For the launch of the new Edinburgh Sculpture Workshops site and web presence there will be an edition of 10 of 10 Woodland Trackers made. Each one being customised to link in to their new owners web presence.

“The Woodland Tracker has the exact dimensions of the Mac mini and mirrors its design but with its obtruding branch it alludes to the wilderness of natures open spaces, drawing comparisons with the virtual wilderness of the web. The sculptor aims to illustrate how through our obsession with portable technology (mobile phones, blackberries, laptops), we are now all trackable wherever we go in real or virtual space – and to try to establish or invite a more physical link with those who are tracking us. Research garnered from The Woodland Tracker will be of practical benefit to the owner but will also facilitate consideration of how we, and the artists we work with, can communicate with our audiences.”

Irene Kernan Director Edinburgh Sculpture Workshops

For pre-order and purchase enquiries about becoming part of the Woodland Tracker network please get in contact >>>>

To keep track of how the Woodland Tracker is progressing please visit the online blog >>>>

Apache Pilot is a mercenary piece of art that can be bought but never truly owned. Once photographed the Apache Pilot posts itself online for sale to the highest bidder.

Exploring the duality of living in a world immersed in technology, Apache pilot questions the increasingly blurred boundaries we have between our virtual and physical actions and the shift in accountability or emotional attachment this buffer of technology allows us.

To view images of the production of Apache Pilot please click here >>

Apache Pilot will be touring around Scotland at various venues from the start of March. Please see the Travelling Gallery website for further details.

A one off piece, from plaster to wax and finally to aluminum.

…….

Material Rites presents new work in diverse media from a group of emerging and established Scottish based artists. Each of the artists selected demonstrate unique material aptitudes that impact upon the development of their work. They all engage with the material world around us in a different fashion. By bringing them together this exhibition emphasizes the influence materials can have on an artist and the work they create. Through a considered and coherent approach to investigating how material values are a force in each artist’s practice, Material Rites unearths the knowledge which can help give the viewer a fresh system of interpretation. The Exhibition is curated by Sandy Wood, the assistant curator for the Royal Scottish Academy.

The artists involved:

Found

Lyndsay Mann

Gordon Munro

Derek Sutherland

Scott Laverie

Bill Scott

Invisibleknowledge David McAllister

‘Bringing together for the first time, nine sculptors from Scotland, who work across the breadth of materials from traditional to new technologies, Material Rites is both an inspiration and a challenge to experience.’ Johannes von Stumm, President, Royal British Society of Sculptors.

First exhibition stop The Royal British Society of Sculptors.

Exhibition Dates: 13th January – 11th February 2011

Private view: 12th January 2011 6:30pm – 8:30pm

Curator’s talk: 9th February 2011 6:30pm – 8:30pm

Second exhibition stop Inspace gallery.

Exhibition opens: 18th March 2011

Private view: 17th March 2011 6.00 – 8.00pm please rsvp here >>

1 Crichton Street, Edinburgh. EH8 9AB

View Invisibleknowledge’s contribution to the exhibition>>

Invisibleknowledge has received the Alt-W fund from New Media Scotland to produce a new work called The Eworical. This will be shown at Inspace gallery during the Edinburgh International Arts Festival 2011, the show will open on the 5th August. The private view will be on 4th August.

Summary

Eworical is a self networking sculpture.

Filled with the latest technologies, The Eworical is a purposefully ridiculous sculpture made to prompt viewers into questioning how sculpture will be presented and produced in the future, it puts itself forward as a new model for art production in a technologically evolving environment.

Designed as a cross between an Ewok and an Oracle resulting in something not dissimilar to a glorified answer-phone. The Eworical is installed with its own personal brand of popular culture interest from which it sources questions from the web, operating a Skype call-line it then calls friends on Skype to ascertain the answer. Whilst also calling people on Skype they will post questions on Facebook and Twitter for friends to post replies to.

With this piece Invisibleknowledge’s loosely termed ‘Made in China‘ aesthetic questions what the future of sculpture production is. With increased access to new technologies, manufacturing techniques for the masses and global knowledge sharing just how confused can things get?

Community

This is an experimental project that that will be largely driven by it’s community and the people that choose to become a part of it’s friendship circle. Anyone can join The Eworical community and have it call them via Skype or receive questions to be answered on Twitter or Facebook. It is recomended that users wishing to become part of the Eworical comunity first go to the Eworical home page>>

In A Nut shell

“The Eworical is a sculpture about finding identity and searching for enlightenment in a virtual culture.”

Do More With Eworical

Facebook users may receive the latest Eworical messages by becoming a Facebook friend they may then reply by posting answers to its questions for The Eworical to read out. Do It Now >>	Twitter users may receive the latest Eworical messages by becoming a follower  on Twitter they may then also reply by posting their answers for The Eworical to read out. Do It Now >>
Skype users may receive calls from The Eworical by sending a friend request to ‘eworical’ they may then answer The Eworical questions live! Do It Now >>	To View The Eworical live please click on the icon above. dddddd dddd ddddd dddd  dddd dddd dddd dddd ddddd dddd ddd ddd ddddd ddd ddd ddd ddd Do It Now >>

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

The detailed description

To set the scene

Imagine the Empire has given their knowledge of technology to the Ewoks, and they have tried to develop a new world with this technology….the result being, a glorified made-in-china style answer phone which seeks answers to questions using vacuous internet forums topics aiding them on a journey to enlightenment.

