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DETAILS INSTRUCTIONS
TO PARTICIPANTS! PARTICIPANTS
LIST
STAY TUNED FOR PUZZLE PROJECT
#2, COMING IN SPRING/SUMMER 2004...
DIARY IN PHOTOS:
JUNE 2003 | OCTOBER
2003 | JANUARY 2004 |
FINAL IMAGE | COLOPHON
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CALENDAR/Diary (reverse chronology)
What's going on right now?
3/8/2004
Everything is done, puzzle prints are mailed and I'm planning my next monster. Final materials list and time/cost for everything (of academic interest only):
Item Time (hr) Cost US$ Comments Wood: 2 ea. 3/4" Cherry plywood 24x36" 0.2 $82 Online order: www.woodcraft.com Wood: 2 ea. 1/8" Doorskin back 24x36" 0.3 $18 Local home improvement store Ink: 1.5 cans Daniel Smith Tradit. Black 0.1 $22 Online order: www.danielsmith.com Paper: 200 ea. Stonehenge Cream 0.1 $224 Online order: www.danielsmith.com Mailing tubes: 40 ea. Priority Mail Tubes 0.1 $0 Free for US mailing: www.usps.com Mailing tubes: 12 ea. Heavy Mailing Tubes 0.1 $36 For foreign mailing: www.uline.com Colophon: Linen paper/Ink cartridge 6 $32 Clickbook print utility www.bluesquirrel.com Drawing/cutting block/sanding 30 $22 New jigsaw blades! Mailers for blocks 0.1 $42 Cardboard envelopes www.uline.com Mailing blocks 4 $86 Domestic postage www.stamps.com Printing (2 people, 3 long days) 72 $0 Unless you count Barbara's plane ticket Website and email updates 15 $0 Included in my website costs Mailing 2 prints/colophon to participants 6 $255 Domestic postage www.stamps.com Miscellaneous 12 $56 Studio printing supplies, home/office store, etc. Time Cost US $ TOTAL 146 $875 Received $508 from participants
2/17/2004
The First Baren Puzzle Project is complete! Pictures of the printing progress are now uploaded here: "Printing Index" The colophon is next under construction as are the remaining enlargements for the individual blocks. My USPS tubes just arrived and I will mail out as soon as the colophon is done.
2/3/2004
Took this long for everyone to send their pieces. I received the last piece in January. A helper, Barbara Mason, showed up and we happily printed the monster thing. Two hundred prints of each block took us around 30+ hours (in 3 days!). But we are finished and waiting on my pictures to get uploaded, the image map to get finished, colophon to get done... I will mail out throughout the next month as time permits.
1/28/2004
(Barbara's version) I arrived in sunny Las Vegas yesterday about noon and got the tour of Hoover Dam, Lake Mead and best of all saw Maria's wonderful commissioned print in the boy scout center. A great new building and her prints and block looked spectacular mounted on the wall.
I met the dogs and cats...well one cat. the other two are afraid of people from Oregon and have not shown their tiny faces yet....I am thinking they do not really exist!
I was exhausted last night as I stayed up till 3 the night before I left getting stuff done at home so slept like a log...I recommend Maria's B & B, the treat you great and feed you well.....however they do tend to work you hard!
We printed one half of the collaborative baren block today, it is on full size paper with only a couple of inches on each end over the size of the block. This does not sound like a great feat, until you realize that Maria's press has only a 24x36" bed and we were printing 22x30" paper. So it was interesting but we made it work. We got 75 good prints in 8 hours, so that was a good day. We are using Dan Smith relief black oil based ink and Stonehenge cream colored paper. I like the ink, I had not used it before and it is pretty creamy and rolls up well.
They look pretty good. We had a little trouble with varied heights but corrected that with some creative tape on the back of the pieces. It took us about 2 hours to get things rolling but once we got our rhythm we just popped them out. Sharing the work sure made it easier, I cannot image one person doing this big a print on this tiny press alone! Just dropping the paper would be really hard by yourself.
We need to print 100 of each block in order to toss a few and still have the 88 we need to send two to each participant. This is an amazing experience and spending time with Maria is a real plus, she is sure a feisty little thing and really strong. She has nearly killed me today...I will let you all know how I survive after two more days of printing. Guess I won't see Las Vegas, except for the airport and Maria's studio! Good thing I don't care.
