If ever a man lived for his art it’s Glenn “The Tin Man” Todd. Todd, the Yarraville-based graphic designer, not only fashions digitally overprinted images on the silvery alloy, but sources the raw product anywhere and everywhere, from factories to foundries and the occasional rubbish dump.
“I even use spaghetti cans and formula tins, which I grab from rubbish bins and clean, cut and flatten before I nail into position for printing,” Todd said on a visit to Visy Park this week.
“I can source an image from the crumbiest photograph or a photograph I’ve taken myself. I try to take the detail out, find all the mid-tones to get the contrast and basically ‘posterise’ the image. There’s a lot of labour in it – a 400x400mm design would take me up to ten hours to complete, whereas the 1200 x 1200 would take a lot longer.”
For Todd, fashioning the lighter, more pliable tin into artistic form has proved a less strenuous and more cost effective pastime than cast iron. And he’s now sourced enough tin to commence his new series of works, with iconic figures of the club like John Nicholls and Vin Cattoggio to be immortalized in the tinny stuff.
Why Carlton? According to Glenn, the club is providing him with the necessary inspiration based on the “Carl-tin” play on words, and is a natural progression from themed works such as “Rin Tin Tin”, “Tiny Tin”, “Ho Chi Tinh” and “Tin Green Bottles” which he has already completed.
According to his artistic mission statement, Todd considers the ‘Tin Can-vas’ “a point of difference from the traditional painted canvas – an initial series comprising reclaimed metal tins, digitally overprinted and overworked with fabricated sheet metal and wire elements”.
“I’ve termed my artwork as Grunky – a style representing funky and industrial grunge – a product of metal, form, function, transition, language, design, humour, consumerism, industry, and flawed beauty,” he said.
Todd is hoping that the Carlton Football Club might consider commissioning his work, but would certainly welcome interest from members of the Carlton community who might consider his tin art for some precious wall space.
And don’t discount the possibility of him submitting his unique tinny portrayal of a Carlton footballer for next year’s Archibald Prize.
Glenn Todd can be contacted on 0416 055 025 or via www.takenoticedesigns.com
