Sunday, June 3, 2012

Mont-Dore No. 2 Vortex installation continues


Mont Dore Blog 2 

adding the attachment and pulley for the main line

It’s Sunday morning.   Yesterday was an all day, long day, big day and I simply didn’t have the energy at the end of it to write, let alone get in the car and drive to the village center to pick-up a wifi connection.




eDline doing mico-reconstruction surgery - reattaching the foot to the calf

Yesterday, eDline worked on assembling the body parts that were in smaller sections so that they could be transported in the car… So, now there are complete legs with feet, etc…  She worked at the house and we went back up to the falls together in the afternoon/evening.

eDline carrying the top half of the frame - It wouldn't fit in the car



adding the attachment and pulley for the main line

the frame
After Friday, there was the main orange cord installed, attached to a white rope, that with a pulley could be raised and lowered.  The idea of the installation is conceived in two steps.  One, where with pulleys at each rope, the whole thing can be lowered so that it can be worked on from the ground and then raised at the end of the day to keep it out of reach.  Second, once it’s done, most of the pulleys will be removed and permanent attachments will be made in their place to make the whole thing more secure.

So, yesterday, I added a rope to the main line, starting at it’s highest end near the falls.  This new rope formed a V, with the original rope in the middle.  Like a three prong grass rake.

That meant installing a new pulley for the central line on the “central” tree and realigning the lift/descend rope with this new attachment, so that the pulley at the top would work better and the angle of pulling on the rope would be more in line with the first rope.  That meant I had to install attachments for the left and right cords.  The right one required a ladder up a big pin tree.  The left one meant climbing the branches of a deciduous tree (which I ended-up doing six times during the day… really a great climbing tree, with lots of rungs.  I got to know each of the branches and how to climb it quickly, by the time I had done it six times. 

A purple rope was installed across the opening of the big V to make a more or less equal triangle floating in the air. 

view from the falls back toward the installation with the structure lowered so that we can add the frame (which is leaning against the rock in the center of the bottom of the pic).

When eDline came back with me after lunch, she finished the frame that she had started in the morning, the frame that I will attach my cords to and which when I’m done, her  5m (15ft) wire man will be attached to, hung from underneath.  It is designed to follow the form of the sculpture, so my cords can be attached to it rather than to the sculpture, which is rather delicate.

We then lowered the whole frame down to where we could get to it from the ground and attached the framework and then lifted it all up.  The effect was pretty impressive and even though we were exhausted, the sight of it gave us an adrenaline rush.  You could imagine from the “sketch” what the final piece would look like.  The frame gave an impression of a graffiti stick figure or an ancient indian drawing of a man on a cliff wall.  The final figure will certainly be more impressive, but the little stick man of the frame had its own charm.  (sorry, forgot to take a picure)

We then had to shorten the attachment lines for the frame to raise it up, so that it would be out of reach of passers-by.  We plan not to go back to the falls until tomorrow as not only was a big rainstorm predicted for today, but it is, in deed, raining steadily.  So, today, I will assemble all the cords that will go from the orange triangle to the frame.  They will be made of six different colored cord, so each one will have to be cut and knotted.  Probably will take me all day.

eDline is going back to the south today to see and to bring her daughter back with her.  She wont be back until Wednesday, so, I will finish the assembly of the cords and then attach them tomorrow if the weather holds.  Tuesday is an extra day in case it takes longer than the estimated one day to install the ropes.    Wednesday I will install the maquette at the Museum, and eDling will pick me up from there on her way back.

So, Thursday, if the figure is all painted red, and there is still lots and lots to paint, we will attach Vortex Man to the frame now suspended by hundreds of colored cords and give start doing final adjustments.  

PS. On the way home, I found a 4 leaf clover, not the first I've ever seen, but the first I ever found myself :)

 

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