Ochen K. » Art

Minneapolis Paper Cut

ochenk — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 02:08:46 +0000

This is a paper cut of the streets of Minneapolis. I tried to make it as accurate as possible. Every street is there, every dead end, every park, every lake, everything within the city borders. It’s cut out of a single 14-by-24 inch piece of card stock.

Midwest Brigadoon

ochenk — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 02:19:39 +0000

So I made a movie. It’s called Midwest Brigadoon. It’s about the Minnesota State Fair. It was shot before, during, and after the 2010 Fair. It’s about 25 minutes long, is non-narrated, and has a score written and performed by Leslie Ball. Here’s the trailer:

If you’re interested in more info on the film, check out the website for Midwest Brigadoon.

Gingerbread House ’09

ochenk — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 19:29:23 +0000

As much as I enjoyed it last time, it’s taken me a few years to find another December night available to try again. But 2009 appears to be the year.

This is the simple, understated (I hope), design I came up with this year. It was just tricky enough with the compound-pitch roof to make it interesting to work out.

It’ll live inside for the week. Then on New Year’s day, we’ll take it out to the chickens and let them go Godzilla all over it.

Merry Christmas!

The Invisible Clock

ochenk — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 07:00:56 +0000

So I made a clock. It’s a pendulum clock made of clear acrylic and nested brass tubes. The design of the gear train, escapement mechanism, and housing is original. As such, I’m sure it’s not as refined as it could be. It’s missing things like a ratchet system. There’s a weight, but it’s not in the images. All that said, it does actually work (woot!!!) and is reasonably accurate. Of course, because it’s made out of clear acrylic, you have to be pretty close to it to actually read the time – which cracks me up to no end!

Nobody Likes A Mess

ochenk — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 09:33:32 +0000

I draw a bit. It gets a little obsess’y sometimes. Here’s a gallery.

My 2007 Annual Report

ochenk — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 09:13:04 +0000

In 2007, I got a little OCD and started tracking things like bottles of water and candy bars consumed, phone conversations, meals, etc. At the end of it, I put together a little annual report of my year, printed up about 100 copies, and sent them out as my 2007 holiday card.

Here are the spreads of that booklet:

La Ciel et la Terre

ochenk — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 03:53:26 +0000

I worked for a while in France some years ago. I was in the north, in Rheims, and when I had a few days off, I went to visit friends in Montélimar, in the south. The change in landscape between northern and southern France is remarkable. I took a bunch of photos on the train ride down. On the way back up, I turned some of those photos into a little chap book that I printed and sent to friends as an extended postcard.

Here are spreads from that book:

Stained Glass

ochenk — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 01:06:46 +0000

Well, everyone was trying it, so I had to see what all the excitement was about. I signed up for a stained glass class through community adult ed. (Man, is that a fabulous racket. It’s cheep, it’s broad, and it’s easy. Go Community Ed!)

First, we all did little sun-catchers. Then small panels. Then we each picked patterns from a book for our final pieces. Being the overachiever (read: unrealistic under-estimator of time and ability) that I am, I came up with a custom design. To the instructor’s credit, she tried to talk me out of it. Even more to her credit, she totally supported me once I decided to go for it – even letting me work in her studio after-hours to finish it in time. Here it is:

It’s far from perfect, but it looks pretty on the windowsill, so I’m happy.

I Wish I Had A River

ochenk — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 09:29:58 +0000

Growing up in Los Angeles, I heard about the “great rivers of the world” with my only frame of reference being my understanding of the Pacific Ocean. No one talked about the “great Pacific,” so I always imagined the great rivers, while obviously not challenging the size of the Pacific, certainly challenging the grandeur.

I was lucky enough to visit the Nile River when I was 15. It was big, of course, and long as all get out, but ultimately it was a little underwhelming. After all, it was just a river.

Years later, I moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota, which is the first major city through which the Mississippi River flows. As we’re only a few hundred miles from the headwaters, the Mississippi is small, but its presence is so powerful.

I would have loved to have had some connection to the Mississippi River or the Nile growing up. I Wish I Had a River is my attempt to give that to others.

I Voted for Gummi Bears

ochenk — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 09:13:13 +0000

A show/lecture that I perform, looking at the voting rights of felons.