On August 20th, we received the following request for any plans or sketches of the rocketship that we would be willing to share.

I am thinking of trying to build a small wooden (six foot tall) version with
my 11 year old to teach him about construction.
Are there any plans or dimensional specs that could give us a start on
planning.  We could scale accordingly.

-Phil Battat

We were intrigued… so we sent Phil and his son the following plans:

Well… Phil and his son Andrew have been busy and it is now my turn to be impressed and inspired.

We received an email from Phil today with a photo of their little RGR inspired “project”. This father and son team studied our blueprints and re-created our 40′ tall steel and aluminum retro- futuristic  rocketship… out of wood… in only ten days!

Nice work Phil and Andrew! Cool lookin rocketship ya got there…

Thank you… I am truly humbled…

-Sean Orlando

San Francisco, August 6, 2010 – The Black Rock Arts Foundation (BRAF) and the Port of San Francisco will celebrate the opening on August 6th at 3:00 PM at Pier 14, of an iconic, large-scale sculpture created by a team of Bay Area artists lead by Sean Orlando, Nathaniel Taylor, and David Shulman. This 40-foot-tall artwork, the Raygun Gothic Rocketship, offers a retro-futuristic, highly-stylized vision of space travel circa 1930’s-1940’s science fiction and is the latest in a series of temporary public art exhibitions sponsored by BRAF with the aim of enlivening and activating public spaces.

The Rocketship, poised as if to board passengers for a typical run to a nearby stellar destination, will remain at the Pier 14 Tidal Plaza, at the base of Mission Street, on San Francisco’s Embarcadero for a 14-month temporary exhibition. The sculpture will be accompanied by a companion piece, the Rocket Stop designed by Alan Rorie, which tells the story of the Rocketship’s exploits, providing route, schedule and other information. The installation will be illuminated for nighttime viewing.

According to Port of SF Executive Director, Monique Moyers, “We at the Port are charged with creating opportunities for residents and visitors alike to connect with San Francisco’s spectacular waterfront. As the third in a series of large-scale sculptures to be installed temporarily at Pier 14, we are confident that this compelling piece will engage people and enhance their experience of the area. Pier 14 provides a fitting and fantastic backdrop for this whimsical work of art.”

More than 70 artists and makers participated in the creation of the Raygun Gothic Rocketship under the auspices of Five Ton Crane, a collective of Bay Area artists and inventors (fivetoncrane.org). Lead artist Sean Orlando observed, “It’s remarkable what creative heights people can reach when they work together. The whole idea behind Five Ton Crane is that artists working in concert can accomplish so much more than any one person could working alone. The Raygun Gothic Rocketship project is a perfect example of that idea in action.”

I conceived of the Tree House in 2007 as a creative and collaborative large-scale group installation experiment within the Oakland arts community. Kinetic Steam Works provided the steam and the Tree House Crew provided the inspiration.

Here are some photos of the completed piece at its new home at the Dogfish Head Craft Brewery in Milton, Delaware.

photo by Zachary Wasserman

The Five Ton Crane Arts Group proudly announces…!
the historic, permanent installation of…!
the beloved Steampunk Tree House!

Click here for more info

This iconic, fully immersive work of art was the first epic creation by the Oakland based arts group Five Ton Crane. First exhibited at the 2007 Burning Man festival in Nevada, it went on to capture imaginations all over the world!

This June 2010 the Tree House will plant it’s permanent roots on the East Coast. Visitors can once again clamber up the trunk, peer through the spyglass, look out over the balcony, work the brass levers of the Triaparator, flap the kinetic wings of the vulture and wonder at the story behind this mysterious habitation that they have stumbled upon.

This is the first time in the history of Burning Man that a large-scale sculpture of this type, originally funded for the playa, has been permanently installed … anywhere!

But… this historic event will not happen without your help!

]]> http://www.engineeredartworks.com/2010/04/help-plant-a-tree-house/feed/ 0 http://www.engineeredartworks.com/2010/03/new-kinetic-sculpture-the-entomological-dangler-finished/ http://www.engineeredartworks.com/2010/03/new-kinetic-sculpture-the-entomological-dangler-finished/#comments Mon, 08 Mar 2010 09:58:03 +0000 admin http://www.engineeredartworks.com/?p=105 Just in time for the March 2010 First Friday Five Ton Crane group art show. Opening night was a huge success! Thank you everyone for coming out.

The Dangler is currently on display at the Warehouse 416 Gallery.

Gallery Hours:
Thursday & Friday
March 11th, 12th, 18th, & 19th, 2010
1pm-7pm

Check out some opening night photos by clicking here or here.

The gears were given to me many years ago and have been sitting around the shop forever. I’ve always had it in my mind to assemble them in some way. It’ll operate by turning a simple crank mechanism by hand. The idea is to connect long thin wires to each gear with hand made moths connected to the end of each wire. As the gears turn, the moths will fly around a single bare light bulb hanging from the ceiling.