Photos of SOFT PAVILION Installations Added
April 17, 2011 in Anchorage, Design Labs
Click here to see a sampling of photos, as well as links to Soft Pavilion collections by photographers Clark James Mishler and Hal Gage.
Photos of LOOKING FOR LOVE AGAIN Construction and Installation
April 17, 2011 in Design Labs, Fairbanks
Photos of SHO-GLOBE Construction and Installations Added
April 17, 2011 in Design Labs, Juneau
Photos of NIĠĠIVIK / EATING PLACE Added
April 17, 2011 in Design Labs, Nome
Photos of COMMUNITY VIDEO PORTRAIT Installation Added
April 17, 2011 in Design Labs, Homer
View photos from the installation at the Bunnell Street Arts Center.
SOFT PAVILION on KTUU
April 17, 2011 in Anchorage, Design Labs
LOOKING FOR LOVE AGAIN in Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
April 17, 2011 in Design Labs, Fairbanks
SHO-GLOBE in Juneau Empire
April 17, 2011 in Design Labs, Juneau
SOFT PAVILION Installation on April 15
April 15, 2011 in Anchorage, Design Labs
4pm at the Anchorage Museum, and 5:30pm at the Delaney park strip.
LOOKING FOR LOVE AGAIN: Reception on April 15
April 15, 2011 in Design Labs, Fairbanks
5pm at the Polaris Building. Contribute your memories and hopes for the building!
6pm at Gambardella’s for food and refreshments. Please join us!
Final Nome Dinner
April 15, 2011 in Design Labs, Nome
Join us tonight (April 15) at the XYZ Community Center for the final dinner event of our project. We hope to trade food for thoughts and stories.
Wednesday's dinner event. Note that the team built the table from materials scavenged from the inert waste landfill.
Performance at Flattop – April 14, 5:30pm
April 14, 2011 in Anchorage, Design Labs
Join us at Flattop today for Soft Pavilion. Here are the schedule details. You might also want to participate in the performance.
Homer Installation – Only on April 14
April 14, 2011 in Design Labs, Homer
Thursday, April 14 is the one day you can see Community Video Portrait at the Bunnell Street Arts Center. Artist Hasan Elahi will give a presentation at 6pm. The installation features 25 screens of local residents sharing the stories. Please join us! Click for details.
Local Knowledge
April 14, 2011 in Design Labs, Nome
Marie Tozier invited the Nome team to her house for a crash course in subsistence foods. Here she is talking about fermenting practices.
Lunch at XYZ with elders Faye Ongtowasruk, Ester Bourdon and Polly Koweluk, where we discussed hunting and preserving.
SHO-GLOBE: Day 2 Report
April 14, 2011 in Design Labs, Juneau
Blaine from Rebar sums up the progress from Tuesday. Click here to read on Rebar’s blog.
The Bunnell Street Arts Center building.Fairbanks Update
April 13, 2011 in Design Labs, Fairbanks
Candy Chang gave an uplifting presentation at the Blue Loon last night, and both the artist and the audience engaged in a thoughtful Q&A session afterward.
We’re almost done setting the giant message on our giant piece of construction fabric. Thanks to all of our volunteers for helping grid, outline, and paint. Next up: how to best attach this to the Polaris?
Quotable
April 12, 2011 in Design Labs, Homer
Community Video Portrait artist Hasan Elahi shared his favorite quote (so far) from the video interviews he’s working from:
“Don’t ever put yourself between me and a fish, ‘cause I’m going to vote with the fish.”
-Clem Tillion, long-time commercial fisherman and nine-term Alaska state legislator
Interview on Alaska Public Radio
April 12, 2011 in Design Labs, Fairbanks
Looking For Love Again artist Candy Chang was interviewed by KUAC. Listen to the story on APRN.org.
SHO-GLOBE Update
April 12, 2011 in Design Labs, Juneau
Rebar posted a day 1 update on their blog. The first deployment of the Sho-Globe is set for Wednesday April 13, on eighth floor patio of the State Office Building.
