My dad, founder and owner of Conant Metal and Light, has always had a knack for turning “junk” into something insanely awesome. He is a collector of such “junk” and hopes that someday he’ll have the time to revive/repurpose each and every object. (I actually set up my jewelry studio space in the same area as said junk, which makes me feel right at home when my studio gets over-cluttered!) So when he was invited to contribute to the Shelburne Museum‘s show titled “Time Machines: Robots, Rockets and Steam Punk” he immediately started brainstorming.
Steve Conant: “After being invited to participate in the Steam Punk Show I poked around the shop looking for props. A 100 lb copper tank fits the bill. And I just happened to have a cast iron 3-wheeled dolly that fits it perfectly! After cutting doors our of the side wall I’m thinking; curio cabinet? Stereo closet? And then, wahoo, it hits me – a “time machine”! I add a leather seat, 19th century clock works, an electronic metronome (circa 1950), a strobe light, a motion switch to activate it all (behind the foot rail) an electric reostat on a scissor bracket (gas peddle), a period Edison style carbon filament bulb, a big knife switch, headphones, yellow goggles, a bunch of old gages, some brass grillwork, a heater coil, a coffin grab bar, sousaphone bell. . . and top it off with a 1930s surgical aspiration machine. What fun! And it actually transported me back to the creative, fun loving days of my youth!”
The best part is, he already had all of this amazing stuff just waiting to be put to use!
-impressed much??
–
Molly Conant
Rackk and Ruin
http://www.rackkandruin.etsy.com
