Copy

"Art is the queen of all sciences communicating knowledge to all the generations of the world."— Leonardo da Vinci

Boing Boing and Jason Kottke wrote about my Anatomy Mosaics!
Dear <<First Name>>,

I hope this finds you well and that you are enjoying the holidays with family and friends.

I'm going to keep this very short so you can get back to your celebrations, but there is a nice update below on the new mosaic I just started if you did want something to read.

The Kickstarter Project for Anatomy Set in Stone has raised $981 of the $3110 goal and has only 19 days left before it ends. Kickstarter only collects money if the goal is met, so if I don't reach the goal, the $981 pledged so far will be refunded to the backers. That would be sad. Please contribute if you can.

I am pleased that the Kickstarter project was featured on Boing Boing and Kottke.org! The last time Boing Boing mentioned me was when I first invented the Great Bowl O' Fire, in 2005. That post changed my life, launching my firebowls into the spotlight. This post about the mosaics accounts for about half the backers to the Kickstarter so far. Getting a mention on Kotte's blog is something I have always wanted since the early days of the internet, so that's pretty exciting.

I also got a nice mention on Twitter from Jim Bachor, one of my favorite mosaic artists (known for his Pothole Mosaics) and from John Overholt, the Curator of Early Modern Books & Manuscripts at Harvard University's Houghton Library.

Most of the more affordable items available through the Kickstarter Project for the Anatomy Mosaics will only be available for the remaining days that the Kickstarter is live. The Vibrachrome prints of the mosaics will continue to be available afterwards but will be more expensive. Currently, the most popular reward is the  real ruby crystals for only $25 (leftovers from the eyes for the mosaics)

If you can help meet the goal, I'd sure appreciate it. To contribute, click here.

Thank you,

John T. Unger
Share
Tweet
Forward to Friend

Progress on Anatomy Set in Stone project

I've begun the marble mosaic of Table 33
I've begun the seventh mosaic in the series, based on Table 33 from Eustachi's 16th Century book Tabulae Anatomicae.

The first step in starting the mosaic is gluing the backerboard into the steel frame. I'm using Gatorfoam for the substrate…  it's the only board I found that had the right balance of flex and rigidity after HardieBacker discontinued their 4 x 8 sheets. It's 50 pounds lighter than the HardieBacker, which is a plus. I use PL Adhesive to glue it in the frame.

Here's a shot of the board weighed down by boxes of tile while I wait 24 hours for the glue to dry (it's at the far end of the room, behind the lapidary machines).



The work space for the mosaic project is what used to be the living room and dining room of our house— we prefer the sun room for eating and hanging out anyway, so it's not too much of a sacrifice. I was planning on moving the mosaic I just finished into the living room because the dining room works better as a work space, but I would have had to wait until after the holidays to get help moving it and I'm anxious to get to work. You can see the  finished mosaic taped down and ready for install in the foreground of the photo above…  The grout and mortar I ordered for it were delayed because the company didn't want to ship until after the holidays to make sure the epoxy didn't get frozen in transit.

Here's the drawing I'll be working from. I had issues with the paper bubbling if there was any humidity, so now I spring for the extra $100 to get them laminated. I find that it works best to start at one end and lay down the background tile to weigh down the drawing and remove any curling of the paper. You'll see a big strip of blank paper at both ends of the  drawing… this makes it much easier to center the drawing in the frame.



While I waited for the glue to dry, I spent the night going over 25 sheets of black marble tile and pulling out all the tiles that had veins or spots of white quartz, or chips, or  a lighter shade of black. Three hours later, my thumb and index finger were shredded, but I'd  pared it down to only the most solid black tile.



In a way, I find the background more difficult than doing the actual mosaic— because the tile is in a grid, it has to be as perfect as possible which is just not my forte. I use cheap aluminum yardsticks  from Harbor Freight to space the sheets… they just happen to be exactly the same width as the space between the tiles.



In this photo, I finished laying down the entire background, cutting each sheet to expose the drawing and filling in with smaller bits of the sheet where needed. The more full sheets I can use, the less I have to worry about spacing the tiles properly for the grid. Once this was done, I spent about 3 hours pulling all the remaining black tile off the mesh and removing the hot glue from each stone by rubbing it against heavy cardboard (more sore fingers, yay!).



I managed to fill in almost all the holes before I ran out of steam for the night. If I hadn't had to remove glue from more tile to finish, I'd have kept  going.

