Featured Projects
Chazen museum of art, university of wisconsin-madison | 2020
james watrous
“printing is the inseparable companion of achievement”
oil on masonite, 2-by-4 inch lumber frame
91 1/2 H x 215 W x 4 D inches
In February 2020 we had the opportunity to work with the Chazen Museum of Art at the University of Wisconsin-Madison for a new donation. Collection registrar, Andrea Selbig, contacted us to accept the challenge of moving a 500 lb. painting buried in a cinder block wall. This exceptional mural, executed on masonite over a 2 x 4 inch frame nailed into the wall, needed to be removed from inside the entrance of a 150-year old printing company. It would then need to be transported to the Museum 3 miles away in the cold of a Wisconsin winter. Then thread it through a narrow window and hung 19' high on their historic limestone wall.
Prior to our arrival, Andrea's team covered the surface with Dartek. We then added a layer of 1" thick honeycomb cardboard to further protect the painted surface. Building a wooden crate was not an option because it would add unnecessary weight. Drywall was removed from the front side of the wall to reveal the studs and at the back, we carefully chiseled out the cinder blocks to reveal nailed in wooden cleats. Before walking the mural on to two Sumner lifts, we stiffened the structure with an additional lumber frame. It was then lowered on to dollies to be rolled down the hall to be prepared for transport.
With no convenient docks at either location, we discussed the move with Kristy Jeffcoat, Senior Paintings Conservator at Midwest Art Conservation Center out of Minneapolis. "Can we move it on an open trailer in 25 degree weather?" Yes, she said, you have one hour! Insulation was placed between the studs on the verso and the whole structure was wrapped in ripstop plastic. The mural was loaded indoors and swiftly driven to the museum.
Upon arrival at the Chazen, we rolled it off the trailer, up a ramp and into position facing a narrow opening. Shuffling around three lifts, it was thread through a window with 1/2" to spare -- top and bottom. Time from the warehouse to through the window was 56 minutes.
Hanging from the lifts, the mural was maneuvered into position below the previously installed French cleats on the wall. The nice thing about a mural built on a 2 x 4 frame is that with excellent care and skill, we were able to tie into the sides of the frame to lift it into position. As luck would have it, there were doors at either side of the hanging points to push our lifts through -- letting us get as close to the wall as possible. From the scissor lift, the cardboard and Dartek were removed. Kristy and Midwest Art Conservation Center will return to complete restoration and the Chazen team will install surrounding finish trim for the mural in the near future.
Watch this stop-motion video made by the University of the mural's unveiling.
HUNTER MUSEUM OF ART, CHATTANOOGA, TN | 2019
ALYSON SHOTZ “ALL EQUATIONS ARE WAVE EQUATIONS”
One of the greatest excitements of 2019 was the two week installation of Alyson Shotz's new permanent sculpture, "All Equations are Wave Equations" at the Hunter Museum in Chattanooga, TN.
Project requirements: 2 x URW295 Spyder Cranes, 2 lifts and a zillion clamps and screwdrivers.
Everyone was a contortionist to put this together with thousands of tiny 6-32 x 1/2" screws. With a fantastic team to work with, we were grateful for Jon Newman and Nandini Makrandi at the Hunter Museum. And an extra round of applause to Frank "3D modeling" Corr from Shotz Studio and "Cool" Jeff Gore from Kammetal without whom we would probably still be there!
Visit Alyson Shotz's website to learn more about her work and the project at the Hunter Museum, www.alysonshotz.com
O’Hare International Airport, Transfer Station, Chicago, IL | 2018
Rob Ley, “field lines”
Carlson Baker Arts, LLC
July 2018: Out of the blue we got a call from an old friend, John Baker of Carlson Baker Arts. Could we install a sculpture consisting of 4,500 aluminum blades, 300 feet by 25 feet, which requires drilling 9,000 holes, inserting drywall anchors, and missing all the studs? All in 4 weeks, nonetheless!In October 2018, the result was Rob Ley's "Field Lines" at the new O'Hare Car Rental Center. One of the largest public sculptures that most Chicagoans will never see. But have a look anyway.
Watch this video of the full sculpture
BELL MUSEUM | UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA | 2017 completed
Relocation of museum dioramas
It was 2006 when we first looked at the Bell Dioramas with Museum Curator Don Luce -- alongside conservators and Terry Brown of Museum Professionals.
After several delays, fast forward 11 years to 2017 and the job got done. The plan for relocation started in partnership with McGough Construction in 2015 before breaking ground at the new location in Spring 2016. With 6 months from start-to-finish, our crews were able to stabilize, cut, and relocate the historic dioramas from the Minneapolis Campus and re-installed them at the new St. Paul Campus.