Chandy Chang at the Blue Loon on Tuesday, April 12
April 12, 2011 in Design Labs, Fairbanks
Candy Change – public installation artist, designer, urban planner – will give a brief presentation at 6pm on Tuesday, April 12 at the Blue Loon, on both Looking For Love Again as well as her greater body of work. This is a free event. Reception to follow. Please join us.
Sewing Volunteers Needed on April 12 & 13
April 12, 2011 in Anchorage, Design Labs
Trial run at the Flattop foothills
Anchorage: we need your help. Do you have a sewing machine and a little free time to help us sew 100 15’x15′ pieces of brilliant yellow fabric, to be used in the performances of Soft Pavilion? Join artists Pezo von Ellrichshausen and ADF coordinator Garrett Burtner, and get down with the yellow.
We have two sewing sessions scheduled, from 1pm-7pm on Tuesday April 12 & Wednesday April 13. Location: the MCG Architects annex, which is the red building across from MCG, at 901 W. Photo Ave. (near Northern Lights and Arctic).
Please send an email to common.anchorage@alaskadesignforum.org if you are interested and available. We appreciate your assistance in making this project happen. Continue reading…
Gathering Foods for NIĠĠIVIK / EATING PLACE
April 12, 2011 in Design Labs, Nome
The Niġġivik / Eating Place team spent Monday collecting local foods from the people of Nome. Artists Iain and Petia (of Spurse) are blogging about the project at EatingPlaceNome.com.
Polar bear
Pickled muktuk
Tell Us Your Hopes and Memories of the Polaris Building
April 12, 2011 in Design Labs, Fairbanks
The street-level component of Looking For Love Again opened for business yesterday, with the installation of the chalk holders. By nightfall, people had begun to participate – sharing their memories of the past, and dreams of the future – by writing on the chalkboards.
For those who are not able to participate in downtown Fairbanks, Candy will soon launch a website that will accept memories of and dreams for the Polaris building (a virtual chalkboard). We’ll post the website address here within the next day or so. Continue reading…
We Have The Power
April 11, 2011 in Design Labs, Juneau
Blaine and Adam of Rebar are working in a vacant storefront space in downtown Juneau. The first order of business (after shopping for supplies), was to wire up the portable power system.
Next, they began lining out the skin for the Sho-Globe.
Update From Homer
April 11, 2011 in Design Labs, Homer
Visiting artist Hasan Elahi has a sizable stock of videos to work with for the Community Video Portrait project. The videos – of Homer residents – were recorded by other Homer residents, using video cameras provided by the Alaska Design Forum and made available through the Bunnell Street Arts Center.
COMMON SPACE in Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
April 11, 2011 in Design Labs, Fairbanks
Looking Good
April 11, 2011 in Design Labs, Fairbanks
Yesterday Candy Chang, David Hayden and the Fairbanks crew finished the stitching (to make the construction fabric “canvas” the necessary dimensions), and painted the first word.
If all goes according to plan, the painted fabric will ornament the Polaris building by Thursday or Friday. Thanks to Sue, Jessica, Carol, Dave, Jack, Trent and Mike for helping to stitch, grid and paint, and to Bettisworth North for providing the grid printouts. Continue reading…
Street-Level Installation Done
April 11, 2011 in Design Labs, Fairbanks
Photos of the chalkboards going up at the Polaris building this past Saturday.
COMMON SPACE in Anchorage Daily News
April 10, 2011 in Anchorage, Design Labs, Statewide Design Challenge, Symposium
http://www.adn.com/2011/04/09/1801894/common-space-events-showcase-international.html
Winners Announced
April 10, 2011 in Statewide Design Challenge
The winners of the statewide design challenge were announced on April 9th, 2011 at the COMMON SPACE symposium. We want to thank all entrants – we were encouraged and inspired by the strong field of entries.
Congratulations to the winners: Intrinsic Landscapes (professional category), Palmer Arts Council (general public category), and Aryeh Lax (kids/teens category).
Click here to see the winning entries (individually), or all entries (single download).
LIVE STREAM: Symposium
April 8, 2011 in Symposium
Not able to make it? Watch the live stream on Friday April 8 (7pm-9pm) and Saturday April 9 (10am-4pm).
