Saturday, March 27. 2010
...live, love, laugh as life goes on and the clock to the Philadelphia International Flower Show continues to countdown. So, Kris Kratt AIFD and myself (Bill Schaffer AIFD) have designed it all out and are ready to go. We can't wait to see the art piece being dead hung from the roof of the PA Convention Center. This piece is going to have REAL flowers frozen in REAL ice blocks brought in every morning as they spend the day melting and "WOW-ing" the crowds. STOP!!! A Hiccup, a glitch, an uh-oh!!! (well, that never happens). I find out that the company scheduled to do this has backed out and I can't find anyone else to do it!!!
I am ready to give up on this whole concept - it is the second week of January and we have 6 weeks to go before move-in. Schaffer Designs 4-year award-winning Flower Show Set designer, Chris Kainenberg from Wish Painting & Sculpture tells me to wait - he says - 'just give me 3 days to come up with a solution.' He - as well as all of us - loved the idea we had come up with and wanted to see it happen. So...holding my breath with Chris - I had a designers meeting at my place and during that meeting we agreed that if the "ICE POND" had to die we would revive it with an inspiration from Superman's Fortress of Solitude. I was resigned to go ahead with the new plan when Chris had a major EUREKA moment!!!! What an amazing idea he had to save the ICE POND - WOW!!! It was the hottest talk of the Exhibit!!! Not only did it work but I know it became better than the original plan - and!!! - the Fortress of Solitude also took shape as a background to the "Ice Blocks" hanging above the "Ice Pond". So - like the saying goes "If you get a lemon - make lemonade" WELL WE MADE FROZEN LEMONADE.
OK - a little secret - the ICE BLOCKS were found online as fish tanks that were dipped in liquid acrylic (over and over) and allowed to dry with that amazing frosted and dripping effect. The pond above the installation was a 2" acrylic pond with water being snuck up the front leg by a heavy duty pump hidden in the water below. Chris sourced those original Ice-Tongs and dipped the entire piece and accessories in a white resin for that frozen finish. My favorite part of the Exhibit were the hundred or so pin-holes drilled into the acrylic to give that all-day melting and dripping effect that the Flower Show crowds ooohed and ahhhed over...and even better than that was that the Holland Open Cut Calla Lillies that were designed inside the fish tanks never had to be replaced. The dripping water continuously fed fresh water back into the pieces and they lasted 10 full days submerged in the water-filled tanks!!!!
until next time...
Bill
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