9/15/2003
WAITING for the last blocks to make it back to me. One month past the deadline and 11 blocks still missing. Please please send your blocks as soon as possible. The photo album has been updated with new photos of the progress and a peak at the received blocks. Looks good so far!
5/30/2003
All blocks with one exception have been received. 14 of 44 blocks are already back with me with nifty carved designes on them. LAST CHANCE for participants who will not be able to complete the project to send blocks back to me so I can find a replacement carver. Please send blocks back immediately at the address below. Thanks everyone so far for your generous contributions toward the cost of the project!!!
2/1/2003
Almost everyone has their block, soon I will post the design mucho grande so we can start fitting the pieces as they arrive. Looks like two pieces didn't make it quite yet, but I have faith in the world's postal systems and I'm sure that they will. Meanwhile, my job is done for a while as I wait for the "What Is Baren?" pieces to come back to me.
12/31/2002 HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!
Everyone is receiving their blocks and wonders what they have gotten themselves into. I'm pleased...
Blocks are mailed and participants should receive them within 2 weeks in the US and up to 3 weeks in the world. Address to send blocks back:
Maria Arango
2544 Casey Drive
Las Vegas, NV 89120-1819 USA
12/18/2002
10/8/2002I'm done! And only about 8 weeks behind schedule. Wow, what a rush... Here is the skinny on where we are: I finished cutting the block yesterday (12/18/2002) and lovingly buffed each piece today, all 44 of them, after which they were marked and carefully wrapped in bubble wrap-p-p-p-p (man, it's fun to pop that stuff). I just now finished input of mail addresses in my very-loved-time-saving Stamps.com address book. They will be mailed tomorrow by standard USPS. Even our non US friends should get their blocks by the first week of January at the very latest (counting on inevitable mail delays this time of year). I will not know who gets what block, so I will count on each participant to mail me when you receive it and tell me the magic number on the back of your block. This way I can keep track and prepare for replacements if such a dire event were to happen.
Recovered from art festival on the weekend and ripped the package opened. Oooohhh, what beauty... Ideas flowed, the preliminary sketch appeared on the block. Pictures coming.10/4/2002
Wood arrives, have to slap my hands before opening it in a rush as I know that wood has to acclimate to the single digit humidity of Las Vegas. There it sits in a box...10/1/2002
Ordered wood, two (well, three but I'm keeping one) 20" x 24"(50.8 x 71 cm) blocks of cherry plywood. Decided on plywood after extensive warping warnings from experienced wood people (not to be confused with woodpeople).
INSTRUCTIONS TO PUZZLE PROJECT PARTICIPANTS:
In redesigning the block, I think I came up with one ideal way to keep
us all together while we are all out in the world doing our own thing. The final
print will certainly reflect this reality.
Your tiny block is cherry plywood, the best quality I could find, and has been
sanded and polished to a 600 grit finish. Some of your blocks sport the tiny
scars of some inevitable accidents with the jig-saw foot plate; fortunately
not many. Once you see the final design you will understand that: a) I’m
crazy as a loon (quoted by my husband) and, b) I did the best I could.
One last thing, any contributions to the final mailing of the prints will be
greatly appreciated. A tube Priority Mail USPS runs $5.95. World participants
contribute as you see fit and can afford.
DO:
· Remember the theme: “What is Baren?”
· Observe the orientation as marked on back by an arrow pointing to the
TOP and a horizontal line parallel to the bottom
· Please note there are no guiding lines and no underlying design, I
ingeniously(!) thought of another way to keep the design together and no longer
need this restriction to make your life easier
· Oil the block if you want to make cutting easier (linseed or mineral
oil works well)
· Practice cuts on the back of the block if you have never cut cherry
plywood before
· Trace the block shape onto sketch paper and practice your design(s)
there if you feel stumped
· E-mail me anytime with questions
DON’T!
