The History of 10 x 10 x 10 = 1000

How did this piece from 2009,

10 x 10 = 100

become this piece,

10 x 10 x 10 = 1000,

ten years later in 2019?

The story began in September of 2009.

I learned of a benefit show for the Mesa Art Center called 10x10.

The art center was giving out 10x10" canvases to any artist that wanted to make a small work for their show and donate it to be sold for $100 as a fundraiser for the art center.

I loved the idea for the show and immediately started thinking that I should make a piece with a 10x10 grid, of course! 

Look at the sketchbook page below dated Sept. 29, 2009:

Notice idea #4 on the right side.

The piece that I just finished, 10 x 10 x 10 = 1000, 

was my original idea for the 10x10 show in 2009! 

There were two problems with this idea at that time though?

1) The pieces had to be 10x10 inches and I soon realized that I could not fit 1,000 tiny little objects in a 10x10" space. (the new piece is 34x34" unframed)

2) The benefit show was taking place on October 10, 2009 (10/10/2009). I put these ideas down in my sketchbook on Sept. 29, 2009, only 12 days before the show. This was not enough time to arrange and glue 1,000 tiny objects in place. (the new piece took approximately 140 hours to complete over 7 months, plus 10 years of collecting objects)

I remember cutting the 1x1" blocks of wood for the first piece and realizing, 

I did not have enough time or space to finish my original idea. 

The 10 x 10 = 100 piece from 2009 was a compromise between my sanity and I.

I made a drawing of that piece labeling all of the 100 objects used.

But I did not let my original idea die. 

I began collecting little objects in groups of 10. 

They were laying around my studio in little bowls and boxes for a couple of years 

until a good friend of mine suggested putting them in tiny zip-loc bags. 

I moved in 2012 and this prompted me to organize my collection of tiny objects. 

All of these little bags of objects conveniently fit into a photo box 

and stayed there for the move and many years after.

In 2016 I did this drawing. 

It was a map of how to arrange the 1,000 objects. 

Each object is represented by a number 1-100. 

This was a crucial component to creating the final piece.

In the spring of 2018 while I was impatient for a public art job to start, 

I opened the box of objects and laid them out thinking I would start working on this piece. The objects in their little bags stayed spread out over my studio table for almost a year. 

As 2019 began, I vowed to myself that this piece would be completed in the year 2019! Appropriately, it was 10 years after the idea was conceived. (this piece is all about 10s)

In March 2019, I cut 100 paint samples into 2.5x2.5" squares.

Then I cut 100 blocks of wood.

Then I glued all 100 paint squares to 100 wooden blocks.

By May, I arranged and labeled all of the bags with a number 1-100. 

I made a list of the 100 different objects. 

There are 10 of the same object in each bag.

And all the pieces began to come together.....

It took about a month to arrange all of the objects onto 100 squares. 

Each block contains 10 different objects. 

Each object appears 10 times on 10 different blocks.

No block contains the same 10 objects.

Each block is a unique arrangement.

There are 10 different locations that each object can appear on each block. 

I tried to arrange the objects so that same 10 objects never appears in the same location. 

This proved to be extremely difficult. It reminded me of three dimensional Sudoku times 10. 

I succeeded except for 10 anomalies. Can you find them?

I finished arranging all 1,000 objects by the first week in July.

In this picture none of the little objects are attached to the colored blocks.

By mid August, a month and a half later, all objects were glued on!

 In September, I then made a wood frame to attach all of the blocks.

But before I glued the blocks into their permanent location, 

I photographed each one individually. 

Block 4

 Block 25

The center of each block contains two objects stacked on top of each other.

All 100 different objects appear once in the center, top position.

Block 60

 Block 96

I glued each block in place using spacers.

On September 22, I photographed the final piece with many close ups and angle shoots. 

Top left 25

 Top right 25

Bottom left 25

Bottom right 25

 I had an acrylic case made for it.

On September 26, it was shown at Ngo Fine Art's Gallery Giveback.

Over 100 people attended and about $10,000 was raised for the

Team Bradley Bear Foundation

It's been a long journey.

I have ideas for a series having to do with 

counting, multiplication, puzzles and math.

I have completed #1 and #10 of the series.

I now have to get busy on #2 - #9.

Thanks for reading to the end!

Solterra Suns Avondale public art project is completed Reception:  Sunday, January 27, 3-5pm 295 E. Van Buren St., Avondale, AZ Happy New Year! I hope that your year is off to a fabulous start. Mine is! Because I installed this project in the first week of 2019. After 6 months of designing, planning, meeting, and approving, I started fabricating in July. I spent the last half of 2018 making tiles, drying tiles flat, firing tiles, glazing tiles, firing tiles again, laying out tiles, trimming tiles (on the tile saw), thin setting tiles in place, grouting tiles, and finally saying good bye to tiles. It has been an amazing process and with every public art project, and incredible learning experience.  Please join me on site on Sunday, January 27 from 3-5pm to view the art, if you are in the Phoenix area. The piece is located at: Bridgewater Assisted Living 295 E. Van Buren Street Avondale, AZ 85323 Thanks to E2 Innovations for fabricating the metal frames and installing the two 500 lbs. panels on site. Everyone there is amazing to work with. I can't imagine doing a project this large without them. May the long time sun shine upon you, All love surround you, And the pure light within you Guide your way on.  -Mike Heron sung at the end of every Kundalini yoga class Here is a little background as to how it all happened:

July. I first draw the full size design on plastic and use this pattern to cut tiles.

Each tile is numbered on the plastic and the bottom off the clay tiles.

July- Aug. These are some of the first tiles cut. Drying between drywall and sheets.

There are about 250 tiles on each panel, so about 500 tiles total in this project.

September. One panel of bisque (the first firing) tiles completed.

Studio view

October. The first metal frame in the metal shop. 

I designed them, but E2 Innovations fabricated them.

October. Glazing.

Two glazed suns after the second firing.

9 kiln loads of glaze firing.

10 different colors of glaze.

October. The first metal frame arrives in my studio.

Now powder coated with finished color and ready to fill with tiles.

Weighs approximately 250 lbs.

Each metal panel had to have cement board cut to fit it.

Then it was epoxied and bolted into place.

This is the surface that I thinset the tiles to.

Mid October. Tiles laid out but not attached.

November - December. The long process of cutting tiles on the tile saw 

and then thinsetting them in place permanently.

By this point I have handled each tile at least 10 times.

Mid November. The first panel grouted and completed. 

Right after this picture was taken, this panel was lifted (500 lbs. now)  and loaded on the truck and the second empty panel took its place in my studio.

 This was such a good day in some ways and then a very depressing day in other ways. 

I had to do it all over again!

I finished grouting the second panel on January 4. 

The second panel was picked up on January 7.

It was installed on January 8 by E2 Innovations.

Final results were posted at the beginning of this post.