Sustainable Design Residency

Recently submitted-A Sustainable Design Residency proposal to DuPont. Maybe the idea will develop into a couple month stay at the Corian® factory in Buffalo NY. If implemented, I would focus my attention on immedaite and long-term solutions to reduce the quantity of waste, specifically flashing from injection molding, sent to the landfill.

Whew. That was about 3 months of pondering about the possibility. Lets wait and see what happens...



Might as well post an image as well to keep it exciting. A view from the top of the Sleeping Indian in Jackson WY.

Sucker Rod Adventure V2

We are going to Burning Man and these pieces of steel are coming with us. Sucker Rod is used in the middle of Wyoming, among other exotic places, to drill oil wells. The sections are connected together and the ropey quality of the steel enables it to snake down deep holes.



Ian, Avery and I started experimenting with a structural system to utilize the sucker rod as a shade sculpture on the playa of Burning Man.



Soon enough, a hot air balloon will cover the skeleton, and the wind test will begin. It is hopeful that a week long test of the sculpture will reveal all the kinks we need to work out in the last week before we leave for the desert of northern Nevada.

Burning Man and a Balloon

Well, it looks like there has been a change in plans. Previous to the month of August, our little group of friends planning a trip to Burning Man was semi nebulously focused on rennovating an old school bus to take to the festival. Ha. Our realization that no one knew mechanics, or anything about a bus came slowly and surely. There was brilliant talk of chopping the bus in half to make two trailers, and even inserting a rustic Jackson cabin betwix the two, but these thoughts were tainted by a lack of motivation and group energy.

Just about 36 hours ago I found myself standing in a field. Interesting? Well this field is home to the Wyoming Balloon Company, and I was there to purchase a decommissioned hot air balloon. Luckily I met with the owners niece, and being into the arts (a dance major) she sided with my thoughts on a new use for an old balloon. We will cover a gigantic sculpture with it, and walla!



Brian Carpenter and I spread the balloon out on my lawn. The material cost $160, and this was for 1/2 of a 250,000 cubic foot balloon. I can say with confidence we don't need any more.

The plan is to use the rest to give a hammock making clinic at Burning Man as a gift to the community. We will invite others to take a piece of the balloon and make a hammock, and maybe give away Ping Wu Hammock guides...

artSPOT- The race is ON

the artSPOT project is an idea I had when I was in Jackson Hole in the winter of 06-07. A forgotten sign structure was wrapped in black plastic for who knows how long. It was a perfect opportunity to display public art. After a few phone calls to the owner of the lot, the project sprouted. A call for artists was made, drawings were prepared, and when all was said and done, the lot was sold to the Rocky Mountain Bank. Square one, once again. At least I had all the foot work done previously.



Now the race is on. The project has been re-approved, and the first series of artwork is installed. One Barn Chicken mural created using free paint swatches from hardware stores, and a gigantic osprey nest using landfill bound tree clippings were recently installed, Ha Hoooo.

Production Junction, Whats the function?

A waste of materials? No, its waste material. Corian® flashing from injection molded sinks, configured for a prototype bench. 400 or so pieces to cut, drill, sand and cut twice more. Gia Michael likes the project, and has been helping route, sand and grind the material. The end result has very little tolerance and flucuations in 400 or so pieces. Less than 2% failure.



It is reminiscent of geology and striated landscapes.

Buckle your seatbelt

Diving board to the deep end of college. About to spring, flip and jam out a graduation sized splash in the pool. Life is about to get wet and I'm looking for a slip and slide. I see economic incentives in waste as potential or making solutions for tangible problems. Life will be different than what I thought.



Everything is now done and gone from the senior show. It is all in storage, awaiting another iteration.





Matt Rink and I will be applying for some outdoor sculpture competitions to remake and revamp the lamp poles. It is hopeful that a tour might ensue and the poles will get every ounce of use squeezed out of them before the inevitable occurs...Rustola...

Badda Bing

In twelve hours, six tons of lamp poles were erected. The resulting sculpture was charged with light, and then viewed at night as a mass of glowing lines hanging in the air. Perfect.

Plop

40 Lamp poles have plopped. The sculpture was constructed efficiently in under 15 hours. Thats very nice. Wasting time is not an option.



In the grand scheme of things, we caught these poles at the perfect time, between usable and unusable. A gray area where stuff is free because its is still in condition, and should be put to some use. They are like a fine wine for art purposes, aged to perfection. Pragmatism is paramount.

Sore Shoulders are a Sign

60 lamp poles are heavy, but not too heavy for a UHaul. At 12,000 lbs, the poles take a full day's work to move around. Matt and I solicited the help of 2 people on loading and another 2 for unloading. In addition, we welded some pole carts together for efficiency's sake. There is a reason the wheel was such a hit back in the cave man days...



In addition to the 60 lamp poles that measurre 25 feet tall, Matt and I are making another sculpture from smaller 15 footers.



The sculpture is being constructed in a courtyard, and is viewable from three floors, and three sides of a building.



Matt and I set up a portable pole cutting station to size the poles to the same length. These cut-offs were then reused as the spacers that will elevate the poles to an almost standing orientation.

USR Optonix phosphorescent pigment donation

For the Senior Shows of May 07 in Alfred Ny, travelers will be greeted by a sculpture spanning 250' across a field. Plotted on a subtle curve, described by 60 lamp poles forming 30 arches. If this is not enough, the sculpture will be lit at night by 6 arrays of high powered lights to charge up P-170 phosphorescent pigment provided by USR Optonix (www.usro.com). Their 'True Blue' material emits a beautiful neon blue color for upwards of 10 hours. Not only will the sculpture be aesthetically pleasing during the night, but it will also be safe for viewers to experience for the duration of its existence.



