About this project
Think turn-of-the-century Industrial Revolution in modern times… the flying machines of the early 1900s …an animal that shouldn’t fly…. Our approach was to create a giant SteamPig in the vein of “steampunk” or a mix of turn-of-the-last century architecture with elements of the Industrial Revolution. “Percy” is a celebration of the machinist mentality and ingenuity of the period, when steam engines propelled the railroad and the seemingly limitless boundaries of the Industrial Revolution captivated the imagination of geniuses like Jules Verne and H.G. Wells.
http://www.facebook.com/steampig
This sculpture is roughly 55-feet long from stem-to-stern, 25-feet high, and 25-feet wide, not including the nearly 10-foot tall main mast. She runs with two main masts and an aft-rigged-driver at full sail. We have inverted the wood-planked hull and included the gears of a faux working steam engine inside the exposed open framework of the lower hull. The beast-machine has illuminated eyes. “Percy” is suspended by four steel footings.
Parsifal the SteamPig was located in the heart of downtown Grand Rapids, MI, and was installed in front of The B.O.B. (Big Old Building), a very popular five story 100 year old warehouse that houses several bars and restaurants.
As with any gravity-defying project, we need cash. We need to pay off our vendors, rebuild a couple valves, jet fuel, flying-pig insurance, general pampering of the porcine, etc. We also hope is to find an new roost for Parsifal and we hope it is close to home port. Thanks for checking our kickstarter project.
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Funding Unsuccessful
This project reached the deadline without achieving its funding goal on December 31.
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3 coloring pages for the wee ones. Parsifal was a big hit with kids and these line drawings should give your budding steampig pilot some creative outlets - whether with crayons, markers or whatever medium suits the young artist... (image files sent as .pdfs for you to printout)
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Wallpaper images for your laptop or desktop... keep Parsifal the SteamPig flying proud on your computer screen (we'll send you a collection of images as .jpgs for your screen)
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3 Custom SteamPig Pins (Collector's Items) and 1 SteamPig Sticker
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1 Color SteamPig T Shirt... 3 pins + sticker. If the sculpture looks this crazy, you can imagine how sweet the flying pig t's are! Be the first on your block... better yet, get the two-color!
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2 Color SteamPig T Shirt. The only t shirt that makes one-color steam pig t shirt owners jealous. AND 3 pins, sticker + a signed SteamPig postcard.
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The Everything+ Package. For those of you who can't decide which of the rewards you really need the most... get one of each for a total of two t shirts and the set of pins AND a 11"x17" poster signed by the artists themselves!
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Drama Package, because this sculpture is nothing if not dramatic! A 20"x30" signed poster, 25-minute documentary DVD of "The Making of Parsifal, the SteamPig" with YOUR NAME in the credits and the never-ending gratitude of the artists. AND a 5 collector pin set + a 2 color t'
Project By
The Steampig Experiment
Last Login 02/03/12
- Grand Rapids, MI
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The SteamPig Experiment
Thomas Birks
Born and Raised in Grand Rapids…
Kendall School of Art & Design: BFA Illustration 1986
New York University: Certificate, Film 1988
Thomas spent some time overseas and within the continent too… but he makes his home in Eastown, just blocks from where he grew up. After 16 years working as an animation designer (motion graphics) for television and film, Thomas finds himself freelancing as an editor, animator, builder, and part-time designer of a flying pig of epic proportions…
Joachim Jensen
Joachim Jensen came to the United States from Oslo, Norway. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Industrial Design from Kendall College of Art & Design.
Although his talents spread across many industries, the focal point of his work is contract furniture. Joachim has worked with multiple design firms on seating projects for the American market and abroad. He has since established his own design studio, based in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
As principal of Dygon Product Development, Joachim specializes in office seating, ergonomics and prototyping. With his Scandinavian heritage, European style and American influences, Joachim creates simple, clean and honest furniture for the modern global market. Now he is committed to making large scale mythical monsters.
