Answering the How: The Mad Max Rusting Tree

Summary:

In short, the goal of my project was to produce an artifact inspired by yard art and a jagged, rusted aesthetic like the “Diesel Punk” that can be found in the Mad Max movies. Counterintuitively, I planned to cast this aesthetic on the thriving ecosystem in my yard in the form of a jagged, rusting tree. The function of rotation enhances this interactive backyard art and provides a way to enjoy local nature in the form of a bird feeder, bird bath, and interactive structure. 

Since I have recently moved, the thriving local wildlife is novel to me and I wanted to enjoy this through my artifact by seeing if they will come to enjoy a juxtaposing, eye-catching, rough aesthetic that was secretly meant for them.

Changes:

My main structure remained largely unchanged, apart from attaining materials and modifying designs to add a second bearing and shaft. This compounded the element of rotation and made the artifact more transportable through disassembly.

I took some inspiration from steampunk and Mad Max imagery for this combination and found a lot of inspiration from the materials I found. One of the results was adding smoother shapes and vessels to contrast the rough finish, straight lines, and angles of the rest of the construction. This diversified the aesthetic, and my real goal was contrast both within the piece and with its environment. In nature, you rarely find jagged edges or harsh angles, and you never find straight lines or perfect circles. This provided a good opportunity to implement the aspects local critters can interact with, such as food, water, perches, and eventually “potted” plants.

Specifications Achieved:

Aesthetic Specifications:

1. The preparation of all exposed metal on my final artifact was prepared for a natural progression of rust accumulation. This means that I did not accelerate the process, but I also removed any existing treatment or finishes across exposed surfaces of the final piece. This will gradually produce a uniform and natural rust aesthetic. This may feature different progressions among different steel alloys, but I view this as “natural.”
2. The artifact demonstrates straight lines and acutely bent angles. Metalwork included bends for structural purposes, but the aesthetic avoids excessive sinuous lines in an effort to elicit a natural response of interest or impression of contrast such as we have learned about in this course.

Functional Specifications:

1. A wind resistance is inherent in the design of the final artifact, and rough calculation indicates it should hold to the criteria of withstanding 100-year winds of the local area in Shasta County, California. Longevity is central to the theme of the project, as is the utility of “yard art,” so the artifact was made to be mobile yet robust against year-round conditions.
2. My artifact is capable of uniaxial rotation, upgraded to two rotation points, providing an interactive feature to the viewer while not requiring power supply or maintenance.
3. Each extremity of the structure supports an idle weight of 5 pounds for the purpose of housing features interactive to nature. This facilitates food and water vessels, perching, or climbing. Yes, this is squirrel-friendly yard art!

The Final Product:

My final artifact stands exactly 7 feet tall and features three independently rotating sections. These house 4 basins for food or water, 1 to 4 standard bird feeders (one built in), 2 hummingbird feeders, a dangling climbing pedestal, and plenty of perches. This is crowned with a small nesting area for warblers and supported by a massive 1.5 inch thick plate to sit next to nearby lilac bushes of equal height to the structure.

I am overall very pleased with the robustness and character of my final artifact seen below. I achieved my functional goals, and the assembly already serves as a unique addition to my backyard space. I am able to house bird feeders and baths, while also giving the squirrels food and obstacles to entertain themselves without bothering their neighbors. While I remained true to my aesthetic theme and I quite enjoy certain visual aspects of my artifact, it has not yet realized the striking appearance I had envisioned .

There are varying improvements I would like to make, but the majority of my future efforts will focus on adding dimension to the piece reaching out from the central axis and filling in the space in a more full and balanced fashion. 

In summary, I am able to enjoy the appearance of something I put together with creativity, which is rare for me personally. Along the way, I learned and enhanced new skills and simply enjoyed the process of crafting old and used, yet sturdy, parts and pieces with molten metal. I was able to use my fabrication and (to a lesser extent) engineering skills, but let them take the back seat as I simply explored the visual results and enjoyed the process.

Sources:

Material Potos: Myself, April 2025

Image #1 and Featured Image:

Alexander., K. M. “Mad Max: Fury Road and the Art of Worldbuilding.” K. M. Alexander, 12 Jan. 2016, kmalexander.com/2015/06/24/mad-max-fury-road-and-the-art-of-worldbuilding/.

McLean, Michael. “How to Start Welding: Baker’s Gas & Welding Supplies.” Baker’s Gas & Welding Supplies, Inc., Baker’s Gas & Welding Supplies, Inc., 1 Oct. 2020, bakersgas.com/blogs/welding-tips/how-to-start-welding.

Romano, Aja. “‘mad Max: Fury Road’ was Not Steampunk, and That’s Important.” The Daily Dot, 28 May 2021, www.dailydot.com/unclick/mad-max-fury-road-dieselpunk/.