Digitis by Marcus Tatton Creation, Installation and Maintenance

The wooden Zero form is carved from the base of 400-year-old Eucalyptus trees in Southern Tasmania, Australia. A circle is drawn onto the top of the stump of a fallen tree. With the chainsaw, the circle is carved down into the end grain of the tree. Once the zero is formed on top of the stump it is released using an Alaskan mill guide to gauge the depth of cut accurately.

Using ropes and winches, the zero is lowered to the ground and rolled to the nearest road access.

The One form is carved using the Alaskan mill longitudinally from the same tree.

Once at the studio the forms are smoothed and polished, kiln dried and coated with six coats of exterior wood oil finish.

Stainless steel base brackets are welded by certified machinists in Tasmania. The brackets consist of a broad plate that fixes to the underside of each wood form with 6 coach screws each. The plates are welded to an 200mm long circular pipe section that sleeves either into the granite base or, for exterior presentation, into a stainless steel pipe set in the concrete foundations.

The steel brackets are attached to the wood forms prior to crate packing and freighting.

The African Black Granite, prepared in Africa, is polished, edge chamfered and bored with two 100mm diameter holes bored through from the top face to the underside (225mm deep). Then it is imported directly to the city of installation for the sculpture and delivered to the site directly from the port of arrival.
Once the granite is positioned, the wood forms with the steel base brackets attached are lifted over the granite and lowered into the holes.

An alternative to installing a solid granite base is to pour a concrete base and veneer the concrete with granite tiles.

Gravity keeps the wood forms hard in contact with the granite base and the steel brackets pin the forms to the upright position. Tethlon washers are fitted to the underside of the steel brackets; avoiding possible scratching of the granite surface and allowing the wood forms to rotate on their axis.

To maintain the wood forms, a coat of exterior wood oil is applied each 6 months when the piece is positioned outside. For interior presentation a coat need only be applied every 2 years.
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