Introduction: FMOTB, by Mike Erickson, with Jacob Bolton and Grant Depoy, coils saved by Michael Patton. [click on the title if you don’t see the photo']
Asked to explain the meaning of the entwined coils each Forest-Monk-in-Training gave his own interpretation on the spot, in the moment, from the heart and soul.
Jacob: “These coils are like us, humanity and faith. Our relationship is coiled together. TreeXUs.”
Grant: “Aged rusty, lost its spring, but together they stand.”
Baba Nam Kevalam = “Love is all there is” Om Mani Padme Hum = "The jewel is in the lotus."
Explanation: FMOTB – from the parts makes the whole, and that is us!
There are 4 main parts to FMOTB, made of thirteen items, not including paints, that were put together to make this monstrosity. It looks like a wet exposed brain with two colored antennae probing about its environment and collecting info for processing within. The blond antennae is Jacob. The red one is Grant. The wood is brains. It wishes it could probe and collect like the Forest Monks of SIU.
Part 1 lifts the brain from the surface for stability and outreach. It is made from a type of man-made stone in the form of an electrical insulator. Appropriately brown and glossy. According to a source “Porcelain is the most frequently used material for insulators…are a mixture of feldspar (35%), china clay (28%), flint (25%), ball clay (10%), and talc (2%)…mixed with water…consistency of putty or paste and is pressed into a mold to form…the desired shape.” (https://electrical-engineering-portal.com/ceramic-porcelain-and-glass-insulators).
Part 1A, unseen, is a long screw and two washers that pull the insulator tightly to Part 2, the wood burl. I picked this burl or gall from the many lying around the house. It was sanded to enhance its look like a brain and was painted glossy with polyurethane. The burl originally came from trees, some oak, found on a former 100-acre golf course near me in Evergreen Park. Burls and galls don’t necessarily hurt the trees. Their function is somewhat ‘unknown’ and are valued for their shape and grain. (https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-a-tree-burl-1342918).
Parts 3 and 4 are the two double metal coils forever clasped together by unknown forces. They were saved from oblivion by M. Patton and found Uptop near the site of the old wood sheds taken down to make room for the new garage. They were spray painted brown for wood, green for leaves, and orange and yellow for fall colors.
Parts 4A were 2 golf balls found in the woods that seem to complete the antenna tops. Corona balls or static balls reduce static on car radio antenna, while capitates, from the Latin caput, meaning head, are the balls found at the end of bug antenna. (https://www.thoughtco.com/insect-antennae-and-their-forms-1968065). Parts 4B, not meant to be seen, are two types of screws, one that hold the antenna loosely to the brains and the other ties the balls tightly to the coils.
The parts of this thing were joined in a flowing and ebbing, a rising and lowing of energy and intensity as parts failed and others triumphed into the making. Will it come together? Try this piece. Wow, this wood is almost impossible to drill. Why golf balls? Antenna without sphere toppings, never. Mixing it all together in the best way. No fear of failure, just action and discovery. The care.
Sharing it with others is also part of the process. I enjoyed every part of this experience culminating in FMOTB. Some of these actions of mine go back many years. Never did I know at any time that all this fun would be brought together in one object called FMOTB. Even the sharing has been fun, hence the ‘many thanks’.
Many thanks for this blog goes to…Robby Penna who I texted by accident (new phone stuff), and who returned my text (with an ID mechanism on his new phone). He asked to see the table top sculpture hidden behind the ‘Day of the Dead’ mask found along the Cal Sag Trail. An ask to see behind the mask! Roll on you bikers and skaters! And of course thanks to Donny B.