Full Contest Mode

3/8/01-3/9/01

7:15 AM It is make or break day for me. The piece is basically completed about half way around but there is a large chunk of uncarved real estate that must be attending to today. (Tomorrow is just a a half day and should be spent tidying up and adding extra detail.)

I am sticking with my plan for a giant CPU but have added a huge, swooping Daliesque keyboard to the design to cover up the naked corner. While most of the necessary sand is in place, there is still a fair amount of shoveling to be done to get the long, graceful curve I can see so clearly in my head. Can I translate that idea to my crew? That will be the trick.

I think it is important to not lose sight of the fact that -while this piece is my concept, the finished sculpture is very much a team project. If we place in the money, they will be rewarded with handsome tips.

The crowds are picking up -- got my first glimpse of older women hobbling around with bound feet -- makes me wince just thinking about this strange form of self-mutilation.

Yesterday a camera crew filming a promo spot chose my piece as the backdrop. I take that to be a good sign. I didn't shoot any pictures as I worried about running out of battery power. But last night while I was on-line Damon went in search and found a 9-volt. -- what a nice thing to do -- so today I can shoot with wild abandon.

This is one side of the first demo sculpture - Damon Farmer's sculpture of the spirit of cooperation looking over astronauts from many countries on the surface of Mars.