23 Apr Scrap Metal Architectural Panels
As cool as these shapes are, they can be kind of hard to work with… I find that when they’re layered over one another in a pile, they look awesome, but usually when I try to work with them individually, they lose something in the process…. I like the idea of this as a wall hanging piece, but it weighs about 150 pounds or more so that rules out a lot of walls… If you’ve got a nice modern loft space with concrete walls, I reckon you could get away with it…. I think they’d also work well as components in a fence, especially if you were thinking about a fence that provides more privacy by blocking the view from outside. If I were gonna make a fence in this style, I’d probably do a bunch of panels in different sizes and connect them together like the panels in the first big scrap metal fence project I did…. I’ll probably have to get the hinges and frames from a bank vault company, but still… As usual, if any of these projects sound like what you’re looking for, or you’d like to talk about commissioning a project along these lines, drop me an email or call 231.584.2710.
Here’s another project done this week with left-over cut outs from the Fire Bowls. As cool as these shapes are, they can be kind of hard to work with… I find that when they’re layered over one another in a pile, they look awesome, but usually when I try to work with them individually, they lose something in the process. So I took an old steel frame from a trampoline, welded in a bunch of flat pieces of steel to provide a backdrop and then filled it up with several layers of welded in firebowl scraps. And voila! It looks as good as it does when they’re randomly scattered!
I love the texture and the play of shadow in between the bits of steel. The colors are nice too, though over time those will change to a more consistent tone if the piece is left outdoors.
At which point you’re maybe thinking, “Great John, but what’s it good for?”
Glad you asked.
I like the idea of this as a wall hanging piece, but it weighs about 150 pounds or more so that rules out a lot of walls… If you’ve got a nice modern loft space with concrete walls, I reckon you could get away with it. Which makes me think that a few of these would look totally amazing if they were bolted to or set into a concrete wall as an architectural feature. Yeah, I think I may do just that when I get around to landscaping here at the studio… Some nice cast concrete walls with inset steel panels. Actually, they’d look even better if the were set into a wall as part of a fountain or water feature. Yeah, imagine if water were seeping through the spaces between the metal and falling into a trough.
I think they’d also work well as components in a fence, especially if you were thinking about a fence that provides more privacy by blocking the view from outside. If I were gonna make a fence in this style, I’d probably do a bunch of panels in different sizes and connect them together like the panels in the first big scrap metal fence project I did.
My ultimate goal is to do a pair of 4 x 8 foot doors in this style when I build the new studio building. I’ll probably have to get the hinges and frames from a bank vault company, but still…
As usual, if any of these projects sound like what you’re looking for, or you’d like to talk about commissioning a project along these lines, drop me an email or call 231.584.2710.