RuBert Studios

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2007-01-21T11:17:00.000-06:00

Opening Reception of Studio B Sculpture Invitational - Cincinnati 2006

2006-06-23T06:58:00.000-06:00

Positronic Neon by Russ RuBert

Information Systems (Observations of Human Creativity, a Relational System Design Dialectic) by Nathan Hamilton and Jay Wilson

The Limits of Spoken Language: Conversation by
Jarrett Hawkins

Positronic Neon by Russ RuBert

Neon Wired In Place

2006-06-21T06:49:00.000-06:00

Cincinnati Installation

2006-06-20T06:37:00.000-06:00

We pulled into Cincinnati with the new Positronic Neon sculptures at about 4:30 a.m. Saturday night/Sunday morning, but Russ was already hard at work by 10:30 a.m. This sculpture installation will be on display as part of the Studio B Sculpture Invitational for the International Sculpture Conference that starts on Thursday.

Here you can see the hand-bent and welded aluminum framework that Russ has built. Fine copper wire is threaded through custom stand-offs on the aluminum to suspend the neon inside the frames. He is using all vintage neon that has been salvaged from old signs which was designed to lay in two-dimensional patterns. Recombining the neon into new and three-dimensional patterns requires quite a bit of planning to be able to support the neon without putting stresses on curves that will fracture the fragile glass.

The base of the frame is temporarily covered with paper while wiring the neon in place, but underneath the paper are electrical transformers and motion sensors that will trigger the neon to light as people walk by the sculptures.

Choosing which pieces of neon to wire to which circuits can be tricky -- not only technically, but asthetically, since there are several colors and designs that read in different dimensional planes.

Neon Positronic Brain

2005-12-08T00:24:00.000-06:00

On Monday Russ installed his newest sculpture at the Washington University School of Medicine -- he calls it the Neon Positronic Brain. It's a crazy sculpture with all kinds of different colored neon lighting up at different times.

The sculpture is viewer activated by three electronic eyes that read whenever someone comes into the building. There was lots of excitment from the students and faculty as he was installing it.

This month he was profiled in 417 Magazine as "the Mad Scientist of Sculpture," and looking at the big Jacob's Ladder that sparks across two stainless steel columns running through the middle of the sculpture makes the title seem appropriate.

It was a little harrowing, driving the sculpture there in 14 degree weather and uncrating it outside in that cold, but worth it -- the sculputure arrived undamaged.

Art Car Museum

2005-11-24T00:28:00.000-06:00

At the Art Car Museum in Houston, this car "Faith" was built on a 1984 Camero by David Best. It's covered with everything imaginable...

Mickey Monk...

Old Frigedaire and Electrolux parts...

Lots of toys...

And here's "Spoonozoid" by Mark Bradford. It's covered with spoons and to drive it, the opertator has to lay on his stomach inside the thing. We also got a quick tour of Mark's studio which was only a few blocks away.

The "Funion"

2005-06-01T22:21:00.000-06:00

While in Cary photographing Russ's sculpture, we found the sculpture is very popular with the surrounding neighbors. Kids call it the "Hersey Kiss" or the "Funion" because they said it looks like an onion, but it's fun.

When the stainless steel mushroom on the bottom spins, it turns the 23-foot tall pole which makes the top spin. The little kids love to play on it like a merry-go-round.

And the teenagers are more daring. It does seem like a kid-magnet, or maybe it's really a people magnet. It seems to attract all sorts of people at all hours of the day and night. Sometimes they just sit on the benches on the edge of the sculpture and talk...

But mostly they just spin, spin, spin.

Lucky Rob

2005-06-01T00:47:00.000-06:00

By coicidence while we were in Cary, Rob Fisher was also installing a sculpture inside the lobby of WakeMed Hospital. Rob serves on the board of Sculpture magazine with Russ and is a good friend, so we decided to stay an extra couple of days to help with the installation.

Here's the pieces of the sculpture laid out on the floor of the lobby.

To complete the installation, Rob hired two scissor-lifts to install the grid and supports, then raise and attach the pieces. To see the full gallery of photos that Russ took of the installation, please go here.

Looks a Little Spacey, Doesn't It?

2005-05-31T18:51:00.000-06:00

We returned to Cary, NC where Russ's sculpture was installed earlier this spring to take some photos now that there are leaves on the trees. While there Russ did a little sculpture maintenance.

K-Man Dedication

2005-05-21T23:03:00.000-06:00

Weather for the dedication was wonderful and loads of little and big kids showed up for the ribbon cutting.

Final Details

2005-05-21T11:24:00.000-06:00

The entire gear box is enclosed with a strong and clear sheets of plastic called lexan.

This allows kids to see the inner workings of the sculpture but prevents them from touching any of the moving parts.

New and Improved

2005-05-21T00:46:00.000-06:00

The new and improved Big Gear awaits its destiny.

