Clockwork Collaborative

A fun project I've been working on with my fellow college alumni, Eric Freitas.  If you don't know the Clockwork of Eric Freitas, you should check it out. Super impressive, laborious and beautiful aesthetic which often gets categorized under steampunk. So, at the end of this month Eric has a few time pieces headed to NYC in SoHo for a show called Steampunkinetics, running from June 23rd to Sept 2nd.

This clock, named Mech. No.7, is a massive piece withover 1000 man hours into making every part. The thing I admire most about Eric's work is that where many people who fall into the steampunk aesthics make many trips around garage sales and Home Depot to find their pieces of construction of art, Eric makes it all himself. At one point during the construction of this clock I was hanging around his shop bs'ing with him and started playing on his baby lathe making screws for this piece to help out, and because of pride, he didn't use them because he wanted to say he did it all himself.

When the concept of the show came up some good 6 months back Eric was very concerned about hanging this near 100 lbs clock on the wall of this gallery. A lot can go wrong if it should happen to fall or not line up on the studs of the gallery. With too much to risk, I offered to build a massive structure for the massive clock.

Where Eric works in brass, my gig is steel. To not compete with the look of the clock, we kicked around many ideas of a simple, overbuilt frame work with vintage casters to help move it around. I kinda wanted to take this much further than he did, but also didn't want competing visuals in the end between the clock and display. The concept visually was that the clock was extracted from some old victorian home by chipping out the wall, then suspended between to I-beams. Overall, this beast is more than 8 feet tall and over 4 feet wide. 

So, the shop picture isn't the best since it's just a quickie iphone nab, but I know this thing is going to be one of the stars of the show in NYC.

For more info on the show, visit: http://afanyc.com/press-release-steampunkinetics/

Car-N-Art Posters just released online

Not everyone gets to hit all the great events, I understand. This doesn't mean you shouldn't have the opportunity to pick up the great event posters!

Vintage Torque Fest 2012: Only a few remain, grab them up here

http://carnart.bigcartel.com/product/vintage-torque-fest-2012-3-poster-set-11-x-17

Sins of Steel Motor City Mayhem: Sofa Sized prints.  few remain, grab them up here:

http://carnart.bigcartel.com/product/sins-of-steel-2012-25x39-sofa-sized-limited-50-prints

Why Vintage Torque Fest has to move in 2013

I don’t often sit down to write words like this, but some recent backlash to the moving of Vintage Torque Fest to Dubuque Iowa has my stomach turning. I feel like mostly this note is going to the folks who are local and vocal, but perhaps it’s a few who live further out too who have an issue going another 30 minutes down the road from Maquoketa. 

In order to really get a feel for this I need to go back a few years to the beginning of John and my relationship. About 5 years ago I get a call out of the blue from this guy who wants to put my art on the cover of this start up magazine that didn't even have a title, which became known as Vintage Torque. From the magazine grew a line of videos that I’ve done some work on along with other fellow artists like Doug Dorr, Max Grundy, Doug Horne and Deathray Designs. 

Somewhere down the line I get some more calls from John about attempting to put on a show in Iowa called Vintage Torque Fest. My first reaction was that I thought that it would be a hard sell to get people to come to a show in middle america, I suggested getting it closer to Chicago land area. On top of that I thought he’d need a pretty good gimmick to get people to come out to the middle of a corn field to set up. But John had a handful of ideas that he’d gathered after spending years traveling around from show to show vending and his “field of dreams” idea would happen. Like a man possessed, he began to max out credit cards to put on the first Torque Fest, gambling that people will come to Farley Iowa to race in the rain around a dirt track. 

The first year was a success with a lot of great bands, vendors and people who came out to support the show. The proceeds of all the shows to date go to Helping Hannahs Heart. I think most people don’t discover that point on the posters clear enough because it’s often integrated into the art itself. The important thing to know in this is that the first show didn’t have any proceeds, neither did the second!

So John and Kim who work their asses off year round to put on what many consider the mid-west’s greatest traditional show is because they hope to help pay themselves back and pray to help out on their daughter Hannah’s medical bills. Why? To make the show grow, have people come out and enjoy and give to a great cause.

2012 Torque Fest comes along and wraps up nicely. This is the first year the show began to show a profit for Hannah’s medical bills. Let’s keep in mind, because I know the Wells family that they are humble, mid-west folks and don’t want to get into a sob story, as I am cut from the same hunk of wood. But you should know that Hannah’s surgeries have been close to $1,000,000.00 to date (that’s right, a MILLION fucking Bucks!). They don’t parade Hannah around to make you cry and don’t blast you with the details of what it takes to be a parent who gives everything for their children; like I said, they are humble. Thankfully, John and Kim, despite being independently employed have some insurance. Being someone else who is independently employed, insurance costs and co-pays are high. I spent several years, along with my wife with no insurance, in fact, my son was born without it. We know someone out there is smiling on us to have a healthy child and I can only imagine what Kim and John have gone through.

