A large-scale sculptural clock created by Andrea Greenlees and Andy Tibbetts, developed from early concepts through custom components, full-scale fabrication, transportation and installation.
The End of Time is an intentionally distorted monumental clock whose precarious appearance depends on a carefully resolved underlying structure. The work combines sculptural form, exposed structure, custom-fabricated numerals and mechanical details.
For LostMachine, the project demonstrates more than the finished object. It shows the entire path from an early artistic idea to buildable geometry, individual manufactured components, full-scale structural fabrication, logistics and field installation.
Andrea Greenlees's pencil sketches established the visual direction for the sculpture. From that starting point, the design was developed into a three-dimensional model and then into buildable geometry, structural connections and assemblies that could be fabricated, transported and installed at full scale.
Full-scale sculpture depends on the creation of hundreds of smaller components. Custom connections are developed for the structure, machined parts are made in-house, CNC-cut parts are prepared for welding, and complex fixtures are built to keep assemblies accurate and repeatable.
As fabrication moved to full scale, individual pieces became curved structural assemblies, and those assemblies became the recognizable clock form. Careful shop fit-up and tight-tolerance connections allowed the major sections to be assembled, checked and adjusted before the work ever reached the desert.
A large artwork is not finished when the welding stops. The End of Time had to leave the shop in custom shipping frames, travel safely to the painters, and then continue on to future destinations including the Black Rock Desert. The sculpture, its connections and its shipping system were developed with that sequence in mind.
LostMachine Design works with artists, designers and organizations on unusual physical projects, from early design development and prototyping through custom fabrication, project management, transportation and installation.
The End of Time is currently available for sale. Interested parties are invited to contact Andy Tibbetts for details.