Rocket Grant Update

Now that the Rocket Grant funds have been received and materials have been purchased, Rie has begun knitting and crocheting of her installation titled "Those Things That Protrude". The wall this is going to be installed on is 100' wide x 45' tall, so it's a pretty large scale piece that is going to involve a LOT of knitting. Scheduled installation is next spring. It is a temporary installation, so we also have to begin thinking about the best way to mount this on the side of our building in a non permanent inexpensive way. Ideally I want to install it without having to use lifts or drilling holes in the building. We do have a few ideas on how we might pull this off.

Rocket Grants 2012-13

Rie was recently selected as a recipient of a Kansas City region Rocket Grant for her proposal titled "Those Things That Protrude". The sculpture is made of knit and crocheted nylon cord and will be installed on the north outside wall of our studio. The Rocket Grant program was launched in 2009 by the Charlotte Street Foundation in Kansas City, MO and the KU Spencer Museum of Art in Lawrence, KS, with funding from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.

Retro Inferno Window Display

I was driving down the street the other day when I saw our String Chair nestled among some of the classic chairs of modern design. I'm not sure people in Kansas City realize how lucky they are to have a store as cool as Retro Inferno, and I'm not just saying that because of Rod Parks latest window display.  While I'm not quite sure we're in the same league as some of the other chairs in Rod's window display, Retro Inferno is definitely in the same league or better than many of the mid-century design stores I've visited in major US cities, Europe, or Japan. It's a veritable mid-century design museum right in the heart of downtown KC. 

M.I.A - egawa+zbryk

Wow, it's been awhile since I updated anything. Shortly after installing Barnacles we received a rather large puzzle screen commission in Hong Kong. As is often the case, the client needed it as quick as possible, so for the last many months the egawa+zbryk puzzle screen factory has been pulling double shifts. After finally finishing the hundreds of black lacquered puzzle screen pieces that comprised this order, we really needed to take a few days off and spend some time away from our studio. We took a quick little trip out to Seattle. We're hoping to relocate to the northwest some day, so we always enjoy visiting there and scoping out potential places we'd like to live. Also after finishing a sculpture called "Barnacles" we felt the need to spend some time near the ocean. We took a little drive north from Seattle and visited 2nd Beach in the Olympic National Park. After a short hike through a beautifully forested trail you arrive at one of the the northwest's most beautiful beaches. On the day we went the weather couldn't have been more beautiful and we had the entire beach virtually to ourselves.

The trail to 2nd Beach

Simply awesome and inspiring!

After a great day at the beach, on the ferry back to Seattle.

Our favorite hotel in Seattle is the Ace Hotel. Located in the Belltown neighborhood of Seattle, there are tons of great restaurants, stores, and things to do all within walking distance. Plus it almost feels like we're at home. No tacky furniture or fixtures to offend our sense of design.

Looking down from our courtyard balcony. Oh it's always a little disappointing to have to go back home. No ocean, no mountains, nothing to do but hide in the studio and make things.

Barnacles

At long last, a public art project of ours that has been several years in the making has been installed. It is located on the 1300 block of Walnut in the Kansas City Power & Light District. The sculpture approximately 72' wide and 7' tall at it's tallest point. The project was part of the Kansas City, MO 1% For Art program. The piece is constructed of spun steel, structural steel, and acrylic. I have another blog specifically for this project that details the design and fabrication process, but I've been seriously slacking on updating it. The following photos are of the moving and installation of this project.

A picture of Barnacles assembled in our studio. Each of the 14 sections that comprise the sculpture is mounted to a wooden stand. The purpose of the stands was to prevent the spun pieces from being damaged during the installation process when the sections were stood up to attach the slings needed to lift the sections into place. Another nice thing about the stands was we assembled the sections of Barnacles flat on the floor, so it was nice to be able to see them stood up in the orientation they would be installed.

Belger Cartage trucks picking up the sections of Barnacles from our studio.

Barnacles sections arriving at the job site.

The crane lifting the sections into place.

Drilling the concrete anchors.

Some photos from inside the parking garage.

The finished installation.

Looking straight up from the sidewalk.

The reflection of Barnacles on the building across the street.