His Room As He Left It
Work In Progress by Ariel Kotker
Hi
These images are of mixed-media sculpture I have made so far for my installation piece, His Room As He Left It. Much of what's shown is in progress. Everything is handmade and approximately life-size.
Thanks!
I've been working on this for some time now, and I use this site as a way to see it objectively. Posting helps me understand how my work is going.
You can find an artist's statement in the oldest post. It gives an explanation of what I am doing.
new! 4/2011--->Please also see bottom of page (above the link list) for written portions of the project.
Thanks!
C3 interview
Jackie Dougherty from northampton's Creative Community Collective (C3) invited me to be an interviewee on their new blog. Thanks Jackie! you can find the interview here.
materials
Sometimes folks ask me about materials.
Originally, I wanted things to actually work: the pencils, the matches, the slingshot, the shotgun, the bass guitar, but this is beyond my skill (and not too safe). the slingshot is made of stretchable material (nylon and poly-vinyl acetate) but I doubt you could throw a pebble very far with it! I made the pencils early on, and stuck real graphite and real erasers in there so they'd "work", and it satisfied me at the time. A few months ago I replaced one eraser with bubble gum. thanks to Steve L and Demetri K for the idea, and to Brian B for his comments. I'm glad i did it, it's more consistent with how the project is now.

But I don't need everything to be what it isn't. I don't want to hinder the process by strictly avoiding "things that aren't what they are". If I do that I will never finish, and it won't be fun. Ultimately they're just props in a story.
For instance, the beer can is aluminum, but it's cut from flashing, then painted and rolled and glued. the envelope is paper, but it's an envelope shape cut from a larger sheet of paper and then painted and folded and glued. the "toilet paper tube" in the Trophy is cardboard, but it's cut, painted and rolled bristol board embellished with blotter paper.


next pencil I make will likely have burnt wood for a tip and, yes, bubble gum for an eraser, but the crown will still be aluminum, just like in a real pencil, because it's fun to shape and emboss and affix, and because it's such a beautiful material. I try to find a satisfactory balance with each piece.
traveling scholars show is up

Here are links to excerpts from Drey's diary and from Brian's movie project. also excerpts from the Sparkleton Crier: Erasers arrive in Error, Yo-yo Found in Woods, Wooly's on Fire for Several Minutes, and an interview with a resident of the Sparklehampton Rest Home.















The bed, rug, diary, hunting cap, slingshot and cake balls are in progress. when finished, the bed will have the same "faux" appearance as the other furniture. the rug, which is painted newspaper, will be larger.
for this show, my sketches for things to make and things already made are on the outside walls, along with ideas for drey's bird comic, squirly mag, taxidermy, etc. All the written excerpts (the computer printouts) will eventually be incorporated into the diary, newspaper and screenplay by hand-lettering.
traveling scholars opening
traveling scholars show
...is coming up!
david d'agostino
kate sinnott
nathan boyer
and me
march 30-april 30
opening reception wednesday march 30th
5-7pm
school of the museum of fine arts
230 the fenway
boston MA
02115
http://www.smfa.edu/traveling-scholars
thanks to the exhibitions folks who constructed this fabulous space for the room and special thanks to Ross Normandin
wired glass shard
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Drey's diary, and other written stuff
all this writing will eventually be hand-lettered into Drey's diary, the Sparkleton Crier, Brian's movie project, or various cards and notes, etc. Some of these are still in draft but i am posting them anyway. they'll occasionally be updated. click on titles for links to text.
articles in sparkleton crier
songbird supper: this week's recipes
cards and notes
from alma
from brian
from tammy
triple tongue songs (drey's band)
links
- Alex Forman
- Allison Mather Cook
- Alyssa Dee Krauss
- Anne Johnstone
- annie bissett
- ArtSake
- Audrey Goldstein
- black sand records
- Bob Marstall
- Boston Sculptors gallery
- Brian Burkhardt
- Burn the Furniture!
- C3
- Chris Marstall
- D'Agostino Film Productions
- DAX transport
- Demisers
- eremite records
- FECIT
- FLYWHEEL
- Fort Point Studio School
- gregory bartlett
- Heavenly Chocolate
- Janet Monafo
- Jim Neill
- joshua burkett
- Julia Handschuh
- k levni sinanoglu
- Laura Park
- Mass Cultural Council
- Melissa Dadourian
- Mfisto
- Mo Ringey
- Mollie Zanoni
- nickel coin queen
- Northampton Center for the Arts
- Paul Rahilly
- Pitch
- pod
- red favorite
- River Cortes
- Royal Frog Ballet
- Scott Kravitz
- Sevengaits Project Space
- Siri Lakshmi Scott
- St Botolph Club
- steve shavel
- Titusville, PA
- Torsten Zenas Burns
- Union City, PA
- Valley Art Share
- Vic's Kitschn
- Zane Kotker