Visit http://lamppoles.blogspot.com for all the details on this exciting project.

The final step...

Here we are. Signing a building permit. Hopefully it was all worth it. Hopefully the planning board thinks so as well. Hopefully the residents of Alfred are cool with what we have developed over the past 3/4 of a year. Ahhhhh.



And here are some final renderings of the site plan and whatnot

Senior Show

Well things are shaping up for now. Matt Rink and I submitted our show application. We used Google Sketchup to its full potential and fully dimensioned the space we are interested in and photoshopped the final image back into the location. Fun stuff, but there is competition for the space, so we will know in a few weeks who will be in the space.



We might be in for it though. This is right out of the movies. The large installation of Lamp Poles has been approved for several locations. The prime rib is Merrel Field.

The beef is that we won't know if we can use it until April 29th, because the Womens Lacrosse might be going to a championship, and they use the practice field to practice, yup. If they qualify for the Empire 8 championship, we won't be able to install a 250' long sculpture with phosphorescent capabilities in this prominent location. Dah. Omnipotent, I wish I was, however last season the team had to forfeit because there were only 7 players. Maybe there is a way we can all work together... Extreme Lacrosse in the presence of a massive sculpture...hmmm


The secondary fall back location is the field in front of Harder Hall. This will require us to plot the arches on a curve through trees and that could get quite insane logistically...

Carolyn Lambert quoting Clause Oldenburg

Village of Alfred Planning Board Presentation

On February 1st, COTTA and The Alfred State Architecture Club made a presentation to the Village of Alfred Planning Board. This was COTTA's second appearance, and we had come along way since the first meeting. Matt Rink, Bland Hoke and Justin Cross presented the two groups work, which culminated in many different Auto-CAD site plans, floor plans, renderings and virtual placement of the new bus shelter in the existing location. The next steps will be to organize a call for artists, submit applications for building permits, and meet with the code enforcement officer to move forward with the project.

Whoppeee

COTTA (Community Outreach Through The Arts) is moving forward. Working collaboratively with the Alfred State Architecture Club, we will be applying for construction and deconstruction permits to build a bus shelter. Flaunting a gabled roof with a hip, two pergola sections and ample are for art integration, the seim-final design is smokin! Soon to come-Public art meeting for interested artists. Sweet.

The Alternative Venue

Unused amenities.

This old gas pricing sign was left after a gas station went out of business. The funny thing is after the gas station was demolished and the lot was cleared this structure was left standing. The aesthetics of the sign could use some help. I spoke with the general manager of the hotel that owns the property and outlined a simple plan of adorning the sign with artwork. Perhaps it is an alternative venue for local artists to show work, or high school students to collaborate, or a space for installation art to be exhibited. The premise is making use of unused things, whether it is material, space or talent.

The general plan goes like this- Write a grant to fund the project and hopefully stipends for artists selected to display work. Make a call for artists in the region. Advertise in Splash, a Art Association publication advertising classes, workshops and general art news. At the beginning of the summer, retrofit the sign for public art displays. Curate week, month, or daily shows on the sign during the peak tourist season in Jackson Hole. The road that is pictured is one of the most heavily traveled roads in Wyoming. It is the main artery into Jackson, and throbs with throngs of tourists in the heat of the summer.

The project will enable artists without gallery representation to exhibit work in a different light, for a different audience, and with unprecedented exposure. The project will also enhance the aesthetics of the current sign and adjacent property. If everything works out, maybe the vacant lot could be used for ice and snow sculpting competitions in the winter...

Prichard's Pass

Prichard's Pass- Ultimate snowshoe and backcountry sledding adventure. A good rock. It wasn't the benchmark, but it was our final stop for soup and beer before the descent.

The epic view of mountains and snow.

Steve prepared for a wild ride with snowshoes and a 30 degree slope.

Rediscovery

Precarious. With 20 mph winds, the 25 foot tall lamp pole put up a small fight as we anchored it in with three cables. The plan was to keep stacking the poles on top of each other, moving the bases approximately 1 foot to create an upwards spiral. Too bad friction failed and after about 15 poles the arrangement suddenly collapsed, nicking Paul's leg...oops


So we looked at how much time we had, and decided for the symmetrical stacking arrangement, seen below.

This will remain into the winter, and maybe we will get ambitious and try something different during the chilling winter weather...

RePo Extension- The Chocolate Cocoa Hut

RePo is a material reuse program at the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University. Yes it takes an entire sentence to say where it is located, however this fine institution made this student operated program possible. I am a co-founder of RePo or The Reusable Materials Depot and am proud to say it works! We distributed almost 2 tons of material in the first two months of operation. Students bring things they no longer need, and others browse for stuff they want. In addition, RePo employees investigate sources of reusable materials such as professors with garages that need to be picked over, or regional industry that produces scrap materials that could be used by students.

This soon to be heated addition will be the home of RePo employees during the frigid winter months. We will serve Hot Chocolate as an incentive for people to shop for free stuff. RePo opens at 11, right after the Moka Joka (a student operated coffee shop) closes, so we decided the space will be called the Chocolate Cocoa hut.

The space would have been entirely constructed from reused materials, but we were not able to negotiate the field of dreams, er, wood below.

Macro to Micro

Photography in macro scale. I was blown away by my camera putting its entire processing power into this one blade of grass, while a 12,000 lb 120' long sculpture loomed behind it.