PRECOGNITIVE (aka PRECOG), 2010 Description: Custom fabricated and found object construction featuring an embedded Ipod which projects subtle video (or visions) onto the lenses of each of the three eyes. The full color source video is mechanically broken down into the three additive primary colors (RGB). 12" tall x 5" wide x 8" deep (30cm x 13cm x 20cm) Photo: 2010 Dennis Blachut
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By Jesse Horn
In the world of fantasy there is nothing more exciting then seeing the dreams and ideas of a world that could be, realized in a way that you can actually put your hands on. There are few with the skill capable of producing these wondrous creations, and Oddities had the privilege of speaking to Christopher Conte, master artist. His work is of a mechanical precision that gives us a real life view into worlds we could only imagine.
Oddities: What is your artistic background? Where are you from, what inspired your interest in art? Did you go to school for art, and what all areas or mediums do you work in?
Conte: Well I was born in Bergen, Norway and moved to New York when I was 3. Actually, my parents moved so I went along for the trip.
I grew up in the suburbs of New York and attended Pratt Institute in Brooklyn for Illustration after receiving an art scholarship in high school. While the vast majority of my early work was painting and drawing, I began the shift towards sculpture in my junior year at Pratt. After seeing this new direction, my instructors encouraged this transition despite me being an illustration major.
My previous experience as an artist included oil painting, charcoal drawing, pencil drawing, airbrushing, acrylic painting, and watercolor to name a few. I even spent the summers in High School painting heavy metal album covers onto demin jackets both at home and at a local flea market.
After graduating college, I worked in the prosthetics field for 16 years making artificial limbs for amputees. My career as a Full–time Prosthetist made me very familiar with exotic metals such as Titanium as well as space age materials like Carbon Fiber.
In 2008, I left the field to become a full time artist.
Oddities: Where did this particular form come from, or what inspired you to do this?
Conte: My earliest inspiration most likely came from films such as Star Wars and Television shows like the Six Million Dollar Man. I often found myself fascinated more by the mechanical effects used by Hollywood than the storylines or action sequences. I began reading books on the “making of” many films and found myself captivated by the mechanical genius behind many of the effects I had seen.
For a while, I seriously considered becoming a special effects artist but at that time, the emerging computer generated effects were beginning to threaten the future of that profession. Being that I had no interest in making digital facsimiles, I decided to keep the spirit alive with my own creations, strictly as fine art.
Oddities: What inspires each piece you work on, do you have a concept you are attempting to achieve or is it an organic progressive process?
Conte: Yes to both. I always have an image in my head and rarely make a drawing before I start. Once I have an idea I set out to find (or make) the parts I need to see the vision through. Quite often though, an interesting find can lead to a shift in direction or, at the very least, add details beyond my original vision. The inspiration for an idea itself comes from a wide range of visual stimuli. While the natural world is an incredibly vast resource, everything from antique brass science instruments to Apple computers can get my wheels turning.
CYNTHETIC CROSS SECTION, 2009 Cast Polyurethane, Stainless Steel, Brass and Aluminum components. 4 "wide x 9" tall x 3.5"deep (10cm x 23cm x 9cm) Photo: Dennis Blachut
Oddities: What are the pieces made of and can you describe a little about what the process of creating one is like?
Conte: I’m seriously neurotic when it comes to choosing the materials I’ll work with. I often find myself asking, what will this look like in a hundred years? – How will it stand the test of time? – And will it stay the way I originally envisioned it. I constantly think about future generations viewing my work. I also want my collectors of today to have something of substantial quality that will long outlive me.
For this reason, Stainless Steel and Bronze are two of my top two choices whenever possible. I actually carry around a magnet when searching for parts so I’m not fooled into thinking something that looks like brass is actually steel – or vise versa, as can often be the case.
The process of creating one work is very involved and time-consuming. I use every possible technique from the 5000 year old lost wax casting process to the most hi-tech CNC machining used in today’s aerospace parts. I cast, machine, weld, braze, solder, thread, tap, drill, grind, sand, whatever it takes to make it all look like it belongs together.
DECODROID, 2008 Cast Bronze with Stainless Steel and Brass components. 3 "wide x 5" tall x 3.5"deep (7.5cm x 12.5cm x 9cm) Photo: Amanda Dutton
Oddities: What kind of reception have you had with your art and where do you show it?
Conte: The reception of the work has been incredible, even from corners not normally synonymous with art. Despite the fact that my work is very mechanical, strong visceral or emotional reactions are not uncommon.
I mainly show my work in galleries but still enjoy passing an insect around a table in a restaurant, for example. The reactions I get, even from people who could care less about art, is usually quite the spectacle.
Articulated Singer Insect, 2005 Antique mechanical parts and vintage Singer sewing attachment. 8 "x 6"x 4" (20cm x 15cm x 10cm) Photo: Christopher Conte
Oddities: Where can people see your art and how can they order a piece?
