On the last day of my 20's, I bit the head off of a fish.

(That's the smelt fish I caught, right before I killed it with my mouth.)

(Check out this NYT article about smelt fishing in Maine!)

(Photo by Mike Fleming.)

Wonder, 2011

80" x 48" x 4"

Proximity sensor, servo motors, Arduino micro prcessor, electrical components, MDF panel, acrylic, house paint, spray paint, ink and graphite.

From a distance, the white dots appear to be a constellation. As a viewer approaches the work, they slowly move into position to spell the word wonder.

(Click on the images to see them larger)

If you blur your eyes, can you see what it says?

I took this picture with my phone in my studio tonight. It's almost finished! More details and photos coming soon...

On the last day of 2010, I climbed a mountain.

Photos by Jeff Stockbridge.

Working Drawings

(2000 Ferrari F1 Engine Working Drawing by Tony Matthews)

Lately I've been really interested in technical drawings. What I'm working on right now is really complicated... it's a kinetic sculpture that uses 54 motors. I'm exploring how the drawings that I've been making to figure out how it will work can be works in themselves. Drawings like this one are really inspiring.

Before I die I want to...

Apropos of New Years resolutions... I recently stumbled upon a website that posts polaroids of people saying what they want to do before they die. It's amazing how many people say they want to write a book, travel, go to outer space, go skydiving, own a dog, be in love, or have babies. After looking through hundreds of these photos I realized I was getting frustrated by the fact that I wasn't coming across many statements that were unique or profound. I was actually surprised at how many of the things people stated are things that I have already done. But I guess that, when it comes down to it, no answer to this question could ever be that profound. There are certain limits to what a person can accomplish in life. And in the great scheme of things, publishing a book or having babies isn't really that remarkable. Everything that needs to be done has already been done.