Camping Day at the Children's Museum

This summer I was invited to help visitors make a tepee like structure out of recycled materials for national camping day. We used local bamboo, scrap fabrics, plastic pipe and burlap to make the tepee. We then created our own stained glass windows out of colored cellophane to make a kaleidoscope of color inside the structure.

"South Pacific"

I helped create the set for my school's musical "South Pacific", which just ended. We were lucky enough to work with Bob Buckler who worked on Broadway shows for many decades. He was an indispensable asset to the show and taught me a tremendous amount about set design and construction. Thanks Bob!

THE TOIL OF TILLING

The Mattress Factory Museum's gesture series "Meet The Made", July 2008. It was organized by Ian Ingram and Carl DiSalvo as part of the Robot 250 series of events in Pittsburgh. I made a giant locust robot and titled it "The Toil Of Tilling", which quite honestly is more of a puppet, but does have robotic qualities. Click here to read a review by Kurt Shaw in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.


First, I welded the frame of the locust and secured all of the electronic components to this frame.


I used scrap styrofoam insulation I found in the trash at a construction site and laminated the pieces together using expandable insulation spray foam.


After it cured, I carved out the shape with a sharp kitchen knife. After I had the basic shape I lightly sanded the surface smooth.


Then I covered the foam with several layers of a 2:1 mixture of Acrylic Polymer and paper mache clay powder. Where there were structural concerns or contact due to moving parts I used a material called polygem. This stuff is really amazing and I also used it to completely cover "Prometheus", as it's weatherproof qualities make it an ideal solution for exterior applications.


Here is the finished piece installed in the gallery. I used acrylic paint with a clear coat finish to complete the piece. To read my statement and see more photos visit the Mattress Factory's website here.
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PROMETHEUS

“PROMETHEUS” Pittsburgh Center for the Arts and Pittsburgh Filmmakers, Biennial Exhibition, May 2008

Prometheus is the mythological figure who stole fire from Zeus and gave it to Man. As punishment for this crime, Prometheus was chained to a rock where his regenerating liver was eaten daily by an eagle. Some might argue that when mankind harnessed fire, his innocence was lost. What should have been a great gift of power and potential was instead a burden and cause for suffering.

The control of fire and its utilization for energy have an epic history. In 1206, Al-Jazari described a “double-acting reciprocating piston pump with a crankshaft connecting rod mechanism” in his Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices. In 1509, Leonardo da Vinci theorized a “compression-less engine” in his journals. However, it is not until 1826 when American inventor Samuel Morey received a patent for a compression-less Gas or Vapor Engine that we see the effect that this single piece of machinery has had on modern-day society. This invention, the internal combustion engine, helped the United States become the industrialized superpower that it is today.

The Bald Eagle, using its size and strength to either steal or scavenge food, is a creature of opportunity. Humans conduct business, farm, and extract resources without regard to other species or the overall health of the environment. Americans consume 20% of the world’s total resources yet inhabit only one-twentieth of its population. As our resources become limited, will we, as a nation of great influence and strength, become more like the iconic eagle in our worldviews and practices? Will we stop to consider the relationship between nature and mankind while working toward integrating our existence in an ecologically responsible manner? Will we stop to contemplate the role that our consumption plays in the global economy? Perhaps like Prometheus, we are making hasty decisions for the satisfaction of immediate gratification only to pay for these choices through incessant anguish in the future. When capitalism catches onto green technology we will all benefit from the momentum and use it to grow our own money tree.


PROMETHEUS 2008
Mixed Media Sculpture

Click here to read a review of the show where Prometheus is mentioned.
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MF's Garden Party 2008

At the Mattress Factory Museum's annual garden party last summer artists where given small fans and asked to create artwork from them. I decided to make my fans into fish fins. I used glass Wildebeest eyes to make it seem a little creepier than it already was and painted it with glow in the dark paint to surprise whomever bought it at the silent auction. The event was tons of fun and had members of the Zany Umbrella Circus rappelling down the wall of the museum. Thanks to whomever bought my fish!
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Paddlefish Swim the 3 Rivers!

