Coin-op Sculpture .... faux real!

'Chutes 'n Balls' - original bronze

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Yellowheart box base

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Added bronze ball & chute

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Yellowheart coin slot & bronze 'coin'

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     Sometime ago I created a bronze sculpture titled 'Chutes 'n Balls'. It is a piece that reflects both my sense of design and my sense of humor (with a bit of a tip o' the hat to Rube Goldberg... see my blog entry for 6/25/13). After living with it for a while, I decided that I really wanted to expand the concept. I wanted to add additional some twists to the game idea that the piece represented. The next step was to determine what the twists would be. Since it was a ball game, I decided that adding some sort of separate 'faux' chute for dispensing or retrieving extra balls would be appropriate. This in turn required that I come up with some sort of base to attach the chute to. I mulled over a variety of ideas involving both cylinders and boxes, but my biggest hurdle seemed to be choice of materials. I wanted something that would go well with the bronze. The answer came from my brother's scrapwood (see my blog entry for  9/28/13)...yellowheart! I went to Atlantic Hardwoods in Portland and, as luck would have it, they did have yellowheart - just one board and it was just the right size! Box base problem solved. My next thought was to create some sort of 'faux' switch, crank or starting mechanism for the game. After deciding to make it a coin operated game, I fashioned a 'faux' coin from a bronze scrap and a made a yellowheart coin slot for it. To complete the box and add cohesion to the design of the piece, I added round yellowheart disks that matched the coin slot disk to the sides of the box. These disks also echoed the circular shapes in the original bronze. The box was finished with satin polyeurethane and the disks were attached with wooden pegs & wood glue. The bronze pieces were attached to the box with threaded rods and nuts. The sculpture is now complete and has been entered and accepted into the annual juried ArtinMe. show at the Boothbay Region Art Foundation Gallery.

'Chutes 'n Balls' completed ... 3 views

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          * For additional information relating to the creation of 'Chutes n' Balls' see my blog entry for 2/6/13

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