7.9.06

Spectrescope












A piece i made, completed a few months ago, i called SPECTRESCOPE...it is a kaleidoscope on a stand (from which it can be removed) with a wheel that can be spun to change the view when you look through the eye piece.

The name of the piece came about through kind of simultaneously discovering that the word spectre has the same origin as the word spectacle, and that there is such a thing as a spectroscope...more on all that in another post, i think.

It is made of cardboard, paper, machine stitching, fabric, wooden skewers, acetate, ink, acrylic, glue and stuff.

I found making the kaleidoscope both quite easy and difficult at the same time....a kaleidoscope is a simple thing, yet i found making it required a bit of precision and careful handling; not strong points for me. The mirror system is made with clear plastic backed with black cardboard...the mirrors need to be kept very clean, and need to be quite precisely lined up and cut...then to test it is right, everything needs to be temporarily held in place, which can be kind of tricky.

I have plans for more scopes...maybe one on a tall stand like my desolation row sculptures, or perhaps suspended from the ceiling.



No comments: