Tube Installation

I hinted via Twitter that I was working on something, and here it is. I was filling our main room and dining room with a lattice-work of cardboard tubes.

This is what happens when your partner leaves you alone in the house for three weeks. Those little ideas in the back of your head leave the back of your head, and you spend your evenings doing this.

M was, of course, thrilled to see it when she got home. We think alike.

The installation is made from 1" diameter, 24" long cardboard tubes, and stretches from floor to ceiling in a space of roughly 25' x 15' x 10'. It is free-standing, held together only by the strength of the tubes, and hot glue.

The tubes were rescued from a recycling dumpster. I used about 500. The hot glue was bought in a late night frenzy when I first had the idea, but was unable to find our own hot glue stash. Sometimes, inspiration won't wait.

I've made other tube sculptures by cutting the tubes to the right length, but for this I left all tubes at their 24" length, flatting the edges to make bevels where necessary.

This gave the it a strange 3D geometrical shape, proportional, and yet warped. I remembered the studies where honeybees are given LSD, and then produce warped honeycomb. The tubes are geodesic domes under a similar treatment. Not LSD, just warped, home-industrial boredom. An excess of raw material leads to products of irrational design.

But at the same time, it isn't irrational. There are pathways of open space leading from the front door, to the couch, to the kitchen. From the couch to the stereo. This was the only space I was using in the room; the tube occupy unused space.

In some ways, its an externalization of things I was feeling. I was lonely, a little bored. I was feeling frustrated that many creative ideas I have are put off, due to insufficient resources or time. This idea then launched out of me, in an aggressive reaction against the sort of conservative thought that lead one to, say, not fill one's living room with tubes. A rejection of all the reasons why not.

M, upon arriving home, was inspired with ideas to augment and add to the lattice work. In this way, she is rejoining my space, and adding to it, as she always does. It's now our space again, full parts, empty parts, and all the angles in between.

The video will probably give you the best overall picture. My camera with a wide-angle lens is not working.