AW @ Flux Factory – Zip-tied and Growing!
June 11, 2012
So the opening reception for ‘Bionic Garden’ at Flux Factory was yesterday. The show will be up from June 9th to June 24th. I hope everyone can visit it. The group of artists present a fascinating array of projects dealing with the symbiotic relationships between the artificial (human made) world and botanic ecology.
Of course, my camera battery died at the opening, so here is a shot of our sweet truck loading job on the first install day…. More photos of our projects and those of the other artists to come soon.
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concrete stack side table
June 03, 2012
The last time we went to Material for the Arts ( – love that place ) we picked up a couple of concrete tile “samples.” Figured we could make a cool, simple table from them. I still had some leftover 1″ thick ipe floating around the shop, so I whipped up a simple stand for the concrete slabs. The skeleton allows the two conc. tiles to slide into position.
It’s the perfect side table height. Enough room on top for a lamp and plant, and some books and oddities on the lower shelf. Built and finished to be an outdoor or indoor table. Great for a patio, living room, or company lobby…
The conc tiles had some stickers on the back – the tiles were architectural samples for a Goldman Sach’s project. Pat insists the table should be named ‘Goldman Stachs’ – clever…
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production: Flux veggie trellis
May 29, 2012
In the shop, we have been in full blown production on our installation for Flux Factory. It is going to be a crazy vine vegetable growing trellis structure with integrated sub-irrigated planters, and a lot of sculptural chaos. We are using hundreds of strips of reclaimed wood, donated to us by M. Fine Lumber, to create the structure. The connections are a pretty simple, lo-fi system: eye hooks and zip ties. The ease of assembly and flexibility of the system is allowing us to build huge chunks of the piece before installing it on the roof at Flux.
Come check it out at the opening, or some time over the growing season at Flux Factory. It will have pole beans, trombone squash, and tomatoes for sure. Maybe more…
Below is one of the many sub-irrigated planters being built which will sit at the base of the trellis structures…
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AW @ Flux Factory: Bionic Garden
Autumn Workshop will be participating in Flux Factory‘s upcoming show, Bionic Garden.
Opening reception: Saturday, June 9, 1 pm – 4 pm
Exhibition dates: June 9 – 24
Hours: open weekends, 12 – 6 pm or by appointment
Special Flux Thursday: June 14, 8 pm
Reclaiming Vacant Land workshop: Wednesday, June 20, 7 pm – 9 pmFlux Factory is proud to present Bionic Garden, an exhibition that unveils how humans have adapted to grow plants in the most unlikely of ways and places. Works will be displayed in a range of environments that reflect the (often) limited environments that New Yorkers have to work with when it comes to exercising their own green thumbs: the Flux Factory gallery (naturally dark, concrete, drywall, insular), on its roof (unpredictable, exposed, bright), and reaching out into the community of Long Island City.
Viewers can expect to see indoor lawns, lofted vegetable gardens, crops that tweet when they’re in need of water, mobile gardens, new ways to subvert the homogenization of seed production, vines that have something to say, vertiginous grass, creepy containers which crumble as the fruits of their existence take over, and even use a spa getaway for their own tired, limp houseplants. Additionally, guest speakers for related events will share what it takes to create a real, sprawling rooftop farm; how to transform a dreary neighborhood plot into something more pleasant; and the importance of preserving indigenous trees in a concrete jungle.
We are super excited about being a part of this show. A couple pieces of our furniture and a custom vine vegetable trellis and growing system will be built and installed on the Flux Factory roof. Come check it out on the opening, or at some other random time. And check back here for updates of process shots / final shots of the installation.
AND, Special thanks to the folks at M. Fine Lumber in E. Williamsburg. These guys deal with reclaimed/recycled lumber and have been one of my go-to sources for the past couple years. They have generously donated all of the wood we are using to build the Flux installation! Thanks you M. Fine!
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blue grout / plant stand
We’ve been playing with an idea… A multi-leveled free standing plant stand made from some white ceramic tiles and walnut… We did a couple of samples, and tested some grout pigment, to see if the idea made sense. So far we are on the fence about it… I like the blue grout, but not sure how it would hold up with the thermal expansion of the wood, season to season. Any thoughts?
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production: test tube vase
May 23, 2012
Thought I would share a couple shots of our prototype / experiment with building a test tube vase/holder that works with rimless test tubes. I always love looking back on the process – from sketch to creation.
The separate steel pieces are milled, welded together, cleaned up with the grinder and sand paper, blackened using a black oxide solution, sealed and set to dry.
Check out the final product at this previous post: Test Tube Vase Holders
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the 30 minute rocker
We needed some additional seating in the shop. We set a build time limit… the 30 minute rocker was born. Found the base of an old rocker on 9th street and hastily fastened some strips cut from some maple plywood. It’s quite comfortable, but took an hour to make.
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test tube vase holders
May 11, 2012
We had some scrap 1/4″ thick blue felt laying around. And I have thousands of test tubes that need to be turned into something. After an excessive amount of brainstorming on how to turn these things into a unique vase without just drilling holes into a log, we developed a system of ‘pinching’ the test tubes. Check out the prototypes! Made from blackened steel, scraps of spanish cedar, blue felt, and test tubes.
You can see some other test tube vases we made in the past HERE.
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red flask vase
Another iteration of the scientific glassware vases we made last year. This time, with a flask suspended from a blackened steel shelf. Check out our previous post of the scientific glassware vases HERE and HERE.
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verdant bench
May 10, 2012
The verdant bench is a prototype for a colorful new furniture line! AW has rarely departed from depicting wood in it’s natural state, but this pine bench, stained with a verdant grass color, and contrasted with black dyed edges, really pops. The pine is reclaimed from Brooklyn waterfront warehouse timbers. It was milled down and reborn in this indoor/outdoor seating. My cat is particularly fond of it.
