Bread Clip Lamp
This lamp was made for a “found object” lamp project. The base is made from some oak that I found on the street, and the stem is the plastic part of a dried-out marker. I needed to get the bread clips through mail order, since I couldn’t eat so much bread!
Read more »The Heart, She Holler – Blood-Spraying Beer Cans
Well, this one was a challenge. I needed to make a pair of artificial hands shaped like beer cans. Also, the cans needed to be remotely filled with beer so that the actor could drink from them. Also, they needed to explode as if they were shot with a bullet. Also, they needed to spray [...]
Read more »The Heart, She Holler – Fake Sword
This foam sword pops out of a coffin and stabs someone! Since we couldn’t fit a whole sword in a coffin, and we couldn’t stab anyone for real, I made the sword in two halves. The front half to pop out of the coffin (I rigged it to operate pneumatically,) and the hilt, which has [...]
Read more »Project Accessory
I was called in as a Production Manager to help out with the workshop on a Project Runway spinoff called “Project Accessory.” The show needed someone to help organize and upkeep all of the tools and materials required to keep their team of designers busy. It was my first time working on the production end of [...]
Read more »ABunch LLC – Twirly Milkshake Sign
I made this giant rotating milkshake for a pie/milkshake merchant. The provided graphics were applied to gatorboard which I sandwiched around a signpost and then bulked-up with some polyurethane foam. The edge was painted white and covered with glitter. The base is plywood and contains a drill motor, which spins the giant milkshake!
Read more »Silent Library – Rugburn Swing
The second in a series of swingsets that made me feel bad! I created a swing out of heavy black rubber to hold a contestant so that their knees would graze against a carpet as they swung, getting a nasty case of rugburn in the process. Sorry, contestant!
Read more »Silent Library – Flounder Swing
This challenge almost made me puke. I made a welded steel mechanism that swung three flounders into the face of a contestant as they played on a swingset. The fish are all put in motion by a pneumatic cylinder that rotates the fish in the opposite direction from the contestant. My stomach was churning as [...]
Read more »Silent Library – Motorized Cheek Pincher
I cast these rubber hands and built them to pinch a contestant’s cheeks. A spring-powered clamp was modified to make the fingers pinch. Jason Singleton built the motors which moved the hands from side-to-side.
Read more »Silent Library – Dual-Punch Elliptical Trainer
This was a simple modification that only took a few hours to complete – an elliptical trainer that I welded arms onto, so that it could punch a contestant alternately in the stomach and groin.
Read more »Five-Person Wedgie Machine
This machine was built to give five contestants a wedgie… SIMULTANEOUSLY! I welded together the steel pipe and I-beam frame and hooked up two 12v electric winches to a bar, which in turn was connected to the contestants specially grommeted underpants (by official Silent Library grommeter Jessie Voris.) Courtland Premo figured out a way to [...]
Read more »Silent Library – Running Water
Hitting a contestant in the face with a series of waterbottles was a fun challenge! I made a net out of some surplus green vinyl strapping, and a steel pipe frame to hold all of the bottles in single file. When a motor pulled on an end of the belt, they would drop into a [...]
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Silent Library – Groin-Punching Slot Machine
I modified an old slot machine to perform a complicated task: First, after the contestant pulled the slot machine’s arm the three tumblers were to spin and then stop so that a fist icon was facing forward. Next, lights were to flash, the winnings drawer was to drop open, and then a rubber fist would [...]
Read more »Dr. Oz Show Graphics
I filled in on The Dr. Oz Show for a few weeks when my friend Mike Pantuso needed someone to cover for him while he was busy with another project. There were so many bottles of pills to re-label! And foods that needed tiny signs!
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Family Circus Art Show!
I made this piece for a Family Circus-themed art show at the Guilty Pleasures Gallery (aka: curator Liz Zanis’s apartment.) Billy runs when the large orange ring background rotates – the ground beneath his feet has offset bumps so that each foot is alternately set in motion. The faster the ring spins, the faster little [...]
Read more »One-day-project: Giant Car-Smashing Mallet Machines
I worked on a pilot for a television show with a brutal schedule: one day to build everything, and one day to shoot the episode. Wow! I built four steel frames to hold each pneumatically-operated mallet, and when some alterations were requested, I modified the design so that the mallets would swing perpendicular to the [...]
Read more »I fixed a Turkey!
The Paul Taylor Dance Company contacted me to perform repairs on a prop stuffed turkey that was 44 years old! It was first used in a performance of “Orbs” in 1966. 44 is very old for an item made out of latex rubber, and I started my restoration by carefully trimming away all of the [...]
Read more »We Built a Mighty Snow Cat!
Katie Akana and Ryan Barger had a backyard filled with snow, so it was decided that we would all stop by on our day off, drink hot cider, and build ourselves a giant cat out of snow. Lizzi Akana, Brandon Cheek, and Lizzi’s friend, who I think is named Nessa were all involved too. The [...]
Read more »Brooklyn Cyclones Signage Project
I designed some signage for the Brooklyn Cyclones' stadium on Coney Island. It was fun to do some research into the color schemes of New York baseball and Coney Island, plus I got to eat a candy apple every time I went to the stadium for a presentation! My concept was based on a combination [...]
Read more »DISASTER!
I designed this exhibit as a pop-up marketplace to be located on the site of the demolished Thunderbolt rollercoaster on Coney Island. It takes the shape of a giant squid attacking the mainland!
Read more »Sesame Street Florist Logo
The florist's storefront on Sesame Street needed some dressin' up, so I made this sticker for their window, along with some stickers for non-existent credit cards.
Read more »The Heart, She Holler – Magical Walnut
I made this magically-opening walnut for the Adult Swim mini-series "The Heart, She Holler." It works in a way that is similar to the old springy toy animals made out of beads that droop when you press on their plastic base. For my version, I made a new base out of plastic tube, springs, and [...]
Read more »Funnel Cake Exhibit!
Hello everyone! I've been studying since this summer at F.I.T. in New York in the Exhibition design graduate program. Our first project was to design an exhibit centered around our favorite food. ...I don't really have a favorite, so I chose Funnel Cake - that sloppy mess of fried dough and confectioner's sugar that is [...]
Read more »Sesame Street – iPad Drawings
I drew these pictures for Sesame Street - Prince Charming and a Princess involved in their day-to-day activities. It appeared in an episode where an apple ipad was used for the the first time on the show.
Read more »Silent Library – Nipple Robot
Someday many years from now, my grandkids will ask me "Grandpa, were you ever a television robot star?" And I will be able to honestly tell them "Yes children, I was an EVIL television robot star. I built this robot out of all sorts of odds-and-ends. A funnel, bucket, two mini plasma spheres to make [...]
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