Stay Dead Knuckle Dusters Pt 1.

I have so many stories to tell you guys, I have no idea how I am gonna get around to writing it all down. I guess late nights and (more) black coffee will be in order.

But right now I want to start with one of my most recent efforts,also let me state that since this blog will be like an anachronism, jumping back and forth in time at my command,  just remember it will all be ok in the end…. Like in Pulp Fiction when John Travolta was killed but then came back at the end of the movie…. In an earlier scene… Remember how happy you were then? (BTW, there is NO spoiler alert required for a 20 year old movie).

Art Boy flyer

When the guys Art Boy gallery announced the title for their next show it sent my mind into a spin.

“Zombie Apocalypse!”

What would I do? I dedicated so much time to perfecting my zombies a few years back, I still have all the pieces drawn on art board, in my garage, in glorious Black White and Red…. Pen and Ink… Stark, Tight, Clean lines. But my art has moved so far from that it wasn’t even an option to submit these. For some reason i have developed this strange need to be seen as having a consistent style and a bit of continuity in the work I produce… This urge was quickly replaced by new ideas, so far removed from anything I am currently doing that I just had to go with it.

Looking back on it now, I would like to say my idea came from a deep place, an idea that took the subject matter to a new and dangerous place, bringing the fantasy danger into the real world and making the viewer confront the horror and consequences of the world they have temporarily entered…. Blah blah blah….

The Truth is simply I had a cool idea to make a thing that would look good. The above is true, but having worked on this project for 10s of hours, I tend to get immersed in it and my mind will try to artistically justify the existence of the art within the world, or at least within the show.

Having not studied art past year 8, I don’t know if I am even allowed to say these things in public..  like a secret magicians code or something… but I have said it and you can quote me!

The subject of all this dedicated thought was a set of Knuckle Dusters specifically produced as a Last Resort… when all else fails… all other weapons have been exhausted and your only hope to fight your way through the undead by going on a Punching Spree!

Original Mock Up

I approached Marc… the curator of Art Boy with the idea and a picture of a crude mock up which (looking back) is laughable compared to the finished product. In fact I spent most of the time trying to talk Marc into talking me out of it…. The bottom line is, the thing I am making is Dangerous. The original idea was to produce the Nux and encase them in a permanent display box which would not easily be opened… but time constraints and the availability of materials meant I had to make cuts to some of the original ideas.

I let this project sit for a few weeks. The big skulls I had looked too goofy and I was in a holding pattern until the answer came to me in a dream (or something),  the smaller skulls I used were perfect and made the piece more aesthetically pleasing (to me anyway).

 Production took a few weeks of trial and error, lots of dremeling and gluing and sanding to make the master as good as possible before casting began.

Original Wooden Master

Mould Making

Casting begins

My original intention was to cold cast this piece in 3 kinds of metal and 1 in glow in the dark resin… Brass, Aluminum and Bronze… in an awesome twist of fate my casting supplier only had appropriate quantities of Aluminum. Considering my limited resources, saving almost $100 on art I could never sell is (to me) a win.

Cold Cast Aluminum

Sneak Peak of the Glow Version

In the end i produced 2 sets of knuckle dusters with display bases. By the time this entry goes live they will be sitting at the gallery awaiting display. As usual I have no idea what the reaction will be, but in truth it doesn’t matter much…. The goal of creating the art and having it displayed has been achieved… anything else is a bonus.

Next Week I will look at the opening night of the show and have a run down of the goings on.

Cheers
J-F