Kinetic Sculpture Masterclass.
Renowned sculptor Jim Bond hosted a Masterclass at the IOU Studio, Dean Clough.
Getting Started
Everyone arrived with varied levels of experience across a range of making skills from stained-glass to ceramics. While the area of kinetic sculpture was new to most, the possibility of adding movement to their work and learning metal and welding skills was the main driver and all had a vision for their final finished piece.
During the Masterclass
The session began with discussion, individually and as a team, around the different ways of realising their ideas. Some people started with pencil and paper to sketch out the possible designs, others just dived into fixing things together to see what happened!
With both approaches, during the actual making, new possibilities were often discovered as the sculptures evolved in response to unexpected mechanical movements, creating happy accidents in assembling the mechanisms.
Everyone progressed to create their own kinetic sculpture – learning basic welding skills alongside riveting, soldering and angle grinding to cut, fit and realise their artwork using a range of materials including metal tubing, rods and wire attached to a small direct current motor.
Highlights of the day.
Using welding equipment is always an adventure, as sparks (literally) fly, and participants gained experience using new techniques.
The end result was an incredibly varied range of sculptures and approaches, and everyone went away with a successful moving sculpture, some with plans to develop them further at home.
IOU Artistic Director David Wheeler said, “There is a certain energy that arises from gathering creatives together, and this was one such time. Thanks to Jim for making it such a success.”
Exhibition
The sculptures that were created during these workshops, will form part of a photographic exhibition in the IOU Walkway Gallery 17th-31st August 2022, at Dean Clough.
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