May 27, 2011 – House of Wax

Today is the day to add wax to the list of mixed media used in the 2011 Project. Considering that Vincent Price was born on this day 100 years ago, melted wax seems the right medium to drip and spread over the piece. In 1953, the House of Wax was the first 3D, color movie. My father took my brother and I to see it in the theatre during a re-release when I was about 10. It was the first 3D movie I ever saw. Normally, I would have been terrified, but I just remember being mesmerized by the 3D and waiting for the next effect. I really am not much for 3D movies, but the one that really did scare me was the Siegfried & Roy biopic in 3D.

March 14, 2011 – Popular Mechanics

I don’t have memories of Popular Mechanics lying around the house. My dad read the New Yorker. We were a family that, when something was seriously broken, you didn’t fix it, you called people. I suppose I always knew the magazine existed, but I never really looked at Popular Mechanics until my thirties.

It was the vintage issues from the 1950’s that I had “discovered.” I have been using bits of Popular Mechanics in artwork ever since. The ads in the magazine are great. They predate the era of late night TV advertising and are pretty funny. You too can have that he-man voice! I love the do-it-yourself projects from an era when people actually did it yourself. I own an old, homemade end table that clearly was made form a plan in a magazine like Popular Mechanics. One of those things I picked up at a garage sale. I no longer use the table; it’s stored away. I need to find a fan of this genre of home furnishings and find a new home for the piece.