Conte: My latest insect will be on display and available at a gallery called Copro Gallery in Santa Monica, CA beginning January 21, 2011. Because my work is so time consuming, I can only produce a handful of new pieces per year. To deal with this issue of supply and demand, I keep an email list of collectors who are interested in obtaining my work and notify them as soon as a new work is available. My last piece sold within 2 hours of being added to my website.
Oddities: Do you do special orders, or are they strictly made as is?
Conte: If someone approaches me with an idea I can see myself doing, then yes, I will consider and have done commissions – on occasion.
For example, last year, I was asked by the lead singer of a well known rock band called Three Days Grace, Adam Gontier to construct two Stainless Steel Biomechanical Arm microphone stands. That was right up my alley. I said yes within minutes of him asking.
The concept would always need to be in line with my greater vision. Under normal circumstances however, I prefer to build whatever comes to mind, then release it for the world to see and judge.
Steam Insect, 2007 Casted Bronze with Stainless components. 3 "wide x 5" tall x 3.5"deep (7.5cm x 12.5cm x 9cm) Photo: Amanda Dutton
Oddities: I saw that you incorporated an ipod into one of your pieces, what other interesting things have you done?
Conte: Honestly, that was quite a departure for me because I try to stay away from modern electronics that could date the piece in just a few years. I prefer timeless elements of mechanical beauty for this reason. The new 6th generation Ipod Nano in this case however, served both a valuable function and reached a point where it really can’t get much smaller and still be practical so I might be safe with this choice. I guess time will tell but to play it safe I installed the Ipod on the back of the sculpture anyway.
Oddities: What is in store for the future of your art?
Conte: I’m kinda moving backwards through time, through the centuries. I’m thinking maybe Medieval Times might serve as a nice source of technological and visual inspiration for a while.
Oddities: What is something that your fans may not know about you?
Conte: I recently got engaged to a beautiful little lady named Jacquelyn, on Halloween actually.
Oddities: Is there anything exclusive you can tell us about your art, or that might be upcoming?
Conte: I recently installed a small anti-counterfeiting device into my latest work. This way, if let’s say in a 100 years, an appraiser on Antiques Roadshow wants to verify if it is an authentic piece, there will be a way to tell. Only thing is, I’m not telling what it is.
ISSN 2159-4708
Machine Madness: The Art of Christopher Conte
PRECOGNITIVE (aka PRECOG), 2010 Description: Custom fabricated and found object construction featuring an embedded Ipod which projects subtle video (or visions) onto the lenses of each of the three eyes. The full color source video is mechanically broken down into the three additive primary colors (RGB). 12" tall x 5" wide x 8" deep (30cm x 13cm x 20cm) Photo: 2010 Dennis Blachut
.
By Jesse Horn
In the world of fantasy there is nothing more exciting then seeing the dreams and ideas of a world that could be, realized in a way that you can actually put your hands on. There are few with the skill capable of producing these wondrous creations, and Oddities had the privilege of speaking to Christopher Conte, master artist. His work is of a mechanical precision that gives us a real life view into worlds we could only imagine.
Oddities: What is your artistic background? Where are you from, what inspired your interest in art? Did you go to school for art, and what all areas or mediums do you work in?
Conte: Well I was born in Bergen, Norway and moved to New York when I was 3. Actually, my parents moved so I went along for the trip.
I grew up in the suburbs of New York and attended Pratt Institute in Brooklyn for Illustration after receiving an art scholarship in high school. While the vast majority of my early work was painting and drawing, I began the shift towards sculpture in my junior year at Pratt. After seeing this new direction, my instructors encouraged this transition despite me being an illustration major.
My previous experience as an artist included oil painting, charcoal drawing, pencil drawing, airbrushing, acrylic painting, and watercolor to name a few. I even spent the summers in High School painting heavy metal album covers onto demin jackets both at home and at a local flea market.
After graduating college, I worked in the prosthetics field for 16 years making artificial limbs for amputees. My career as a Full–time Prosthetist made me very familiar with exotic metals such as Titanium as well as space age materials like Carbon Fiber.
In 2008, I left the field to become a full time artist.
THE BIOMIC STAND (Custom created for lead singer Adam Gontier of Three Days Grace) Edition of 3, cast in Stainless Steel, Life size Photos: © 2010 Dennis Blachut
Oddities: Where did this particular form come from, or what inspired you to do this?
Conte: My earliest inspiration most likely came from films such as Star Wars and Television shows like the Six Million Dollar Man. I often found myself fascinated more by the mechanical effects used by Hollywood than the storylines or action sequences. I began reading books on the “making of” many films and found myself captivated by the mechanical genius behind many of the effects I had seen.
For a while, I seriously considered becoming a special effects artist but at that time, the emerging computer generated effects were beginning to threaten the future of that profession. Being that I had no interest in making digital facsimiles, I decided to keep the spirit alive with my own creations, strictly as fine art.
