Arrival day

The final day I spent applying the paint that supports the openings to the knots, a final clean, and it was time to say good-bye.

It was not the easiest production I had in my career as a sculptor, lots of obstacles thrown in, plenty of bad weather, but also plenty of support and encouragement from the team in Nottingham.

I am absolutely delighted with the result, and hope, that the sculpture will become an intricate part of the Jubilee Campus and bring a smile and inspiration to those who pass it.

The coldest installation I have ever done

March 12th, -2 Celsius, driving wind, Jubilee Campus Nottingham.

The sculpture finally arrived on our shores. After winter hibernation at the Petacci quarry, the sculpture and plinth were shipped, on a lorry, to its final destination.

A 100-ton capacity crane was needed to lift the work into place; the only real problem was the biting wind, which made it difficult for the installation team, as well as cement and resins to function properly.

But after a good days’ work, it was finally there.

Landslide

 

I signed the work Saturday, 10^th of November. It already rained all day, followed by torrential downpours during the night.

I was planning to stay in bed all day, I was totally exhausted from the very hard finishing days just behind me, when a disturbing email arrived, the marble factory seemed to have suffered a landslide, so I got dressed and made my way down to the factory, which is a 10 min walk from the house I was staying in.

And this is what I witnessed:

 

I had to save most of my tools out of the flooded area, but the Petacci Marble factory was very severely hit. No electricity, no water, structural damage and the generally overwhelming damage meant that the factory was pretty much out of business for the rest of the year.

In the end, I was really lucky, as the sculpture was finished, just about 4 hours before the landslide. On Monday, we decided, that the best solution would be to store the sculpture in the factory (as access for transport was unavailable for 4 weeks anyhow)

So, it was time, to wrap up the soggy tools and say goodbye to all the chaos.

But I will be back, and hope, it won’t be too long.

Final turns

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Finally, we turned the sculpture over, which enables me to finish the base connection, carve all undercutting areas of the knots and generally tidying up all the parts I, so far, could not get to.

The sculpture will stand quite tall, so positions, which lay low until now, will be seen from below. I have to make sure, that all those lower lying details will all be finished off, as those parts will be closest to the audience.

LAST CUTS ARE THE DEEPEST

 Sorry for the pun…

I am working on the last knot now, and it really is very challenging, as I have to cut and carve to depths I can hardly reach with the chisels anymore, as ever, the rule is, where you can see, you can carve (does not apply to Michelangelo, there is a plaster cast of Michelangelo’s’ Pieta at Petacci, and there are undercuts, one can’t even look into anymore, we had long discussions as to the why and how…) I also have to make decisions which parts I want to stand free, which means more layers to cut below.

It is intensive but very enjoyable, thank good the weather has calmed down, as we had the first snow up here this week.

The clocks also went back, and the lack of daylight really is noticeable now, the sculpture looks great in the halogen lights, but it is difficult to carve and not casting the carving area in total darkness…

 

Finally, a view into Fantiscritti valley with the village Bedinzano, where I currently live and work

TOOLS

Carving tools are essentially the same as they were 500 years ago, just that the chisels have tungsten tips and are pneumatically driven; sanders and grinders are also air driven, with the tips coated in diamonds.

What we do not have is plenty of cheap labour and an abundance of time, the tools have o make up for it.

I still finish the surface by hand, with marble rasps and diamond coated papers; it just makes the extra bit of difference I am looking for.

OHNE ENDE KNOTEN

 I have been working on the knots for a few days now, and I have improved both on the detail as well on the speed. For the roughing out I use a traditional Cuturi pneumatic hammer, and for the detail I use diamond tipped dye-grinders.

Here in Carrara I can get any diamond tip I can imagine, and plenty of money can be spent on them….( as I always tend to do…)

The finish is always by hand, with pads and rasps, still unrivalled in its precision.