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Why Napkins? No Really Why?

The use of my drawing material usually brings one of a couple reactions. Sometimes people are amazed at the detail that can be achieved on such a fragile surface. Sometimes they wonder why I don't use better materials. And sometimes they wonder how in the world I think I can charge money for a doodle on a napkin.

One of the original intentions of using napkins was the idea that all great ideas are born on napkins. Inventions, math solutions, business models have all had their birth on a napkin...often fueled by the alcohol or coffee served along with the napkin. Another reason for using napkins is that I really enjoy the idea that I am repurposing a completely ordinary/disposable material. And the last reason, I will admit, is that I enjoy drawing in bars and this project gives me an excuse to go to different and tony bars that I might normally not go to.

As for charging money for these, one only needs to go to a current art show to see that this is definately not beyond the pale.

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The Long Now: The Über Orrey

A planetary clock of unthought of precision. Instead of gears it uses a stack of binary mechanical computers. It is designed to show seconds, minutes, hours, years as well as track the orbits of the inner six planets for 10,000 years. A second scale prototype (shown) has been built that is 6 feet high. The final version ,which will be embeded in a mountain in Nevada or Texas, will be at least 60 feet high. Insane and brillant and beautiful.

http://www.longnow.org/

Musee des Arts et Metiers

A fantastic museum in the heart of Paris that is often (actually completely) overlooked. Started in 1794 as "a warehouse for new and useful innovation", it is marvel to behold. Three floors organized into 7 catagories, the museum has more than 3000 inventions on display. Including a working Foucault's Pendulum (dated 1855 and used in the Universal Exhibition).

http://www.arts-et-metiers.net/

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Why are there Clockwork Atomics?

In 2006 there was the second NYC blackout that I experienced. This time only effecting Queens, but it lasted a week. So to charge cellphones and MP3s, my wife and I would go a different area of the city with powerstrip in hand. During one of these ventures, I made a particularly elaborate doodle on a napkin at a coffee house while we waited. Showing my wife I joked that this should be what I produce for art. It was perfect....the materials were free and my studio could become every bar and coffee shop in NYC. The more I thought about it the more I liked it. Why can't art be on napkins? Little snapshots of what I was thinking about as I killed time across the city.(There are way worse and more stupid ideas...trust me I work in the art world.)

The drawings began as geometric designs and mathematical problems inspired by alchemy and my misadventures into the engineering world , but around 100 designs in they began to look more like machines. Always loving Orreys and other clockwork devices, I explored this vein more fully. Each drawing includes detailed notes on the operation and description of the object in question. The designs continue to evolve and change but currently can be divided into 3 veins: mathematical calculations, spacial geometry and clockwork atomics.

Currently, I continue to draw in bars and coffee shops across the city between appointments and after work.

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