With changing values of knowledge and Identity The Eworical aims to explore the notion of becoming a new gatekeeper of knowledge. It aligns more with Wikipedia or Google rather than the traditional view of a gatekeeper, a professor in a room surrounded by books that he has ingested. It is with this new emersion in the internet, the allegedly unparalleled knowledge that it holds and the now endless possibilities for enlightenment that can be found there, that we also find new opportunities to create a virtual identity.

Previously we have been able to develop our physical identities through consumption using the internet but now with greater emersion we have the option to create a new form of identity, a super/hyper identity further merging the fictional with that of reality.

The Eworical is a purposefully ridiculous sculpture that explores the idea of developing a super identity through becoming the gatekeepers of knowledge. The Eworical adopts the role of the gatekeeper of internet subtopics using social networks to find the answers to the questions generated by this subtopic whilst an eagle adopts the role of the forum moderator tracking the traffic flow to the Eworical.

How does it Function?

Essentially what The Eworical is doing is finding questions from the internet and using social network sites to enhance its ability to connect with people and get these questions answered. In doing this it is creating a networked identity leaving a unique profile trail that people can trace back to The Eworical and in doing so become part of The Eworical network; a vacuous network that seeks enlightenment in the answers to popular internet biased questions.

View The Eworical blog >>

Just how intelligent can a ‘Garden Shrub’ be ? With the first batch set to show in 2011 stay tuned to find out.

All the work for the Material Rights show heading off on a truck to the RBS gallery London.

Garden Shrub packaged and ready to be loaded onto the truck.

Once all the electrics had been installed in the crate the Garden Shrubs were lowered into place.

The octahedrons attached to the packaging crate.

4 welded octahedrons completed.

The Garden Shrubs would be displayed in a packaging crate and this would balance on 4 octahedrons. These would be made of sheet metal and welded together but first a template needed to be made out of wood.

A section of both leaves needed to be cut out so that it could be attached to the branches.

Once dry, the edges were routed to give a beveled edge.

When enough were cut they were laminated.

Meanwhile, lots the leaf shapes needed to cut out using a template they were routed to ensure that each one was an identical clone of the other.

The branches were made in the same way to the main body using mitred edges. They were then glued and clamped and left over night drying times were seriously affected in the workshop over the winter.

All the computer elements had been tested and were working correctly so the Garden Shrub was glued together and clamped over night to dry.

The light sensors also needed to be tested before they were added. These sensors react to sound and pulse to the rhythm.

The eyes had been created and were tested.

Once the eyes had been cut out the screens were attached to the face.

A jig was made so that a template could be made to cut the eyes out.

Once all the sides had been cut, the eyes were positioned.

To make the seamless finish of the Garden Shrubs the mitre saw needed to be used to create angled edges which were butted together inside.

A busy Christmas in my snow covered studio.

The mirrors go on

More spraying on the lid

Triple octahedron centre piece

The new look Eworical

The Platform now needs to be sprayed white.

Polycarbonate fitted to platform

Polycarbonate laid out ready to be cut.

Brain organisation done

Getting the Ewok brain’s organised

The Ewoks with all their Talismans

Ewoks try out the platform

The light box platform starts to take shape

The wood for the light box platform

The Ewoks under dark talisman in hand

Another Talisman under dark

The twitter with it’s eyes on

The Ewoks all coming to life

The Talisman under dark

An Ewok’s Talisman.

Ewoks all together

Testing Ewok brains.

The Ewok with his Twitter stick.

All the Icons have been routed back to have rounded edges. These will now be attached to a branch to form the Twitter stick.

All Three icons complete. Let the routing begin.

The first 3D Twitter icon is made.

In order that the screens fit snugly the wood needed to be routed out to a 3mm thickness.

Work begins on the Twitter stick. The Twitter bird logos are jigsawed out. A small LCD flat screen will be placed behind.

Ewok with his staff and skull.

The Plasma skull staff switched on and in final stages of glueing.

Trying out the armature for the rubix cube.

Staff had to be carved to just 3mm thickness in places to allow for the plasma skull casing.

All the Ewoks now dressed, with eye holes cut out.

The Mortising begins on the plasma skull staff.

The fur going on.

The three remaining Ewoks, heads included.

Ewok number one in the studio, eyes working, plasma skull in hand.

The rest of the skeletons are built.

One done. Bare bones of the other four laid out ready to put together.

Ewok fully dressed now.

The first Ewok partially dressed and head switched on.

A custom vibration sensitive mains power controller.

Special delivery from Oomlout.

Ears added.

Make sure the heads screwed on properly!

The first Ewok skeleton standing up.

Body Done, now for the head.

To start this project the skeletons need to be made.

The first stages of the photo shoot with photographer Stephen McGarry.

The final touches being added.

The aluminium base is given a brushed effect.

Vent complete.

Drilling of the holes begins.

Marking out complete.

Marking out the grid for the air vent.

Edges of base curved.

Preparation of the base begins.

Branch finally attached.

The screen working inside the shell.

The eye working.

The circuitry is going in!

The first piece of circuitry.

Logo cut out complete.

First cuts of axe logo.

Marking out axe logo.

Insert for branch chiselled out.

The two pieces so far.

Corners routered, insert for leaf carved out and attached.

Getting ready to router corners of branch.

This is the first stage in making the Woodland Tracker – the routering out the Mac Mini shell.