BILL CYPHER: FOUND ART

[00:00:36]candle holders upside down here. These are parts of these. These were probably the top of that. That's pro I'm sure that's part of an hand iron. Fireplace hand iron. And this was probably like on top of that this guy these finials. My name is Bill Cipher. I have been working with copper, brass, lead as my media, doing found object art um sculpture for uh a number of years kind of came about from my my work which is plumbing and heating which also involves copper and brass and the same media. Th this I just fabricated. I hammered it out of a piece of flat copper. The actual head. Um little, you know, frail little wires coming out of the nose for smoke. There's a whole fork and it is difficult to try to make copper look like water.

[00:01:34]No doubt about that.

[00:01:49]I never woke up one morning and said, "Yeah, I want to be a plumber." I fell into it. I I actually worked at a restaurant doing dishes and doing this and doing that, salad chef, and I ended up busting tables for a time. And uh Bob Vulkar, who was Robert A. Vulker Plumbing and Heating was my first real plumbing job. He him and his wife were having dinner and um I'm busing their table and he looked at Bob Vulker looked at my hands and he goes, "Those don't look like the hands of a of a bus boy."

[00:02:22]He said, "You you must have some mechanical ability." You know, when I go to somebody's house to fix their sink and they say, "Um, oh, you're you're the the sculptor guy." I'm like, "Yeah, I'm the sculptor guy.

[00:03:16]I wanted to make barrels. I wanted to put like a row of barrels on the on the deck.

[00:03:21]And I'm trying to figure out how I could take a piece of copper pipe and um obviously you can't get inside of it with a hammer and hammer it out to make it like shaped like a barrel. So on in my job, right, freeze ups are a common thing in the winter time where pipe freezes and it actually wells up, turns into a bubble. So, I took pieces of pipe and I put cap I filled them with water and I capped the two ends and I put them in the freezer and they turned into barrels.

[00:03:57]Th this was in fact I'm looking at this now and the way it's got this seam in it. I think this was like a like some kind of a big old copper fire pit or something. This copper cuz you can see it's like kind of bent round. I didn't do that.

[00:04:13]I just finessed it so it kind of rolls over itself and comes down. But that was already a factory thing. This was probably some kind of a big um copper flower pot or fire pit or something.

[00:04:48]I've had people say that too. They don't know if I'm a plumber uh working as an artist or an artist uh working as a plumber.

[00:05:23]I I uh like reaching back, right? Yeah.

[00:05:28]I wish I could reach back. Um yeah, thing I I'm very old school. I love old things. I love the way old things were made. Um there used to be a lot of quality, a lot of pride, a lot of a lot of everything. Um and it used to be it used to be that you had to and even before me, I became a plumber in 79.

[00:05:52]It was already using plastics and things, already using fiberglass for bathtubs and whatnot. Everything got a little bit lighter and a little bit easier. Before that it was cast iron and galvanized pipes and you know like real real hard work. Copper might become obsolete honestly and in the plumbing industry I mean we went from everything was copper and everything cast iron and pouring lead melting lead. Now everything is um turning plastic and easier plug in you know like just plug it in. you don't need a plumber anymore kind of thing.

[00:06:32]Um, but the world is changing and copper is definitely phasing out. It's definitely expensive.

[00:06:39]Um, I'm sure it'll always be people who can afford copper gutters and leaders. Um, there'll always be a need for copper, but it's probably getting a little hard, a little more difficult to find.

[00:06:58]Most of the time on those ships is making those boards and you could spend uh an entire an entire day uh flattening out copper cutting cutting I call them boards. It's flat pipe.

[00:07:15]Um and then getting that subtle bend to each one so that they meet up with each other and cleaning them. So, sold it takes and you could spend all day and uh stand back at what you've done and look at it and go, "Oh my god." Like, I've only come up like 3 in and there's another 10 in to go.

[00:07:37]So far, I think I'm on the right track.

[00:07:46]I get enjoyment out of taking something that was going to be junk, going to be garbage, scraping it off someone's lawn, and bringing it back again. I just That's just me. I like turning things around.

[00:07:59]Back old silverware. You want it? Sure, I'll take it.

[00:08:14]I don't look for any specific thing. you know, um, this this just came to me like this was an actual compass.

[00:08:24]This is actual ship compass at le, you know, and my brother just said, "I got some brass stuff for you." You know, so someday I'll find a I'll find a home for it.

[00:08:52]I used to draw and paint early on. I mean, uh, you know, school days. Uh it wasn't until I became a plumber that I started to like adore copper and realized what I can do with it and started doing um artwork with copper and brass and incorporating other things, lead and whatnot.

[00:09:17]Just making things out of copper and brass. I when I saw copper on the on the shelf where I worked, I thought it was beautiful.

[00:09:32]I've had this thought for a long time.

[00:09:35]Just wasn't just wasn't sure if I could pull it off what I drew out. So, it's a little bit more standing.

[00:09:47]>> Yeah.

[00:09:58]If you were a plumber and you didn't know how to solder, you you weren't a plumber.

[00:10:02]Suddenly the whole industry is changing and you need skill or you used to need skill. You still do, but not as much.

[00:10:17]Now you just need the very expensive tool. It's getting a little more difficult to get a hold of copper cuz the industry is now using like plastic, iron, and whatever else to get away from using copper cuz it's expensive.

[00:10:44]>> How many times have you burned yourself?

[00:10:46]>> A lot. A lot. I've I've uh drilled holes in my fingers, burned myself. I've always kind of stuck with So, by outsider art, I mean, I'm not uh I never did go to art school or any I never had any art schooling. Um never had any plumbing schooling either.

[00:11:06]And I'm a plumber for 44 years.

[00:11:10]So, you're an outsider plumber as well, >> I guess. So,