Getting ready to install the Big Gear. This is what makes K-Man's head turn and his arms and legs swing.

Leveling the gears and adjusting the timing and action took a good part of the day. These gears had to be altered because of K-Man's position on the new foundation.

Much later today, Russ proudly displays the new and improved pole for the handle. Hint: the new one is on the left.

Still silent, K-Man looms overhead while the installation continues. The baseball game across the street ended long ago, the fireworks exploded, and the sport fans straggled home. But now K-Man has night lights.

Take that Darth Vader

2005-05-20T09:32:00.000-06:00

Here's the cover of today's Lifestyle section. K-Man k-o'd Darth Vader (Revenge of the Sith) for the cover page. The funny thing is the photo the newspaper used has the black Hammons Tower in the background. What's funny is people around here call that the Darth Vader Tower. How's that for synchronicity.

K-Man Installation Today

2005-05-18T21:51:00.000-06:00

Preparing the foundation to set K-Man's gear box on. It looks like it's going to be nice day in Jordan Valley Park.

There's quite a crew here ready to help with every facet of the installation. The gear box in now in place and level.

As a crane lifts the body of K-Man down into position, the skies darken and the wind picks up, but at least it's not raining.

The support and rotating poles have to line up and be bolted into place.

These legs are made for walking... attaching the legs and releasing the supporting straps are the last jobs of the day. And the sun peeks out of the clouds again. Get out the sun-screen.

It Has a Name...

2005-05-17T10:14:00.000-06:00

More work on the back lot to line up new connections for the new support pole. We've had mostly nice weather except for the occasional big gusts of wind that can make lining up the connections difficult. The studio crane has a name... it's called "The Beast."

Burn Baby Burn

2005-05-16T23:34:00.000-06:00

We're burning the midnight oil here at RuBert Studios.

With the discovery of a bearing that's gone bad due since it was never oiled by the previous owners, Russ realizes that K-Man's bottom has to be cut off. After opening him up, the bearing was replaced.

K-Man may get bit of hot seat during the process. The bottom has to be welded back on, the welds cleaned up, and the bottom and sides re-polished.

After a few welding gymnastics, he should be good as new. Maybe better.

K-Man has a Spine Alignment

2005-05-14T15:12:00.000-06:00

Now that the new pole has been welded, it's time to check the placement for new holes in the base that have to be drilled.

It took both the old Stinger crane and the forklift on the back lot to make the necessary adjustments and measurements.

A New Spine

2005-05-12T16:03:00.000-06:00

The new support pole for Kinetic Man finally arrives and polishing begins. Since K-Man was orginally designed for temporary two- or three-day installations at the Walt Disney Children's Arts Festivals, Russ has been making improvements for the permanent installation. The new pole he's ordered has much thicker walls than the original.

Richard starts polishing the long pole. And Russ sliced off a couple of bracelets for me. He hasn't put a pattern on them yet, but I'm hoping...

Whew, this hand-modeling is hard work. Shouldn't I be getting paid for this?

Reworking the Gears

2005-05-04T20:51:00.000-06:00

Since the new concrete foundation for K-Man will be quite different from the grassy-lawn-style installtion used for the Walt Disney Children's Arts Festivals, Russ will have to re-design the entire gear system.

The gears that make it easy for kids to make K-Man walk are all custom engineered and hand-crafted out of sheet metal and solid rods. It's already apparent that the gear teeth will have to be lengthened to adjust for the new handle position.

The Gates - Photos and Article

2005-03-10T23:09:00.000-06:00

Inspired by a February visit with Christo and Jeanne-Claude during the installation of "The Gates" in NYC, Russ wrote this feature article for the NewsLeader. To see his full gallery of photos from the trip, please go here.

KY3 TV News Feature Story

2005-03-09T18:23:00.000-06:00

Tony Beason shows up at the studio with a camera man to tape a feature story on Russ for KY3. Russ demonstrates how kids will be able to spin on the base of the Cary, NC sculpture.

K-Man Foundation

2004-11-05T17:39:00.000-06:00

Public Works poured the block foundation for Kinetic Man in the middle of the K-Park which is under contruction. The tall orange thing in the background is was carried the concrete across the grass from the parking lot.

Russ watched as the Public Works crew finishes the surface of the foundation. The site is directly across from the new baseball stadium.

Studio Open House

2004-10-26T23:45:00.000-06:00

After Russ set up the Cary Sculpture in the studio lot, RuBert Studios hosted an open house. Inside there was a tour of the RuBert Sculpture Intensive Care Unit where Kinetic Man awaits his extreme makeover...

a tour of Pam's super duper art quilt studio...

and a chance to offer creative suggestions for the name of the Cary Sculpture on the whiteboard.

Outside people of all sizes were loving the spinning pod on the bottom of the sculpture that makes the top spin.

Three generations on one cool bench...

And a parting view as the sun set on a great party.