Oddities: What inspires each piece you work on, do you have a concept you are attempting to achieve or is it an organic progressive process?
Conte: Yes to both. I always have an image in my head and rarely make a drawing before I start. Once I have an idea I set out to find (or make) the parts I need to see the vision through. Quite often though, an interesting find can lead to a shift in direction or, at the very least, add details beyond my original vision. The inspiration for an idea itself comes from a wide range of visual stimuli. While the natural world is an incredibly vast resource, everything from antique brass science instruments to Apple computers can get my wheels turning.
CYNTHETIC CROSS SECTION, 2009 Cast Polyurethane, Stainless Steel, Brass and Aluminum components. 4 "wide x 9" tall x 3.5"deep (10cm x 23cm x 9cm) Photo: Dennis Blachut
Oddities: What are the pieces made of and can you describe a little about what the process of creating one is like?
Conte: I’m seriously neurotic when it comes to choosing the materials I’ll work with. I often find myself asking, what will this look like in a hundred years? – How will it stand the test of time? – And will it stay the way I originally envisioned it. I constantly think about future generations viewing my work. I also want my collectors of today to have something of substantial quality that will long outlive me.
For this reason, Stainless Steel and Bronze are two of my top two choices whenever possible. I actually carry around a magnet when searching for parts so I’m not fooled into thinking something that looks like brass is actually steel – or vise versa, as can often be the case.
The process of creating one work is very involved and time-consuming. I use every possible technique from the 5000 year old lost wax casting process to the most hi-tech CNC machining used in today’s aerospace parts. I cast, machine, weld, braze, solder, thread, tap, drill, grind, sand, whatever it takes to make it all look like it belongs together.
DECODROID, 2008 Cast Bronze with Stainless Steel and Brass components. 3 "wide x 5" tall x 3.5"deep (7.5cm x 12.5cm x 9cm) Photo: Amanda Dutton
Oddities: What kind of reception have you had with your art and where do you show it?
Conte: The reception of the work has been incredible, even from corners not normally synonymous with art. Despite the fact that my work is very mechanical, strong visceral or emotional reactions are not uncommon.
I mainly show my work in galleries but still enjoy passing an insect around a table in a restaurant, for example. The reactions I get, even from people who could care less about art, is usually quite the spectacle.
Articulated Singer Insect, 2005 Antique mechanical parts and vintage Singer sewing attachment. 8 "x 6"x 4" (20cm x 15cm x 10cm) Photo: Christopher Conte
Oddities: Where can people see your art and how can they order a piece?
Conte: My latest insect will be on display and available at a gallery called Copro Gallery in Santa Monica, CA beginning January 21, 2011. Because my work is so time consuming, I can only produce a handful of new pieces per year. To deal with this issue of supply and demand, I keep an email list of collectors who are interested in obtaining my work and notify them as soon as a new work is available. My last piece sold within 2 hours of being added to my website.
Oddities: Do you do special orders, or are they strictly made as is?
Conte: If someone approaches me with an idea I can see myself doing, then yes, I will consider and have done commissions – on occasion.
For example, last year, I was asked by the lead singer of a well known rock band called Three Days Grace, Adam Gontier to construct two Stainless Steel Biomechanical Arm microphone stands. That was right up my alley. I said yes within minutes of him asking.
The concept would always need to be in line with my greater vision. Under normal circumstances however, I prefer to build whatever comes to mind, then release it for the world to see and judge.
Steam Insect, 2007 Casted Bronze with Stainless components. 3 "wide x 5" tall x 3.5"deep (7.5cm x 12.5cm x 9cm) Photo: Amanda Dutton
Oddities: I saw that you incorporated an ipod into one of your pieces, what other interesting things have you done?
Conte: Honestly, that was quite a departure for me because I try to stay away from modern electronics that could date the piece in just a few years. I prefer timeless elements of mechanical beauty for this reason. The new 6th generation Ipod Nano in this case however, served both a valuable function and reached a point where it really can’t get much smaller and still be practical so I might be safe with this choice. I guess time will tell but to play it safe I installed the Ipod on the back of the sculpture anyway.
Oddities: What is in store for the future of your art?
Conte: I’m kinda moving backwards through time, through the centuries. I’m thinking maybe Medieval Times might serve as a nice source of technological and visual inspiration for a while.
Oddities: What is something that your fans may not know about you?
Conte: I recently got engaged to a beautiful little lady named Jacquelyn, on Halloween actually.
Oddities: Is there anything exclusive you can tell us about your art, or that might be upcoming?
Conte: I recently installed a small anti-counterfeiting device into my latest work. This way, if let’s say in a 100 years, an appraiser on Antiques Roadshow wants to verify if it is an authentic piece, there will be a way to tell. Only thing is, I’m not telling what it is.