Discover Fred Truck's Artistic World

Scrawls 

Images Texts & Animations 2016-2025

It is no longer enough for those who think about art as well as make it…it is no longer enough to write a few paragraphs and call it good.

A very large array of communication modes is at our fingertips. Naturally text is important, but what about images? What about animations or movies? 

When I began to assemble this collection of my work, I already knew that I didn’t think in classically defined modes. I use whatever is at hand to make my point. 

I am not the first artist working that way. Many artists (Duchamp, Picasso, Warhol to name a few) working in the early through the mid 20th century did whatever they needed to do to make things exponents of their world view.

Times demand different approaches. I have in my arts arsenal tools and materials never dreamed of by artists 50 years ago. These include, but are not limited to, computers and image processing, 3D printers, digital cameras, head-mounted displays and access to vast amounts of information through the internet. Controversially, artificial intelligence must be included here. Complete as that list may be, what is missing is qualities of mind that allow the artist to take advantage of what our times offer. Finally, having the willingness to learn new ways beyond traditional art is key. I am referring to computer programming.

With that said, I offer a summary of work assembled here:

1.  Self Portrait

2.  Screen Recording

The first two items, an animation and a text, concern a 3D scan I did of my head on October 9, 2024. This is what I look like. In the accompanying text, I explain why this work is not a selfie. I am pointing to other ways to achieve a clear and defining image of the artist.

3.  Narcolepsy

4.  I Dream

Narcolepsy is a chronic sleep disorder. It is better understood now than before. There is no cure. I have it. This condition has been the source of much of my art. In this essay, I explain how this autoimmune disease has benefitted me.

I Dream is a clip during which I fall asleep. 

5.  The Red Truck

6.  The New Artist’s Computer

7.  Analog Engine Moves in Solid State

The next 3 documents relate how I built Analog Engine, a logic circuit that details how making art by combining two unlike elements using the thesis/antithesis/synthesis method. The Red Truck is a conceptual automotive sculpture that is powered by Analog Engine. The Red Truck also introduces The Memory Device, a simple switching circuit that implements values central to my work.

The New Artist’s Computer covers much of the same material as The Red Truck, but with a more hard-wired approach. The Red Truck ends by showing in detail how Analog Engine constructs an image from 2 different inputs. The New Artist’s Computer implements Analog Engine with several Memory Devices plugged into it to make a more powerful computer.

Analog Engine Moves in Solid State is a fanciful animation of The New Artist’s Computer in action.

8.  The End of the Driveway Too

9.  The End of the Driveway Too (animation)

Both The End of the Driveway Too and the animation of the same name are complex works based on friendship, reflections, driving, one-sided planes and art.

 10. Milk Bottle Reliquary

Mr. Milk Bottle is a rubber hose cartoon character who informs all my work. He is an empty bottle, but maybe because of that, everyone loves him. He is the container for all my work.

Milk Bottle Reliquary revives the ancient traditions of the reliquary, but instead of religious relics or bones of politicians, eight small sculptures are housed in the Bottle himself. The voice-over explains the significance of each relative to the Reliquary and gives a funny cast to the artist’s museum movement.

11.  The da Vinci Flying Machine

The da Vinci Flying Machine is my redesign of Leonardo’s famous ornithopter. In redesigning the wing-flapper, I included some elements Leonardo had sketched, and others that were attributed to him (the chain drive) but contemporary scholars have discredited. A series of photos show the Flying Machine PLA print under construction.

 12. Chromosome in a Box

Chromosome in a Box is a small 3D print done in PLA. I chose the image of a double helix, but I put a head on each end. I’ve admired the art of the Mayas so the front and back heads are loosely based on the Mayan sun god, Kinich Ahau.

 13. My Monopoly™ Game

Monopoly™ is one of the most popular board games ever devised. Rather than try to alter the rules of the game, I chose to make markers, small sculptures the players move from square to square on the game board. All the markers in my Monopoly™ are sculptures I’ve developed over time. All have their own histories.

