Monday, January 26, 2009



Shiva Mandala. (video sound "on")
New Steampunk Design by Art Donovan: The Illuminated Astrolabe. 2009. This Mandala alludes to the Steampunk philosophy of the re-imagined past- simultaneously ancient and modern in it's design and configuration.

My most most complex Steampunk work to date with influences of Hinduism, Freemasonry and ancient astronomy. 72" tall x 72" wide. Solid Mahogany, Solid Brass, Glass, Spun-Filament Fiberglass, Plaster, LED + Incandescent Bulbs, Acrylic Resin, Ultra Violet Tubes + Electric Motors.

To read the entire story behind this work, click here.

View my entire Steampunk Collection. Click Here.






Control Box for the mandala-left and right. Independent operations for all of the different electrical units makes for a nice dramatic display when viewing. Thanks to all for taking the time to look. Best Regards, Art. Click Here to read a wonderful review.














9 comments:

Anonymous said...

absolutely amazing!!

Mike Perschon said...

Brilliant work Art. I'm presenting on the various incarnations of Captain Nemo at the Eaton Science Fiction conference in Riverside, CA in April and was wondering if you would be okay with my using images of this Mandala as part of my slide show, since it expresses visually the points I'm exploring.

Anonymous said...

Whoa! Great piece. My favorite yet. I take it this was the "super-secret new project" you had mentioned?

Excellent work as usual.

-~Datamancer~-

Art Donovan said...

Thank you, Doc! Yeah. This is the one. I think I'll work a little smaller the next time ;)

thesunandthesparrow said...

Beautiful work. I'm glad boingboing pointed me in your direction.


-omniphobe

G. L. Dryfoos said...

The "Masonic" bit -- with compasses, arc, and sunburst in the center -- that's the emblem of a "Past Master", someone who has previously been Master of his lodge. The arc replaces the more usual builders square, substituting 60 degrees for 90, for obscure symbolical reasons. The little sunburst was maybe added just because it looks cool.

AleLa said...

hi
can you tell me please what is the video song?
trank you!

Art Donovan said...

Gladly, AleLa:

The first part is "Sacred Chants of Shiva From The Banks Of The Ganges" -Shiva Manas Puja.

The Duduk music on the second part is by the master, Djvan Gasparian.

Anonymous said...

This is just amazing. I loved it. Being an ardent devotee of Shiva, this is really special for me. Amazing. Keep up the inspiring work.

Cheers. :)