Back to Torque Fest 2012: The show was again a success. But with it being a success for the first time and the state of growth with the Jackson County Fairgrounds hemorrhaging at the seams with vehicles, it was time to make the change to something that will accommodate the space needed to put on this quality of a show and actually begin to make a dent in medical bills.

To boot, as much as I liked the little town of Maquoketa as it reminded me a lot of Morris, IL from the Hunnert Car pile-up days, the Fair Board couldn’t give even a penny on any concessions sold at the show to the cause. John spends somewhere in the neighborhood of $30-40,000 in just advertising to bring people to the show, who spend money on food and drinks with the Fair who can’t kick back $1 in thanks? I overheard some folks talking in the kitchen area that they purchased every hunk of meat within a 20 mile radius of the town to keep the food going, I venture to say that they are the ones who are making any money in this situation, and not going to Hannah’s medical bills. 
(Update: the tips given to the employees of the fair board for concessions were donated to Helping Hannahs Heart)

So needless to say, to put on the 2013 show, things had to change. The Wells family needed some breaks in concessions, space for the growth of the show, hotels to house the folks from out of town, restaurants that had some variety and hours that can accommodate then needs for the Torque Fest(ers). 

Having helped out with a multiple independent shows, I know these things don’t happen for free. It takes a lot of scratch and pulling in friends and neighbors to break even most of the time. It’s a love for the show; to see the smiling faces, to hear the cheers of the crowds from hot rods ripping around a track or a band that just laid it all out on a kick-ass performance. When the show is done many like to jump on their favorite social media to share photos and comments on their experience. When the announcement was made about the moving of the show, I was upset by the number of people out there who flamed up on moving of the show.

Really? no seriously, REALLY? 40 miles up the road becomes a no-go for you people? A move that lets the show grow to what it NEEDS to be to keep it going, bring you the great bands, the awesome events to see, and the chaos of Torque Fest. Let me break down just a few numbers for this show for you:

Using the $10 entry fee, here’s what it takes:

400 show paying customers to come through to pay for the event insurance.

Plus

another 100 of you just to get port-a-potties so you can take a shit

Plus

another 600 of you to get the bands to show up and another 200 of you so you can hear the bands play through the P.A.’s

This is only a small insight on the show, as I mentioned the advertising costs associated already, you get the picture. It takes Kim and John every ounce of space on their credit cards maxed out to put this show on all in the name of the hopes of gaining something to put a dent in the medical bills for their daughter, Hannah.

I don’t often toot my own horn on this, but I really come out to Torque Fest to break even  on what I donate to the show. A lot of time and effort for the illustration, art and graphics I do for the show is a gift to the show because I believe in putting on a good show and John and Kim are personal friends of mine. I drive just shy of 1000 miles round trip from Detroit. I don’t even like to think about it because I’m a pretty logical person, but I do it anyway for the last three years because I believe in the show, the cause and bringing the best to the mid-west indie shows. The traditional Hot Rod scene is something I believe in and I put my heart, mind and sole behind it. I don’t get a volunteer t-shirt at the end of the day, nor do I get a discount on the merch, even if I created it, I buy it back for the same cost. 

When I read what people write on Facebook about the show, it burns my ass. After you read this and still think that it is a bad move to relocate the show still and you could even say the words you wrote to the face a little girl who has endured multiple heart surgeries or her parents who give EVERYTHING they have to put on this show, then leave your comments up. But, if this gives you a hint of everything the core group of people who put on this show, year after year go through, then I implore you to remove your negative comments about the show, and please come and be welcome in 2013 at Torque Fest.

Sincerely,

Keven Carter @ Car-N-Art

Never mind the butcher and baker: Beware of the Candlestick Maker!

The Packard plant seems to be the Hot Topic of abandoned Detroit right now. I spent some time years ago shooting for a couple of different magazines the destruction of the Packard plant. I've crawled many of the floors, halls, staircases, rooftops and ladders within to get shots.

Recently it came to my attention that other Photographers have decided to get "crafty" on Etsy with their findings within the Packard Plant, when they should have just stuck to taking pictures…

Above is a screen shot of one of the listings for block flooring being used for a rustic, cutesy, kitschy candlestick holder. What isn't contained in the description of the block holders is what toxics reside within.

Skinny jean kids out there think they may know it all, but obviously don't do their chemical research before drilling into these and exposing themselves and their buyers to 'death on a stick'

I took the time to write anyone I could find who's making/selling these this proper note. And if they do not heed my warning, I'll be talking with Etsy about their practices!

"To Whom it may concern: Yourself, as well as your consumers!

I writing under the assumption that you are unaware of the contents of the blocks you are removing from the Packard Plant. This is very unsettling for me to see listed for sale (especially as candlestick holders!) and I’m taking the time to write in hopes that you will heed my warning and removing the listings for your candle stick holders.

The wood block flooring within the Packard Plant, as well as many other buildings of this nature around Detroit had a very specific purpose within the plant. Besides being a cheap flooring with properties for sound deadening and foot comfort over standing on hard concrete, it was also employed for it’s chemical soaking abilities.

