After our seeming endless stay in New York City Brent and I trekked it home and them continued our journey, this time heading back up to Troy New York for continuing work on his residency at the otherwordly
EMPAC! His piece is officially titled
To Many Men Strange Fates Are Given and it is quickly coming together in an awesome way!
Wooden phonograph horns, huge metal armatures, almost a dozen deconstructed LCD screens, a soundtrack that is bellowing into a beautiful comment on the state of the world and his rickety hand drawn animation are all pieces to this intricate sculpture that gets more and more exciting as each part is fashioned!
In the midst of all of this building
Ryan Jenkins (a go to guy of not only EMPAC but, after hearing of his heroic post-hurricane flood rescueing, a superhero of the greater Troy area in general- he is pictured below in some supreme welding gear!) taught me the basics of
welding! Ever since the first time
Brent decided to build with metal we've been entertaining a home welding set-up and opening a shop in the corner of the barn but it really just seemed like wizardry that we could never possess! But, after Ryan's tutorial, I have been pricing welding rigs and having the desire to build a car...! I always thought welding was like
soldering, which I have done
my share of at Nervousfilms, but the heat (which can reach temperatures hotter than the sun!), pressure and electrical current makes the whole experience a bit more akin to shooting a
gun! I can't describe how utterly satisfying it is to have a solid, nearly unbreakable piece of bonded metal in your hands that you made that way! The possibilities are endless! And even the names of the blinding welding ailments you can get are the coolest,
Arc Eye?! Who doesn't want that? And look at that welding helmet! Golden flames! Consider me a total welding convert! Now, can I weld for you? Please?
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