In May 2008, my fourth grade students at Reserve Elementary participated in a grant opportunity called "River of Words". This was a collaboration between several local organizations including The Arts Education Collaborative, the RiverQuest boat at the Carnegie Science Center, The Carnegie Museum of Art, and 3 Rivers Wet Weather. This project involved going on two field trips as well as creating poetry and a paddlefish sculpture project at our school. On our field trip to the RiverQuest Boat we ventured out onto the Ohio River and learned about our watershed and the health of our rivers while looking at indicator species, plankton, and turbidity. While at the museum we viewed the International Exhibit and wrote poetry about what we saw there while focusing on the micro/macro aspect of our experience.

Overall it was an amazing educational experience had by all. Many thanks to all those involved in making this grant and opportunity possible!!!

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SONAR

Pittsburgh based artist Christopher Lisowski and Buffalo based artist Tullis Johnson presented SONAR an interactive installation that investigates Low Frequency Active Sonar and its potential for inflicting harm on cetaceans, the mammals most fully adapted to aquatic life. SONAR explores the cultural significance of whales, and addresses the atypical mass standings that occur on our borders to the sea. 707 Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA- October 2007



The first recorded use of hydro acoustic technology dates from 1490 when Leonardo Di Vinci wrote; “If you cause your ship to stop, and place the head of a long tube in the water and place the other side of the tube to your ear, you will hear ships at a great distance from you."

Modern echo location technology was developed shortly after the sinking of the RMS Titanic on April 14, 1912. Scientists in England, Germany, and the United States responded to the hazards posed by icebergs and the growing dangers of submarine warfare. The International Ice Patrol was established around the same time after the International Conference on the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) was convened in London on November 12, 1913.

Natural echo location occurs most notably in whales and bats. Whales communicate and navigate using sounds focused in fatty tissue in their foreheads. This organ, called the melon, is especially large in Sperm Whales; so big in fact that its battering ability inspired Herman Melville’s masterpiece. The story of Moby Dick was a fictional account of a real occurrence. In 1820 the Nantucket whaling ship Essex sank 2000 miles off the coast of South America when it was repeatedly rammed by an 80 ton sperm whale.

SONAR (SOund NAvigation and Ranging) was developed to prevent collision. In the beginning it was used to protect merchants and travelers from icebergs. Later it was used to avoid torpedoes. Today the international ice patrol’s most important function is to record the rapid depletion of icebergs at sea. In March of 2000 iceberg B15 broke off of the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica. At over 11,000 square miles it was the largest iceberg ever recorded, larger even than the island of Jamaica.

SURTAS LFA (Surveillance Towed Array Sensor System Low Frequency Active) SONAR is a new technology still in preliminary testing stages. It allows for vastly greater range and specificity than the ping of normal Sonar. Unfortunately the residual effects of this technology threaten the balance of life at sea.

In March of 2000, a stranding of seventeen marine mammals of several species was discovered along the Northeast and Northwest Providence Channels on Bahamian Islands. The strandings took place within 24 hours of U.S. Navy ships using LFA Sonar for an unusually extended period. Six of the whales died after stranding on beaches. Specimen samples were collected from four dead whales. Three whales showed signs of bleeding in the inner ears and one whale showed signs of bleeding around the brain.

There’s a natural tendency to avoid thinking about subjects that might involve some psychic pain, but the idea that human civilization is colliding with the earth’s environment is a painful reality.


Sands Of Nineveh Are Restless, 2007
Tullis Johnson and Christopher Lisowski
Mixed Media Sculpture


When Commodity Outperforms Function- 2007
20 inch round
Mixed Media on Canvas

A Pod Or A Hatch Ling, Either Coalmine or Vast Seas Expanse- 2007
20 inch round
Mixed Media on Canvas

Trying To Escape That Which Is Inescapable- 2007
20 inch round
Mixed Media on Canvas


The Great Divide, 2007
Christopher Lisowski and Tullis Johnson
Sound Design Assisted by Christopher Storms
Mixed Media Sculpture
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