About
AREA 2881 Gallery...
(panorama below) is a 400 square foot installation of functioning LuminoKinetic sculpture and other explanatory objects, including many of those described on this website. It is open to the public periodically or by appointment. A diverse collection of devices is retained and dispayed the Gallery. To visit, see EVENTS or Email Carl for an appointment. 2881 23rd Street San Francisco CA 94110 USA.
Update February 2017: AREA 2881 Gallery has lost its lease and will be closed as of March 2017.
(panorama below) is a 400 square foot installation of functioning LuminoKinetic sculpture and other explanatory objects, including many of those described on this website. It is open to the public periodically or by appointment. A diverse collection of devices is retained and dispayed the Gallery. To visit, see EVENTS or Email Carl for an appointment. 2881 23rd Street San Francisco CA 94110 USA.
Update February 2017: AREA 2881 Gallery has lost its lease and will be closed as of March 2017.
Acknowledgements...
Very special thanks to Peter Desmond and Bertille LeGrand for supporting this work with an essential foundation: a reasonably priced workspace in this very expensive city.
Thank you to my long time employers at Stanford - Professors David Prince and John Huguenard for allowing me the flexibility to do this work, as well as building my technical skills with many interesting projects.
Thanks also to Jeff Weber and Aaron Edsinger of MEKA Robotics for technical and facility support.
Very special thanks to Peter Desmond and Bertille LeGrand for supporting this work with an essential foundation: a reasonably priced workspace in this very expensive city.
Thank you to my long time employers at Stanford - Professors David Prince and John Huguenard for allowing me the flexibility to do this work, as well as building my technical skills with many interesting projects.
Thanks also to Jeff Weber and Aaron Edsinger of MEKA Robotics for technical and facility support.
photo: Michael Ang
Objects..
Carl builds "from scratch". The process starts with raw materials including slabs of plastic and aluminum and components like motors and ball bearings. Most objects include custom electronic subsections and embedded software, which exist in service to physical structure and mechanism.
The techniques are mainly those of traditional machine building: sketching; creation of explicit drawings; machining of each of the many parts on lathe and milling machine; assembly; electrical integration; revision. There are also unusual molding and casting techniques used. It's a long, expensive process to build a reliable "one-off" machine: several months and several thousand dollars typically.
There is an emphasis on smooth motions and visible physicality in general. The structural forms are minimalistic, exposed and logical - more geometric/organic than fanciful. Quality non-corroding materials are used throughout, and allowed to show off thier beauty devoid of coatings. Machined 6061 aluminum, random-sanded and steel wooled is used extensively, with stainless steel for high stress jobs and sanded polycarbonate for translucent lower stress structures. Tinted epoxy and brass are used sparingly. Lighting, LED and incandescent, is incorporated as a key interplay with the physical forms and motions. Much effort goes into reliability, details and finish.
The objects are intended to pipe directly to the senses, allowing the viewer to "see" a physical truth intuitively and enjoyably. The truth may be as simple as a rotation or proportion, or as complex as chaos in a fluid. As such, the work follows and fuses the traditions of scientific demonstration, structural design, sensualist kinetic sculpture, as well as technical amusement.
The machine age and the electronics revolution have not only given a new toolkit to these traditions, but new cultural/visual/emotional sourcebook as well.
Carl builds "from scratch". The process starts with raw materials including slabs of plastic and aluminum and components like motors and ball bearings. Most objects include custom electronic subsections and embedded software, which exist in service to physical structure and mechanism.
The techniques are mainly those of traditional machine building: sketching; creation of explicit drawings; machining of each of the many parts on lathe and milling machine; assembly; electrical integration; revision. There are also unusual molding and casting techniques used. It's a long, expensive process to build a reliable "one-off" machine: several months and several thousand dollars typically.
There is an emphasis on smooth motions and visible physicality in general. The structural forms are minimalistic, exposed and logical - more geometric/organic than fanciful. Quality non-corroding materials are used throughout, and allowed to show off thier beauty devoid of coatings. Machined 6061 aluminum, random-sanded and steel wooled is used extensively, with stainless steel for high stress jobs and sanded polycarbonate for translucent lower stress structures. Tinted epoxy and brass are used sparingly. Lighting, LED and incandescent, is incorporated as a key interplay with the physical forms and motions. Much effort goes into reliability, details and finish.
The objects are intended to pipe directly to the senses, allowing the viewer to "see" a physical truth intuitively and enjoyably. The truth may be as simple as a rotation or proportion, or as complex as chaos in a fluid. As such, the work follows and fuses the traditions of scientific demonstration, structural design, sensualist kinetic sculpture, as well as technical amusement.
The machine age and the electronics revolution have not only given a new toolkit to these traditions, but new cultural/visual/emotional sourcebook as well.
scientific demonstration
the underlying traditions...
structural design
sensualistic kinetic sculpture
technical amusement
CONTACT: (sorry, to thwart spambots type it in...)
works of Carl C Pisaturo