Cold day, hot fusion

It's too cold, at least for the Vancouver area. The weather page, updated a few minutes ago, gives the temperature here as -5.6°C. (22°F.) And we aren't prepared for it; we didn't get the slow decline of temperatures that we have come to count on. The long johns are still in storage.

So we stayed inside, in the warmth, and cleaned desks (me) and messed them up (Laurie).

I sorted photos in the afternoon, and since I was on the topic of rats yesterday, I was reminded of this photo:

Wooden rat line-up, Arnt Arntzen

Which brings me to the artist, and post # 6 about the 2008 Eastside Culture Crawl. (Previous posts: Crawling at the Wilder Snail, Sweeping nudes and other mix-ups, Scrambled Birds, Bugs in the Alley, and Two potters, side by side.)


Arnt Arntzen is a designer of

"mixed media sculpture that demands to be touched, sat on, dined upon and slept on."

The "steel macaroni" (my name for it; sorry, Arnt) that I keep taking photos of (one here), shows the dynamic, sculptural quality of his work. (He calls it "Transflexion".) He takes his inspiration from the qualities of reclaimed wood and found metal, and shows a special affinity for scrapped airplane parts. Scrapped, but not denatured; the tables and chairs he creates with them seem ready to fly, barely harnessed to the ground.

Arnt receives Culture Crawlers in the shop where he works. His tools, machines, and materials are as much on display as the sleek furniture.

Table and bowl. Reclaimed wood, airplane wing section

Propellers, polished and ready to be incorporated into the next piece.

Table, with three wooden drawers.

Glass table, with propeller pedestal trained into fluid curves. Two stools.

Airplane propeller, patterned with the polisher. I think the base of the bowl is also an airplane part.

Bowl, reclaimed wood, with brass "staples" over cracks.

Arnt was having fun this day; a polished grinder.

Detail of equipment.

Another metalworker and furniture designer, just down the street, fuses practicality and flights of fancy, as Arnt does, but with an altogether different result:

Ironside Metalworks sign

Noah Goodis creates security gates and bars, iron furniture, frames, and sculptural pieces, sometimes useful, but, as he says,

"The odd time, there’s something quite invigorating about creating a piece that's only function is to express a feeling, a fact, a thought, an opinion... or, absolutely nothing at all!"

This quirkiness attaches itself to all his creations. For example:

A plant stand. About 5' tall. Quite steady; I touched it to see.

In the bedroom, an "electric shovel", off-centre slab clocks, and a candlestick.

The bed. Welded iron, with integrated "flame" lights. Chair hangers; practical for small rooms, maybe.

On the porch; plant pot refashioned from a part of old machinery.

On his website, go to the "Sculpture" page. Scroll down. And down. Down to the toothbrush holder, and the --thing-- below it. I guess that's what he means by

"a piece that's only function is to express ... absolutely nothing at all!"

And that's a valuable function, sometimes.
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