Dance International Fountain (1940)

[Music] after studying the design of the Spiral garden and circular pool I thought of the idea of representing a series of international dancing figures in bar the first work was to sketch out the various positions of these d dancers as I am doing here this is a Mongolian dancer with the dragon of China at his [Music] [Music] feet after completing a series of these figures drawn on pasteboard I cut away the background decided on the sequence and bent them into a circular drum-like shape as a central point for the spiral Garden I measure the height of the little model with a compass in relation to the width of the surrounding pool at this point I asked that the pool be made wider so that the complete figures might be reflected in the water when illuminated at night a slightly larger model was then made and the surrounding walks and water designed to fit the new proportion of course a great many drawings were made before I could select the seven used in the final design certain ones were discarded as inappropriate and I added designs of Palm leaves Cloud symbolism to suggest the country from which these dancers came and to serve as a screen to the necessary iron supports now we see the 4in model and the 1ot model which is the size presented to the board of design for their judgment the mirror beneath is used to show the reflection as it would would be seen in water this model was illuminated within when submitted to the fair authorities giving the effect of the whole scheme upon acceptance I was ordered to proceed with a 4-foot model shown here in plaster as I cover it with a coating of shellac as we turn it around we see on the left the African drummer and now Pavlova and her Swan the Mongolian dancer the Cambodian dancer with her seven-headed Cobra under her feet the American Indian dancing the eagle dance at this point the sculptor had to step out and turn the work over to the fair authorities who made a contract with a group of professional unionized modelers in the studio of Rene shamban this is the foundation of plaster on a section of wooden cylinder enlarged to four times the size of the model by a Pantagraph machine with a long metal arm which holds two pointers a man guides the small needen on the left of the picture which automatically controls the long Needle on the right which marks on the large Model A four time enlargement of every point taken by the small one each one of these points is marked by a cross and by driving a nail into the surface of the plaster and bur up the head of this nail marks the exact [Music] spot three or four 4,000 of these points are taken on each figure before any of the clay surface is [Music] applied when all the points are set the work is turned over to the modelers who apply the clay onto the foundation until the surface leaves just the tip of the nail exposed my figure of Shiva dancing on the moon is the one in this picture bar reliefs are generally modeled on a flat surface but in this design every figure was on a curved surface this added the difficulties of the problem now the clay is padded on by the palm of the hand and the surface gradually pulled together by the tool technique taking care never to move the tips of the nails which are always left visible the small model is hung from above so that the modeler can verify all his details after the figure is completed the decorations and the costumes are added the edge of every form of each section must fit exactly to the next one when finally set together [Music] the Bells on the anets of the Indian dancer are being applied in the clay and now a rough texture is made over the entire surface so that when placed in the open air the effect will be that of stone rather than of smooth white Plaster this gives added scale to the whole composition when seen Out of [Music] Doors I frequently visit the studio and supervise the work in this picture I am checking with a compass the accuracy of the four time enlargement as the panels are about 20 ft High there is a lot of ladder climbing involved [Music] when the clay is completed the plastic Caster decides just where the sections of the mold are to be made he inserts thin brass shims which serve as dividing lines between the sections of the negative mold he presses them carefully into this soft clay surface he now mixes the plaster in a keg of water letting it sift through his fingers he dips it out in a flexible bowl and stirs it to the consistency of pck cream he now throws it over the surface of the clay keeping carefully within the bounds of the shims he applies a thin layer of burlap against the West wet surface of the plaster before it sets this becomes an integral part of the mold jute is wrapped into wads and dipped into the plaster this is laid along the edge of each section of the mole giving the additional strength needed all this looks very simple to the Layman but just try it yourself and see what happens when all the pieces are made a framework of wood is lashed to the back of the completed mold to enable handling and lifting each one of these plaster negative moldes weighs nearly 1,000 pound and this one shows one of the sections being lifted off by The Traveling crane the original Clay is seen at the left of the picture this is the back of the mold showing the ropes lashed to the wooden framework it so happened in the shambar studio that the final casting had to be done one floor beneath where the Figures were being modeled we watch them now lowering these moles through the tra store in the floor extreme care was used to avoid chipping any of the edges during this operation for at this point the negative mold is All That Remains of the sculpture the original clay having been damaged by the pulling off of this negative [Music] mold this shows the Workman destroying and tearing down the original clay figure with consider able Gusto at this moment the sculptors generally arrang to be absent from the studios although we all know that this same play can be used over and over and that this painful operation is repeated every time that the figure is [Music] made the fate of the sculpture now rests in the hand of these expert Craftsmen they were remove the pieces slowly and carefully picking out the clay that sticks to them they clean [Music] them after this they are covered with a layer of shellac as shown in this picture the sections are then reassembled and fitted together together to form a complete shell into this strong plaster is poured for the final positive cast this in turn is reinforced by laying burlap into the plaster while still soft and on top of this another layer of plaster is applied [Music] iron bands are bent to form a sort of skeleton inside of the moles these irons are 1 in wide and a/4 of an inch thick and it it takes great strength and judgment to bend them accurately around all the forms wads of jute hold these bands to the inside of the mole and this operation completes the work of reinforcement of course all this iron work has to be made waterproof so that it will not rust the men are now lashing the wooden frame onto the back of the positive mold to enable them to handle it with [Music] safety the figure of Pavlova is seen sideways at the back of the picture while the Workman rais the next mold into position by the electric pulley [Music] now we have to repeat another operation of Destruction by ripping off the wooden framework and burlap leaving the final positive cast it was necessary to dry these in strong currents of hot air for many weeks before they were waterproof by the linseed oil which was sprayed over them inside and out finally the day comes when they are loaded into a truck and carted over to the World's Fair the weather was icy cold which made this operation even more difficult you can see how cold it was by the Frosted breath of the [Music] Workman the truck drives off showing us the Chrysler Building in the background and begins its Journey to the flushing Fairgrounds arriving on the site we find the glass brick Foundation of this Fountain already completed and the iron framework which is to support the panels when they are set in place every operation has to be done with the greatest care and precision as the weight of these casts is tremendous and any uneven strain might cause a serious crack or warping of the surface [Music] the first figure set in place was the Cambodian [Music] Daner and here we see her all alone awaiting her International neighbors to join in the dance [Music] you see the trilon at the back of this picture and the workmen who are Boling and lashing the casts to the iron framework it was so cold often that the plaster and water froze before we could apply it to the figures [Music] thousands of tulips and bands of purple and yellow pansies made the most brilliant spiral pattern of color for the first few weeks of the fair figure of a barley dancer on the left Shiva dancing on the moon and the African drum on the right the effect of stone is quite evident in this picture this effective shot shows the crowds of people coming down the ramp from the trilon in the background Japanese cherry trees and peach trees are all In Bloom at the same time with the Tulips early in June the entire Garden was replanted with red roses and Ramblers for the visit of their majesties King George V 6 and Queen Elizabeth we see paralon Hall in the background and the Terrace outside of the official dining room and Mr whan's office es the mysterious Tron over 600 ft High leads us down from the clouds into peon [Music] Garden the different hours of the day change the colors of all the sculpture at the fair in a most unexpected manner the sunlight and Shadow playing a most important part for the artistic effect [Music] this shows Sunset flow on the stonik surface of the East Indian Shiva the girl of barley with her decorative headdress and her fan and now the Cambodian [Music] dancer an evening View with the Green Glass cylinder lighted from within [Music] the glass bricks at the base are seen reflected in the water but only when there is no wind can the complete reflection be seen on the still surface of the pool we end our picture with a view of the magical fountains which have thrilled millions of people with their dramatic geysers Firework and music [Music] l [Music]