Studio Rat

I've been super busy at school this month, up for mid-program review so softbox construction got put on hold until May. I'm still dreaming of her though, you can see by the pod-models.


Softbox pipe dreams translated into site specific piece for my review.

Momo's green

Check out my project inspired by looking for greenspace for Momo, my neighbor's pup, around Softbox.

Softbox model

Andrea's Party

New floor done!

Andrea is a paint rolling maniac. Floor is finally done. Party pics soon.

Sunburst over Sunnyside

Gorgeous coming home on the 7 the other day, had to hustle up to the roof for these.

Final pod design

Got the pod design truly nailed down (har har) and even made a nerdy excel spreadsheet to estimate costs. Looks like they'll be $400 each, which doesn't account for some free supplies we already have and any other stuff we may be able to scavenge on craig's list + the like.

Stage, part deux

OK, so Bamboo would be fabulous, but maybe a little out of our "start up" budget. I had the idea to floor the stage with boards from woden pallettes left on our loading dock. Since they did a big cleanout today, I was able to harvest a bunch.


Not sure about the patern yet, I love the idea of a rough edge. I have a feeling it'll be pretty "mosaic-ey" when dealing with the real rough wood.

Stage construction (or "Tilman is my Hero")

We finally got the stage constructed from the lumber I bought from Hope Hilton . She made an amazing "front porch" installation for her MFA show, and of course spared no expense. It was great to get to reuse wood with from a project with such good mojo, which was (not to mention) essentially the exact same size.

Tilman rocked my world. Did not stop til the job was done. Fantastic.

Floor

After Agonizing over how to finish the floors (financially and conceptually), we decided on a white wash. This was the brainchild of Justin, a welcome alternative to my possibly ill-advised idea of a red floor. We had a lot of conflicted emotions about painting it, covering the wood (as crappy and water damaged as it was), but...


...after 1st coat of primer we were in love. Glossy gorgeousness and mostly of all, sealed and CLEAN.

The new white floor is paradise, or half paradise until we move all our possessions on top of it and do the other side.

The Master Plan

Everything is so clean in a 3D model. Sigh. We've written a bit about the spatial plan in other posts, here are some images of what we are hoping to build.





The rooms, or "pods" will be on wheels, making for maximum floor plan flexibility. The walls will be made of independent 4' x 8' panels, wood or metal studs, stretched with transluscent white plastic like little softboxes. They are designed modularly so that they can be joined together or used as open space for exhibitions and projects by removing panels. Design and materials aren't set in stone yet, but hopefully will be soon.




The stage will double as the kitchen on a regular basis, with curtains installed to hide kitchen furniture during performances. The whole stage will also be moveable, in case the leaky pipe of death acts up again.

boring necessary progress

Well, we've spent the last 2 months doing some pretty unromantic things, like setting up living necessities and fighting the elements. Between the air leaks and the water leaks, it took some time to get the basic improvements done to make the place warm and dry.


Kitchen with "adaptive reuse" cabinets


My boudoir, courtesy of Pearhead's old trade show booth


Custom made window to fill glass block hole. Works better than a taped up garbage bag, I'll tell you that.


Painted radiators. If I could, I'd paint the world silver.


Scary corner pipe of liquid death. It has been Kilz-ed so it isn't as scary as it was when it seemed to be made entirely of rust. It's still drips around the ceiling from the splashes upstairs, but at least the 4" crack in the back that woke us up every morning with our very own "water feature" is filled.

Soooo...

Now we're back to dreaming, doing manual labor that yields more fun results, like my "new" chairs:

Sister Organizations

I've been trying to contact and meet with other organizations that are similar to our goals to get some advice about their start up and development. I've been getting great advice which should come in handy with balancing the manic big plans with necessary details.

I had an installation at Heaven Gallery February 2005. It is both a non profit exhibition space and a residence. They show emerging artists and provide opportunities for young curators as well as hosting film screenings, performances, and space for other fundraising events.

Commerce Street Artist's Warehouse (CSAW) is Houston based, artist run cooperative. I did a short residency there in Spring 2006, invited by Theresa O'Connor (super Art Babe!). It is a complex of studios and live/work spaces whose programming includes an artist residency program, gallery space for visiting curators, and large performance space.


Theresa O'Connor, Installation View, i need your carcass..., 2005

Spaces Gallery is a well established Cleveland institution that promotes both local artists and guest curators. They have a reputation for exhibiting high quality contemporary art, often with a emphasis on installation and new media work. The are able to provide a stipend to artists in their exhibitons in lieu of being a comercial space.

I met Eric from Forward Motion Theatre at a fashion show in the West Village. He gave me some great advice on initial legal and finance stuff, including a referral to the Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts and the New York Foundation Center.

Hope Hilton is a classmate that is a part of a collective called Dos Pestaneos, orginally of Atlanta, now in New York. Great advice on collective management, etc.

Hope Hilton, Lament, 2004

We love Shigeru Ban

Shigeru Ban is a fantastic Japanese architect that the New york times called an Accidental Environmentalist for his use of recycled materials. He recieved a lot of attention for his emergency shelters built from paper tubes in Japan, Turkey, India and Rwanda.

Justin's Mom ("Hi mom!") sent him some info on Shigeru's Naked House with moveable pods. He also found a great book with detailed contruction docs which will hopefully help us with some of the physics, etc.

Material resources

We've been talking a lot about our green strategies. It seems like there are three strategies that we have available to us.
-Classic warehouse living practice of building it with what we find/inherit
-Purchase used or surplus materials from a retailer
-Purchase new green products to support companies that are creating new solutions.

I think we're all familiar with the 1st, being broke, DIYers. We all agree, too, that aside from being creative with what is immediately available (i.e. using the cardboard tubes from fabric bolts and soundproofing), we'd love to be a testing ground for new products.

I had a great visit to Green Depot in Bushwick. The have zero off gas materials for just about any chemical (paint, stripper, floor coating, cleaners). Can't wait to fill up a truck. They also act as the middle man/consultant working with their partner for materials they don't supply themselves, i.e. windows.

NY Stuff Exchange is a great "rolodex" of wher to buy, sell, and donate recycled stuff.

Build It Green NYC is a non for profit retail outlet, with salvage and surplus building stuff. Through their site we also found Green Home Buildingt that has a great "Ask the experts" feature.