The whole operation was exquisitely master-minded by Luke Boehnke, formerly of M&M, now Principal of our project collaborators Wolf Magritte in Missoula, MT. It was a remarkable feat of engineering and creativity, including work by Chase Studios, Split Rock Studios, and Midwest Art Conservation Center.
If you are attending PACCIN in Amsterdam next week, Luke will be presenting on the logistics of the project's execution.
www.bellmuseum.umn.edu | www.wolfmagritte.com | www.mcgough.com
Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park,
Grand Rapids, MI | 1995-2015
Methods & Materials has installed most of the sculptures at the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park since 1995.
“The Sculpture Park features significant works of art within a variety of natural settings connected by waterways, meandering paths and quiet walkways.” ~FMSG
Methods & Materials has installed a number of these outdoor pieces, including Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen, Plantoir, Arnaldo Pomodoro’s Disc on the Form of a Desert Rose, and Igor Mitoraj’s Light of the Moon. Though each large sculpture required a unique installation treatment, there are common factors and concerns related to outdoor work.
Fluent Traces
by Kendall Buster at Wilmer Hale,
Washington D.C. 2006
Kendall Buster’s sculpture, Fluent Traces, is composed of three large elements, each about 25' long and weighing 1500 lbs. Each modular section is made of manipulated steel bar stock covered first with a wire frame and then with a skin of synthetic, white, delicate netting.
The Wilmer-Hale building is architecturally unique among D.C.’s mostly colonial buildings. The most prominent feature, and the installation location, is the thirteen-story atrium. Created by structural glass and canted in space, it forms the building’s façade and also presents access challenges.
Methods & Materials, Inc. worked with the building's glass installers, FN Glass, to install an aerial swing stage at the top of the atrium. The three cloud pieces were assembled on the ground, raised 170' and mounted in mid-air.
Slice of life
by Rob Fisher
at Astra Zeneca HQ,
Wilmington, DE August 2002
Collaborating with the contractors was very instrumental to the success of the project. Our Project Supervisor met with the drop ceiling team early in the process. Subsequently, a complete grid of hanging cables were hung well in advance of the sculpture installation.
From the second floor balcony, Methods & Materials, Inc. projected a transit laser and created a “cell plane” to guide the work. A grid-hanging crew formed and attached bead chain at pre-determined points on the grid. Two other crew members on the scissor lift attached each cell at four points. The position of attachment was defined by an audio signal from a handheld sensor placed in the plane of the laser. The two crews moved together across the space from the point furthest from the laser
Each cell was delivered to the site properly marked and numbered. Rob Fisher, the artist, worked from the plan, passing the cells to be attached. It took a four-person crew two weeks to install this remarkable sculpture.
La Tormenta
by Inigo Manglano-Ovalle
at the U.S. General Service Administration Building
in Chicago, IL. July 2006
A four-person M&M crew worked with the artist and his assistants for one week to assemble and install La Tormenta in the lobby of this high profile location.
Prior to the arrival of each sculpture, six stainless steel cables were hung from the atrium ceiling. From a nearby balcony, transit lasers were used to determine the sculpture’s hanging points on the cables.
After the top portion of the sculpture was assembled, it was attached to the three hanging cables and hoisted up. The lower portion of the cloud could then be attached while the gilded titanium aluminum alloy, a sensitive finish, avoided contact with the floor. A specially designed lifting triangle, constructed by M&M, maintained cable distance and orientation to the piece, while an 8T carry-deck crane with jib allowed remarkable access. With two sculptural elements in mid-air, maneuvering was challenging, but successful.
Agora
by Magdalena Abakanowicz
at Grant Park, Michigan & Roosevelt
Chicago, IL October 2006
9 sea containers
106 x 9’ tall cast iron, headless, armless figures
424 Stainless steel pins
1 concrete platform
2 cranes + operators
8 M&M riggers
3 artist's assistants
1 Magdelana Abakanowicz
6 weeks of work
Methods and Materials collaborated with Schaefges Bros. (concrete) and the Chicago Parkways Foundation early on in the project.
Once it was determined, how the sculptures would be secured into the pigmented foundation, we turned to the careful installation of each individual figure.
Each figure was uncrated and temporarily placed, by crane. The final positions were determined by the artist, Magdelena Abakanowicz.
Each was again lifted and four holes were drilled in the concrete beneath. Steel pins were placed though the soles of the feet. The holes were then filled with epoxy and the pins, now protruding from the bottom of the feet were set into the concrete. The 424 pins now anchor the sculpture in its life long location.
