A Project of the Tucson Pima Arts Council

Stick Lizard
by Betty, Joe, and Martha Harris
Sponsor: Gladden Farms
Nonprofit: Marana Arts Council

Mounted on a six foot tall steel “stick” is a lizard, also fabricated in steel using standard fabricating techniques for cutting and welding steel, plus a less common forming technique which has been used by some contemporary blacksmiths. (This involves cutting out the same shape in two sheets of metal, welding these together with a small space between into which a small pipe is welded. This unit is then heated in a forge until it is red hot, then compressed air is forced into the form causing it to puff up some what like inflating like a mylar balloon. (This technique was used in the “Bog Monster “ piece in the slides.) Small, cactus like sculptures, also fabricated in steel using the same techniques as the lizard, sit on the dark base of the sculpture. Automotive paints will be used in surfacing the work to insure durability

The solar panel is mounted on back (highest part) of the end of the wedge shaped base at a 38 degree angle to face south. (In the drawings you do not see the panel because it is facing in the opposite direction.) The base is roughly the same color as the panel. The storage battery is hidden inside the base, as is the charge controller. There will be vents, not shown in the drawing, on the base to provide air flow around these devises.

The lizard's jaws are open, from the inside of it's mouth a beam of light from one LED bulb shines onto the glowing cactus below. The small fruits of these plants are adorned with several small led lights. The cactus shapes will be painted with glow in the dark paint. The body of the lizard also emits light, small holes in it's body allow light to shine through and led lights are arranged on it's back and tail.

On a steel post mounted next to the piece will be an etched metal plaque with the following message:

“This piece depicts two exceedingly rare species of the Sonoran Desert who depend upon each other for survival.

Luminarius Lacerta Bacillum (light giving stick lizard) or Stick Lizard, protects itself from the scorching temperatures of the desert sand by inserting the stick it carries in it's mouth into the ground and climbing up on it. The lizard will remain on it's stick for up to 10 hours a day, absorbing great quantities of light which is reprocessed into a new form of light which at night shines out of the lizard's eyes, mouth and small modules on it's skin. Stick lizards spend most of their time on their sticks during the hottest times of the year, coming down only to feed on the small fruits of the Nox Lumen Belua Cactus (night light eating monster cactus) or Light Eating Cactus. This cactus is incapable of producing food from sunlight and instead relies on the recycled light of the Light Giving Stick Lizard creating a strange, reciprocal relationship.”