The reason why the blocks still exist in decent shape to this day is because the wood that was used was treated with multiple chemicals to keep the wood from rotting or from being consumed by ants/termites. Because of the age of this building I will assume the worst types of chemicals where being used to protect the wood which is lead and arsenic. When it was discovered that these where harmful to many people exposed to these chemicals, many manufactures switched to Creosote, which has also been deemed to be harmful to humans.

On top of the chemicals that where used to make sure the blocks didn’t rot, the areas where these where used in the plant where more-less chemical spill areas on the lines. The blocks where used to sop up dangerous chemicals being used on the lines including oil, gasoline, lead body filler, solvents, etc.

The EPA has deemed these chemicals to fall into one of two categories: (VOCs and SVOCs) Volatile and Semi-volatile Organic Compounds. These floorings within the plant where regularly shucked and where discarded back during production when they had been used up. Obviously, since the doors where closed and production stopped, no one has come to discard these as they need to be properly handled.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has reclassified certain wood-preserving chemicals--creosote, pentachloropophenol and inorganic arsenicals--as restricted use pesticide materials. The designation means they are toxic or poisonous and potentially hazardous to humans and animals. Consequently, the public should be aware of the precautions for using wood treated with these chemicals.

Frequent or prolonged skin contact with pentachloropehnol or creosote treated wood should be avoided. Handlers of inorganic arsenical treated wood can be affected by arsenic absorption through human skin.

Sawdust from treated wood tends to become airborne with resultant human exposure by inhalation, swallowing and widespread dermal contact. To reduce the potential for exposure, the EPA recommends that individuals sawing pesticide treated wood in their occupation should wear disposable coveralls, made of a material such as nitrile or polyethylene, or similar protective clothing. Homeowners with occasional exposure should wear tightly woven long-sleeved cotton overalls, if they do not have disposable coveralls.

The EPA further continues to dissuade people from burning chemically treated woods: Do not burn wood in open fires or in stoves, fireplaces, or residential boilers because toxic chemicals may be produced as part of the smoke and ashes. By making these blocks into candlestick holders, you are directly contaminating your buyers potentially from the chemicals that can be produced in the air. Likewise, when you where handling/drilling these blocks you have affected yourself and others in the surrounding area to toxic chemicals. The following are potential hazards associated with VOCs and SVOCs:

Health Effects related to Volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds (VOCs and SVOCs): Organ system toxicity (non-reproductive), Cancer, Birth or developmental effects, Brain and nervous system, Reproduction and fertility, Immune system (including sensitization and allergies)

I’m leaving you with this so you know as well as your consumers. If you have sold any of these blocks, I implore you to either get them back or refund the money and explain how your consumer should discard them. I also recommend removing these items from etsy or the like where you may be selling them.

If you continue to have these up for sale on etsy I feel it is my duty to report the dangers to etsy before more sales can happen and the consumers could be affected by the toxics that can be released.

This is really only the tip of the iceburg of toxics that are in and around the Packard plant. The entire plant is laden with Asbestos. Take your time to do some reading and research the items before selling them.

Thanks for your time.

Sincerely, Keven"

CarbElecticCo

Also for cyber Monday I'm launching some new products on a very limited basis. I've been constructing some lighting to use for future shows and offering them as of right now on Etsy. Take a look at some of these lamps!

Description:

An illuminated celebration of the Machine Age in a time of hybrid vehicles, these two lamps have been hand crafted and turned electric for your home or shop lighting. Each lamp has been cleaned, media blasted, acid etched and clear coated to give the appearance of a well oiled carburetor. The 6' cords are cloth covered, two wire (no ground) that end in a vintage styled plug. Each lamp can be switched on an off with a hidden pull chain in the choke hole. Each lamp comes with a 30 watt Edison style bulb to give a warm, vintage glow to your space. Many of the original fasteners have been cleaned and returned to the lamps for esthetics.

The Listings:

a pair of Ford 2 Barrel Carburetor Lamps w Shades

a pair of Ford 2 Barrel Carburetor Lamps without Shades

a pair of Ford 2 Barrel Carburetor Lamps without Shades

Holley 2 Barrel Carburetor Lamp w Shade

Big Ol' Holiday Savings and the Car-N-Art Store!

Right now, when you go to place an order you can take advantage of these codes at the check out of the Car-N-Art store. All the codes are good until midnight on December 25th, so you have a little less than a month to act!

First off, 25% off POSTERS! That's right, all posters for sale are 25% off when you place an order and enter the code: POSTERSAVE

Next up, 25% off all embroidered PATCHES! This is a great way to get some shopping done for a bunch of folks. Enter the code: PATCHED

A never before 15% off the Embroidered Pinstripe Devil Flexfit hat. Good quality product with a great savings to match! Enter the code: DEVILMADEMEDOIT

Lastly, for anybody who spends $100 or more, it's free shipping! This will automatically be applied to orders that total up over $100.

Start Shopping now: http://carnart.bigcartel.com/

FINAL W.A.R. recap video

Awesome little video giving the experience of being at the show for all that couldn't attend. I'm in there briefly signing posters for the new Arsenal of Design series.