 A. The Chromosome

 B. The Trivet

 C. The Bomb

 D. Mr. Milk Bottle Contemplates

 E. Stop Action

 F. 1 Notes on Stop Action

 14. The Cosmic Egg

The Cosmic Egg is a small sculpture also called The Bomb. The sculpture both is used as a marker in my Monopoly Game, but also as a marker in time. After the nuclear test at Trinity, August, 1945, nothing was the same.

 15. Digital Blue Chromosome

As part of the set of markers for Monopoly this PLA print exudes a ferocious life energy. This particular rendition in Digital Blue is much larger and is no less radiant and aggressive. Not suitable for gaming, but an object to hold, to turn around, to think about.

 16. The Short-Legged Trivet in Cookie Jar Mode

The Short-Legged Trivet in Cookie Jar Mode is the story of how a Christmas present to Lorna became a much-loved fixture central to my work. The original print is 4.875” wide. The Monopoly™ version is 1.875” wide. For a little more information, see The Trivet above.

 17. Mr. Milk Bottle Contemplates

This sculpture was done for Jim and Ellen Hubbell, but in 2 dimensions 

only and in steel. I converted the sculpture to 3-D and reduced its size and made a very small PLA print, suitable for a marker. I feel this little sculpture presents the best aspects of MMB in relationship to Monopoly™.

  18. Notes on Stop Action

Stop Action was a sculpture I made in 2005 was an exploration of Eadweard Muybridge’s techniques for archiving time. Today, Muybridge is commonly regarded as the inventor of motion pictures. But what did Muybridge actually do? And how does that relate to sculpture?

 Explore a stunning collection of acrylic paintings that showcase Fred Truck's unique style and use of color. From abstract to realism, each piece tells a story that will captivate your imagination.

Scrawls 

Images Texts & Animations 2016-2025

It is no longer enough for those who think about art as well as make it…it is no longer enough to write a few paragraphs and call it good.

A very large array of communication modes is at our fingertips. Naturally text is important, but what about images? What about animations or movies? 

When I began to assemble this collection of my work, I already knew that I didn’t think in classically defined modes. I use whatever is at hand to make my point. 

I am not the first artist working that way. Many artists (Duchamp, Picasso, Warhol to name a few) working in the early through the mid 20th century did whatever they needed to do to make things exponents of their world view.

Times demand different approaches. I have in my arts arsenal tools and materials never dreamed of by artists 50 years ago. These include, but are not limited to, computers and image processing, 3D printers, digital cameras, head-mounted displays and access to vast amounts of information through the internet. Controversially, artificial intelligence must be included here. Complete as that list may be, what is missing is qualities of mind that allow the artist to take advantage of what our times offer. Finally, having the willingness to learn new ways beyond traditional art is key. I am referring to computer programming.

With that said, I offer a summary of work assembled here:

1.  Self Portrait

2.  Screen Recording

The first two items, an animation and a text, concern a 3D scan I did of my head on October 9, 2024. This is what I look like. In the accompanying text, I explain why this work is not a selfie. I am pointing to other ways to achieve a clear and defining image of the artist.

3.  Narcolepsy

4.  I Dream

Narcolepsy is a chronic sleep disorder. It is better understood now than before. There is no cure. I have it. This condition has been the source of much of my art. In this essay, I explain how this autoimmune disease has benefitted me.

I Dream is a clip during which I fall asleep. 

5.  The Red Truck

6.  The New Artist’s Computer

7.  Analog Engine Moves in Solid State

The next 3 documents relate how I built Analog Engine, a logic circuit that details how making art by combining two unlike elements using the thesis/antithesis/synthesis method. The Red Truck is a conceptual automotive sculpture that is powered by Analog Engine. The Red Truck also introduces The Memory Device, a simple switching circuit that implements values central to my work.

The New Artist’s Computer covers much of the same material as The Red Truck, but with a more hard-wired approach. The Red Truck ends by showing in detail how Analog Engine constructs an image from 2 different inputs. The New Artist’s Computer implements Analog Engine with several Memory Devices plugged into it to make a more powerful computer.

Analog Engine Moves in Solid State is a fanciful animation of The New Artist’s Computer in action.

8.  The End of the Driveway Too

9.  The End of the Driveway Too (animation)

Both The End of the Driveway Too and the animation of the same name are complex works based on friendship, reflections, driving, one-sided planes and art.

