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Sculpture Restoration for Williams College

February 12, 2017 by Bob Hannum 2 Comments

What Began as an Installation Became a Restoration

Uh Oh, Something's Missing!

Arts Management Services LLC (AMS) installed a sculpture from the collection of the Williams College Museum of Art.

1 week installation in 1.5 minutes!

It's a sculpture by the environmental artist and architect Michael Singer entitled Ritual Series 1990 now on exhibit through February 19, 2017.

It's the centerpiece of a group exhibition titled 'Shaping Space,' which also includes works by Richard Serra, Mel Edwards, and Louise Nevelson. To learn more about this exhibition, visit the Williams College Museum of Art (WCMA).

During the installation I discovered that a few pieces were missing much to the chagrin of the artist and museum staff. After an extensive search the pieces were not found. Michael Singer determined that the sculpture looked fine to exhibit, but that the missing pieces should be restored.

So WCMA commissioned AMS to restore the missing pieces. My son William joined me and we completed the project and replaced the missing pieces on February 7.

Acquisition

Arts Management Services assisted in the original fabrication of this sculpture in the early '90's.

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Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts added this sculpture to their permanent collection as a gift from an alumnus and closest friend of the artist, Dr. William Fishkind.

About the Sculpture

Art Installation by Arts Management Services

Ritual Series, 1990 consists of wood, granite, field stone, copper and bronze measuring 230″ x 230″ x 75″ tall.

The wood has a gorgeous texture created by sand-blasting 2″ thick rough-cut pine, harvested from the woods nearby Michael's Vermont studio by a local mill. After sand-blasting, the large and heavy planks were carefully singed to create an ancient look. The wood is not coated and easily bruised so handling is careful with gloves at all times. Likewise packing and storage is done with special care to avoid bruising or scratching the soft wood.

Field stone was collected from around the artists 100-acre property in the mountains of southern Vermont. Mr. Singer would assemble a group of us from his studio and line us up behind him in a single row. We would then follow him all over his fields like ducklings. He would point to a rock and one of us would pick it up and carry it. Most were too heavy to carry more than one. When we all had one we would load them on his pickup truck and transport them to be cut flat on one end.

Holes were drilled into the planks. These holes refer to the aboriginal maritime culture of the Chumash who lived along the coast of what is now California. They created their canoes by lashing planks together which they referred to as Tomol, which was the original name of this artwork when first exhibited outdoors in a dry riverbed of the Santa Barbara Botanical Gardens.

Another interesting feature is the 'barrewood' and the barrewood patterns reflected in some of the bronze elements. Barrewood is a term used by the artist because these distinct patterns are created by huge saw blades that cut thru granite and slightly into 2 x 4 planks that line and protect the floor. Michael's stone cutters are located in Barre, Vermont.

The Installation

Williams College art installation

One of the secrets of this artist's work is the precise degree of vertical plumb and horizontal level. Most good carpenters notice when something is off-level by anywhere from an 1/8″ to 1/4." Incredibly, Mr. Singer notices pieces that are off-level by only 1/32″! This precision creates a subliminal effect of calm and quiet, making the heaviness of stone, metal and thick wood seem light, floating, contemplative, even otherworldly. This stunning effect can be felt in this and many of his other sculptures.

Many of the granite and bronze pieces are heavy and the long and thick pine planks bulky, needing 2 to handle and place precisely according to the instructions.

Our team devised an instructional system with carefully marked photographs whereby intricate sculpture such as this can be assembled and disassembled by museum and gallery preparators.

This art installation required two people five days to install.

This is only the second showing of this sculpture at Williams since it's purchase and exhibition in 1990. The current exhibition notes this about the artist and this work:

In 1971, Michael Singer fled New York City and settled in rural Vermont, where he found solace and renewed inspiration in nature. Comprised of sculptures and landwork, much of Singer's body of work exists outside of traditional art spaces. In his architectural designs, gardens indoor and outdoor artworks, and infrastructure projects, he consistently endeavors to produce ecologically sustainable objects and spaces that draw inspiration from their particular environment. This sculpture is part of Singer's ongoing Ritual Series, a collection of indoor installations crafted using an array of natural materials. Curved wooden beams enclose a labyrinthine interior of stone, metal, and wooden forms. For Singer, this central sanctum is akin to an inner realm - a sacred space from which to contemplate one's place in the natural world.

Filed Under: Restoration Tagged With: Art Restoration, Arts Management Services LLC, Michael Singer, Robert Hannum, sculpture restoration, Williams College Museum of Art

Art Installation at Williams College

February 10, 2016 by Bob Hannum

Acquisition

Art Installation by Arts Management Services

Arts Management Services LLC assisted in the fabrication of this sculpture by Michael Singer and in the subsequent art installation for the first exhibition of this work of art at the Williams College Museum of Art.

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Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts added this sculpture to their permanent collection as a gift from one of Michael’s closest friends and Williamss alumnus, Dr. William Fishkind.

About the Sculpture

Art Installation by Arts Management Services

The sculpture is titled Ritual Series, 1990. It consists of wood, granite, fieldstone, copper, iron, and bronze. It measures 230″ wide x 230″ long x 75″ tall.

The wood has a gorgeous texture created by sand-blasting 2″ thick rough-cut pine, harvested from the woods nearby Michael’s Vermont studio. After sand-blasting, the large and heavy planks were carefully singed to create an ancient look. The wood is not coated and easily bruised so handling needed to be careful and with gloves at all times. Likewise, packing and storage was always done with special care so that no surfaces touch each other or any hard surface.

Field stone was collected from around the artists 100-acre property in the mountains of southern Vermont. Mr. Singer would assemble a group of us from his studio and line us up behind him in a single row. We would then follow him all over his fields like ducklings. He would point to a rock and one of us would pick it up and carry it. Most were too heavy to carry more than one. When we all had one we would load them on his pickup truck and transport them to be cut flat on one end. One or two would be cut in an odd way with slices up the middle.

Art Installation Details

Williams College art installation

One of the secrets of this artist’s work is the precise degree of vertical plumb and horizontal level. Most good carpenters notice when something is off-level by anywhere from an 1/8″ to 1/4.” Incredibly, Mr. Singer notices pieces that are off-level by 1/32″! This precision creates a subliminal effect of calm and quiet, making the heaviness of stone, metal, and thick wood somehow feel light, floating, contemplative, and even otherworldly. This stunning effect can be felt in many of his works.

The granite and bronze plates were heavy and the long and thick pine planks bulky, needing two to handle and place precisely according to the instructions.

Our team devised an instructional system with carefully marked photographs whereby all of his intricate sculpture such as this can be assembled and disassembled by museum and gallery preparators.

This art installation required two people five days.

These pictures show details of the piece after completing the art installation for it’s first exhibition at the Williams College Museum of Art in 1990, from April 7 through October 21.


Filed Under: Exhibition, Installation Tagged With: art exhibition, art installation, Arts Management Services LLC, Michael Singer, Robert Hannum, sculpture exhibition, sculpture installation, Williams College Museum of Art

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