Tonight I'll finish filling in the holes and then begin cutting each piece of black marble to fit it tight to the drawing and erase the pixelated look around the edge of the drawing. That part usually takes 2-3 days.

Doing the background first accomplishes three things—

1. It holds the drawing down nice and flat… any buckling of the paper makes it near impossible to place the stones for the figure with any precision.

2. Since the stones are set down with no adhesive (especially because sometimes I decide to re-do whole sections) having the entire edge surrounded holds the stones in place while I work. I start from one spot and fill in until I reach the end of that section. That way, only the very most recent edge of where I'm working can be accidentally knocked apart if I do something careless or the cats jump up on the work table (The cats have learned by now that this is frowned on but you can't ever fully trust a feline).

3. By starting the project with a huge boost of progress, you get a nice sense of accomplishment before beginning the very incremental progress of doing the figure.

I usually don't do the black around the hands, feet and head until I start on that part of the mosaic. Preserving the lines of the grid gets tricky in those areas so  it's best to do both at the same time.

From Rubies to Fine Art Prints This Kickstarter is a Real Gem

Examples of Eustachi's drawings laser-etched onto black marble
The Kickstarter Project I'm launching today is probably the only one in the history of the site that offers real ruby crystals as the least expensive physical reward!

Since the original mosaics will not be for sale, I'm working with some of the best printers in New York to offer signed and numbered prints in several sizes and different media. There are a bunch of really awesome items that are available exclusively through Kickstarter (and once it's over in 30 days, they will be off the market).

I bring the same attention to detail, perfectionism and regard for quality to the prints that I have used in creating the original mosaics. I've chosen not to offer disposable swag like T-shirts or coffee mugs because they just wouldn't do the images justice.

The prints will be every bit as much a piece of fine art as the original mosaics. In some ways, they're actually better!

Advantages of Vibrachrome prints over the original mosaics

  • Each of the mosaics in the series represents 500 to 600 hours of labor. The price I would have to charge for the originals is over $30,000 apiece. A life size print is a bargain at $5000.00.
  • The original mosaics weigh between 300 and 350 pounds. The prints on aluminum weigh next to nothing by comparison.
  • Mosaics are durable and can last thousands of years, but stone is vulnerable to being scratched or damaged. Vibrachrome prints have a baked on, gloss enamel coating that is extremely durable. Rubbing a coin against it will not scratch it. Perfect for high-traffic public spaces!
  • Vibrachrome prints come ready to hang and need no framing, matting or glass (custom framing can often cost more than the art itself).
  • Slight variations in the surface of mosaics can make them very difficult to light without glare. The flat surface of the prints makes them easy to light.

The Vibrachrome prints of the mosaics are the only items that will still be available once the Kickstarter ends, but they will be much more expensive afterwards. Right now I can offer them for double the cost of printing and shipping them… but once I start selling them through galleries, I'll have to increase the price enough that I'm still making a profit after the gallery gets it's 50% commission.

Kickstarter is a way of financing new creative work by taking orders in advance— the real strength of the site is that it let's you find out whether there really is a market for your ideas before you spend an insane amount of time and money bringing them into the world. Of course, I didn't really do that—

At present I've invested $41,067.55 into the Anatomy Set in Stone Project.
$15839.14 for stone.
$4463.95 for saws, lapidary machines and other tools
$4867.24 for consumables and supplies (diamond abrasives, grout, mortar, sponges etc.)
$14607.22 for services (Installers, frames, printing, movers, photography, writing, video)

I always planned on using Kickstarter to bankroll the mosaic project through sales of prints, but I held off until the project was half complete because I wanted to be able to show proof that these incredibly detailed drawings could be accurately rendered in stone. I had a clear vision, but felt people were more likely to respond if they could see part of the vision realized.

To finish the next three mosaics, I need to raise $3110.00 for steel frames, epoxy mortar and grout, and printing the oversize drawings to work from.

If I raise an additional $3,615.00 I will add two more mosaics to the series which detail the skeletal structure. That cost covers steel frames, epoxy mortar and grout, drawings to work from, and black marble for the background.

Follow me elsewhere:
Facebook
Facebook
Instagram
Instagram
Website
Website
Seeing this newsletter for the first time?
Subscribe Now
Copyright © 2018 John T. Unger.


unsubscribe  or  update subscription preferences 
 
John T. Unger
Post Office Box 120
Hudson, NY 12534
231.584.2710
john@johntunger.com
www.johntunger.com