1st pod

Rounding the bend on the first pod. It looks so purty and naked.




The wall panels are coroplast corrugated plastic, 4mm thick.

Pod construction! Finally!

Got started on the first pod floor today. Super psyched. The corner/caster placement engineering has been a challenge. I got a professional advice from Joe Petrilla, a carpenter and cabinet maker I met on a freelance gig with
Disign LLC.






This is my super nerdy jig for making the corner braces/caster supports.

Construction and reorganization

My awesome neighbor Jae (AKA my favorite Shelty Momo's dad!) lent me his table saw which is making quick work of my projects, like...

...revamping some shipping cartons from Vietnam into a rolly, double cabinet.





Out of sight, out of mind. I'm generally streamlining material stuff around the space, this sure helps keep up appearances!

Floor circles

Here's the plan for the new paint job. Oil based this time, will be fumey but a helluva lot more durable. My friend Tilman recommended an equal surface are for the big circle and remaining white, a proposition made possible by the awesome SketchUp!




I premarked the circles the old fashioned way, a nail, some string, and a sharpie! There will be a small circle around the column around the benches, a medium circle accentuating the stage and a large one off center in the middle.

OHNY/FLux factory Living Room!

Softbox will be a part of the openhousenewyork/Flux Factory partnership and show the first weekend of October. It is called Living Room and curated by Chen Tamir (also one of the curators of a show I was in there last year
NYNYNY: So Nice We Named it Thrice). I originally proposed to do a site specific intervention with a host site participating in OHNY, but in the end, and thankfully to Chen's suggestions, I'm going to "debut' Softbox instead.

See Press Release below for more details:

Living Room
Flux Factory in collaboration with openhousenewyork
October 4-5, 2008


Flux Factory has invited ten artists to transform strangers’ homes into sites for interactive works. Domestic or historic locations throughout New York City will become arenas for exploring what it means to inhabit a space, to make it one’s own. In conjunction with openhousenewyork, “Living Room” locations range from private living rooms to historical sites throughout Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens.

Explore a wall of secrets, a room-cum-optical-device, and rooftop camping, among other exciting projects!

“Living Room” is a continuation of Flux Factory’s interest in the urban experience, in New York history, and in the overlap between private and public space. Being a live/work collective, we are fascinated by what it means to make a space one’s own. Aside from satisfying a mild desire for voyeurism common to us all, this project is an opportunity for the public to peek into private sites normally off limits.

This special exhibition is one of the many itinerant projects Flux Factory is mounting in the face of immanent eviction from our Queens premises.

Works will be on view throughout the OHNY Weekend on October 4-5, 2008 from 11:00 – 6:00 unless otherwise noted. A free, 20 person shuttle will leave the Center for Architecture on Saturday and Sunday at 12pm to transport visitors to the sites. To RSVP for the shuttle bus, and for detailed information, please visit fluxfactory.org.

Openhousenewyork is a non-profit organization celebrating New York City’s architecture and design, culminating in America’s largest event of its kind, the Annual OHNY Weekend.

Participating Artists:
Emily Clark
Rodney Dickson
Kim Holleman
Prem Krishnamurthy
John Monteith
Jo Q. Nelson
Filip Noterdaeme
Trong Gia Nguyen
Douglas Paulson
Tattfoo Tan
Lauren Wilcox

Curated by Chen Tamir

“Living Room” is made possible with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, and Queens Council on the Arts, as well as generous support from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts,
and Carnegie Corporation of New York.

farmin', part two

Got the seedlings for the garden box, the drainage works! I made a "watering can" by drilling small holes in the lid of an old water bottle. Much better than the full on dumping method.

Stage trim

My little-stage-edge-trimmer-jig. The bottom leg rests against the sides so I could mark on the top to trim with a circular saw.

Farmin', queens style

Most recent IKEA hack are the Ivar shelves left behind by the old tenants, cut down with casters leftover from an IKEA file cabinets assembly freelance gig. The recycling bins and soil beds are cut from extra shelves and the storage really cleared up the storage area, AKA "the back 40."



Gravel/rocks from the neighborhood for drainage, cheesecloth, then potting soil.


Drainage spout into a cut 2 litre bottle, H2O can be put back into bed.



I made out like a bandit at the farmer's market at 43rd St. and Skillman, one of the cenyc markets. Hudson Valley Farmhouse was out of the kick-ass cheese ravioli I had last week, so I'm trying the spinach pasta instead.

A day's work

The best part about this feeble attempt at time lapse is Rusty bustling around. Good view of the state of things, though.

Major progress moving the kitchen off of the stage so I can finish the floor and "lounge it out." I should've learned my lesson about white shag carpets in dusty lofts, but I still want one. Bad. The artist I'm working for, Fabian Marcaccio, has one in his loft, it is wool, nice quality, needs a cleaning once a year. Hmmm. I got inspired about the floor paint from helping him with his new space. Oil based "silver grey" from janovic/plaza. Did wonders on raw plywood and may be a bit more manageable than white, even if it means sleeping on a friend's couch while it dries.




Fabian's new studio, before and after.

To Do

After a visit with my sister Sarah I realized there are a ton of half-done projects, the short-term mixed in with the long-term.

Thus the new to do list. Small bites, chew each 10 times before swallowing.

Rusty!

Russ McClintock brought a little Miami flava to the joint last week. He's a good buddy from Chicago who fixed up a photo studio there and spent a week helping out while waiting for his visa to relocate to London. He's an incredible photographer, there are some images of the space on his blog .

Taking down florescents

Russell and I took down the florescents and said good riddance. What an unbelievable difference.

New Kitchen/New Lease

The deep clean worked its way up onto the kitchen stage, made myself a fabulous lunch to go with the new lease under "Softbox LLC." I stopped by NY Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts to get my membership and make an appointment to start the process. My Suzie Secretary alter ego is twitching in anticipation

Is it spring cleaning if it is June?

Been doing more scrubbing and mopping, half the space is open again. I built a "test pod" to practice living in 8' x 12'. It is more spacious than I thought, or maybe I've just been conditioned to New York City standards of personal space.




I also built a new temporary window for the skyline side, which is much better for the elements and can be taken off when AC becomes necessary.

Spring Clean!

Did the spring cleaning last night, got a bit carried away. Even the plants got a new clean home.
Took these dreamy pics of the vespa and column with Photobooth

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.