 10. Milk Bottle Reliquary

Mr. Milk Bottle is a rubber hose cartoon character who informs all my work. He is an empty bottle, but maybe because of that, everyone loves him. He is the container for all my work.

Milk Bottle Reliquary revives the ancient traditions of the reliquary, but instead of religious relics or bones of politicians, eight small sculptures are housed in the Bottle himself. The voice-over explains the significance of each relative to the Reliquary and gives a funny cast to the artist’s museum movement.

11.  The da Vinci Flying Machine

The da Vinci Flying Machine is my redesign of Leonardo’s famous ornithopter. In redesigning the wing-flapper, I included some elements Leonardo had sketched, and others that were attributed to him (the chain drive) but contemporary scholars have discredited. A series of photos show the Flying Machine PLA print under construction.

 12. Chromosome in a Box

Chromosome in a Box is a small 3D print done in PLA. I chose the image of a double helix, but I put a head on each end. I’ve admired the art of the Mayas so the front and back heads are loosely based on the Mayan sun god, Kinich Ahau.

 13. My Monopoly™ Game

Monopoly™ is one of the most popular board games ever devised. Rather than try to alter the rules of the game, I chose to make markers, small sculptures the players move from square to square on the game board. All the markers in my Monopoly™ are sculptures I’ve developed over time. All have their own histories.

 A. The Chromosome

 B. The Trivet

 C. The Bomb

 D. Mr. Milk Bottle Contemplates

 E. Stop Action

 F. 1 Notes on Stop Action

 14. The Cosmic Egg

The Cosmic Egg is a small sculpture also called The Bomb. The sculpture both is used as a marker in my Monopoly Game, but also as a marker in time. After the nuclear test at Trinity, August, 1945, nothing was the same.

 15. Digital Blue Chromosome

As part of the set of markers for Monopoly this PLA print exudes a ferocious life energy. This particular rendition in Digital Blue is much larger and is no less radiant and aggressive. Not suitable for gaming, but an object to hold, to turn around, to think about.

 16. The Short-Legged Trivet in Cookie Jar Mode

The Short-Legged Trivet in Cookie Jar Mode is the story of how a Christmas present to Lorna became a much-loved fixture central to my work. The original print is 4.875” wide. The Monopoly™ version is 1.875” wide. For a little more information, see The Trivet above.

 17. Mr. Milk Bottle Contemplates

This sculpture was done for Jim and Ellen Hubbell, but in 2 dimensions 

only and in steel. I converted the sculpture to 3-D and reduced its size and made a very small PLA print, suitable for a marker. I feel this little sculpture presents the best aspects of MMB in relationship to Monopoly™.

  18. Notes on Stop Action

Stop Action was a sculpture I made in 2005 was an exploration of Eadweard Muybridge’s techniques for archiving time. Today, Muybridge is commonly regarded as the inventor of motion pictures. But what did Muybridge actually do? And how does that relate to sculpture?

 Explore a stunning collection of acrylic paintings that showcase Fred Truck's unique style and use of color. From abstract to realism, each piece tells a story that will captivate your imagination.

Explore a stunning collection of acrylic paintings that showcase Fred Truck's unique style and use of color. From abstract to realism, each piece tells a story that will captivate your imagination.

Explore a stunning collection of acrylic paintings that showcase Fred Truck's unique style and use of color. From abstract to realism, each piece tells a story that will captivate your imagination.

Experience the beauty and depth of Fred Truck's charcoal drawings, which capture the essence of the human form and emotions. Each piece is a powerful expression of the artist's vision.

Immerse yourself in the world of Fred Truck's sculptures, which bring life to various materials and textures. From metal to clay, each piece is a unique and masterful creation.

Step into a world of art installations that challenge your perceptions and surroundings. Fred Truck's art installations are a true testament to the power of imagination and creativity.

Looking for a unique and affordable way to own a piece of art? Fred Truck's art prints are high-quality reproductions of the artist's original works, available in a variety of sizes and materials.

Need help with art curation, framing, or installation? Fred Truck offers a range of art services to help you showcase and protect your art collection.