i did some metalworkish kind of stuff this past week and finished it and
erected it today.

you might remember last year i did this silly thing.

http://www.frontiernet.net/~wwixon/tirealien.jpg

we're doing another "litter pick up day" here tomorrow in my little town. 4
miles of road that borders/intersects 600 acres of historic farmland the
land owner wants to convert into a 300 unit condo development. some local
residents created a "save our hamlet" organization. we pick up the litter
along those roads as an expression of our love and concern for that parcel
of land. we'd like to keep it agriculture, hopefully interest a vineyard.
or if not agricultrue, how about a sculpture park similar to the storm king
art center? http://www.stormking.org/

well, so, this year i did another tire "sculpture" (from teh tires that had
been dumped there for the past 40 years.)

http://www.frontiernet.net/~wwixon/tirerobot.jpg

i think this one is a bit overwrought, but i got a chuckle from it anyhow.
the wind spinners are from the domed bottoms of spray paint rattle cans (i
DID some welding on the posts they're attached to). i used discarded neon
tubes, glued colored marbles (from inside paint rattle cans) on the ends.
found a mirror alongside the road and cut it into 5/8" squares and glued 'em
on. found the aluminum and glass domes in a dumpster. someone threw a roll
of aluminum foil alongside the road we're going to pick up along and i was
like, it was a gift from god, saying "here, use this too". i wanted to put
LEDs in the glass tubes and projecting onto the dome (to light it up at
night), but am too cheap and due to poor planning didn't have them on hand
in time. http://graffitiresearchlab.com/projects/led-throwies/

the tire alien STILL hasn't been vandalized, which to me is a TOTAL miracle.
i'm afraid this new one won't last the night... hopefully it will last
until tomorrow morning when we do the pick up so the participants can see it
and hopefully get a chuckle too.

i left the robot in a spot that traditionally gets a lot of dumping.
hopefully it might deter some. i tidied up that area a couple days ago in
preparation for this weekend. today i noticed someone had taken a ****
there and left the toilet paper there too. i assumed that was a commentary
on our efforts.


b.w.