· Don’t worry about the small scratches (left by the bouncing jig-saw
in selected blocks), with as much ink as I usually use, they won’t matter,
I swear
· Don’t change the shape or height of the block, i.e. no sanding,
no cutting off the ends, no chewing by small pets, no wetting
· Don’t proof the block except by dry means such as a graphite/crayon
rubbing
· Don’t use a border in your design
· Don’t be a weenie and drop out
ABSOLUTE “MUST”:
· Get blocks back to me by August 31st 2003
· Sign the back of your block with a permanent marker or carve your name
on the back if you feel extraordinarily industrious
· E-mail me when you receive the block: and make sure you tell me the
letter/number on the back of your block
· Let me know if you need to drop out and for cryin’ outloud, mail
the block back to me if you do have to drop out
COORDINATOR:
Maria Arango
THEME:
"What is Baren?" the question posed by one of our members a while back and
really makes you think about who we are, what we do and why we do it.
The question can be "answered" with complete freedom by participants.
Discussion in the forum may bring up some ideas.
Moderator will NOT refuse any print on the basis of anything, we're artists
for crying out loud.
SIGN UP:
Sign up is now CLOSED
DEADLINE:
Approximately 7-8 months from completion of sign up. I will print the entire
project in the summer of 2003.
FORMAT/DETAILS:
Your insane coordinator will purchase TWO wood blocks approximately 20" x
28"
(50.8 x 71 cm) in size; probably birch, perhaps maple plywood to keep easy
to carve. She will then proceed to draw a very simple design on the block with
a fine marker. The design will be in the spirit of the question "What is Baren?"
and will simply serve as an underlying "binding" for
participant's designs.
The blocks will then be sawn in as many pieces as there are participants.
The pieces will be irregular, not exactly in the traditional "puzzle" shapes
but something similar. Consequently, each piece will have a portion of the drawn
design, the identity of which will remain a mystery until all the pieces are
printed. I am also hoping that the underlying design will become completely
irrelevant except in its "binding" role of the whole.
Upon sign up completion:
- Each participant receives a pre-cut block, approximately 5" x 7" (12.7
x 17.8 cm) in size and of an irregular shape. The block will contain some predrawn
lines and whatever design each participant invents must somehow "work with"
those lines. There will be a pre-set orientation marked on the back of each
block (which way is up).
- Design and carving starts in the privacy of everyone's homes and at whatever
pace you should like to work as long as the deadline is met, a generous 7-8
months after sign up. Don't worry, I will remind you. Any carving/gouging/sanding/injuring
method may be used on the block; final
block will be printed relief.
- Participants mail the blocks to the coordinator.
After all the blocks are received by the coordinator:
- The individual pieces will be re-assembled and printed in BLACK on WHITE
paper, so keep that in mind when designing.
- Any drop-outs will result in a missing puzzle piece, which would be an
interesting statement of what someone thinks of Baren. I will substitute the
missing piece with a block that contains only the underlying design lines.
- Ink will be oil-based BLACK and I will most likely use a heavy printmaking
off-white paper such as BFK buff or similar.
- Each participant gets 2 prints of the entire puzzle. A total of:
participants x 2 (+1 archive) prints will be pulled. The future of the blocks
is to be decided later by the group involved (each gets tiny block back, entire
block mounted and kept in some gallows for posterity, ???).
- Web exposure, participants names and process pics will be provided in my
website, linked from the Baren site and from this page.
- Participants pay only postage to mail the blocks and get the prints. Block,
ink, paper, elbow grease and mailing tubes provided by coordinator.
Addendum:
Revised plan:
TWO pannels 20" x 28" will be sawn to smitherines and distributed. The underlying
guiding lines will remain one design, it will now span the two panels. The print
will be a two-panel print and everyone will get both prints. Blocks will be
randomly asigned, will contain the coordinates of where your block resides in
the puzzle (like a map 3-A), and the orientation will be predetermined (portrait/landscape).
(ASIDE: the reason I want to keep the panels that size is because I'm printing
on my trusty little press and want to keep handling the sheets of paper and
loose blocks as manageable as possible. Once I build a jig to hold the puzzle
together, this size will just fit on my press bed.)
(ASIDE ASIDE: everyone is invited to witness/help with the printing, of course,
but since it will have to be in the summer I would warn that this is not the
comfiest time to visit Vegas.)
Participants as of 10/15/02 [FINAL ROSTER A-Z-email addresses truncated]:
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