Update: Volunteers Needed in Anchorage on April 13-15
April 8, 2011 in Anchorage, Design Labs
Looking for volunteers to be draped in golden fabric and experience our shared spaces in a whole new light, as part of Soft Pavilion.
Wednesday, April 13: We need 20+ standby volunteers for small- to mid-scale group deployment, flash mob style.
Thursday, April 14: We need 50+ plus performers for a performance at Flattop. Meet at 5:30pm at the Glen Alps (Flattop) parking lot.
Friday, April 15: We need 50-100 performers for performances at 4:00pm (Anchorage Museum) and 5:30pm (Delaney park strip). Potluck to follow.
See more details, or send an email to common.anchorage@alaskadesignforum.org if you would like to participate.
Symposium Registration Closes at 5pm on 4/8/11
April 8, 2011 in Symposium
Registration for the free symposium events will close at 5pm on Friday, April 8. Register now!
Volunteers Needed in Fairbanks
April 5, 2011 in Design Labs, Fairbanks
We’re looking for carpenters (April 9-10), sign painters (April 11-13), and general labor. Help us realize the Polaris building project.
Volunteers Needed in Juneau
April 5, 2011 in Design Labs, Juneau
We’re looking for volunteers to help build Sho-Globe with Adam and Blaine of Rebar. Help deploy and care-take Sho-Globe. Do you have a few extra hours between Monday April 11 and Saturday April 16? Read more.
Prep for Street-Level Installation
April 5, 2011 in Design Labs, Fairbanks
The Looking For Love Again team held a painting session this past weekend, and prepared a multitude of plywood sheets for the street-level installation.
Thanks to Sheri, Kate, Trent, Sue, Jessica, Amy, Dave and Pat for your time and efforts!
New Blog for NIĠĠIVIK / EATING PLACE
April 4, 2011 in Design Labs, Nome
SPURSE’ Iain Kerr and Petia Morozov will be blogging about Niġġivik / Eating Place at EatingPlaceNome.com.
COMMUNITY VIDEO PORTRAIT Installation – Only On April 14
April 1, 2011 in Design Labs, Homer
The Community Video Portrait installation will be open to the public from 11am-7pm at the Bunnell Street Gallery. There will be a presentation by the artist Hasan Elahi at 6pm.
The installation will be composed of several kiosks that will support between 20-30 video monitors.
4/12 Lecture, Reception with Candy Chang
March 31, 2011 in Design Labs, Fairbanks
Candy Chang will give a brief presentation on Looking For Love Again, as well as her other work. The presentation is at 6pm on Tuesday, April 12, at the Blue Loon.
This event is free. Reception to follow. Please join us!
Design Challenge Deadline Extended
March 29, 2011 in Statewide Design Challenge
The deadline for submitting entries to the COMMON SPACE statewide design challenge has been extended to Friday, April 1, 2011. We’re looking forward to seeing your entry!
Soft Pavilion: Sewing Party II on April 3
March 28, 2011 in Anchorage, Design Labs
A big thanks to Lisa, Kim, Sarah, Joan, Karen and Caleb for joining Garrett on the 3/27 sewing party. We’re having another sewing party on Sunday April 3.
20 blankets sewn, 23 total. 77 to go. If you have a sewing machine and have a few hours on Sunday April 3, we’d love to have your assistance. Check out all of the beautiful yellow!
Soft Pavilion Performances in Anchorage
March 28, 2011 in Anchorage, Design Labs
The Soft Pavilion installation/performances will span three days – April 13-15. We’ll post locations here once they’ve been determined.
Looking For Love Again: Update
March 25, 2011 in Design Labs, Fairbanks
We’re close to making a final selection on the material we’ll use to ornament the Polaris Building for Looking For Love Again. It must be lightweight & paint-able – and minimize contrast with the existing exterior of the building.
The materials for the street-level installation have been purchased, and the related production is underway.
The production of the upper building ornamentation will take place from April 10-14. An opening event, open to the public, will be on Friday April 15.
NIĠĠIVIK / EATING PLACE: Schedule for April 10-16
March 25, 2011 in Design Labs, Nome
We’ve updated the daily schedule for the Niġġivik / Eating Place project in Nome. The schedule includes three dinner events and a book-making workshop, in addition to the collection of foods and the facilitation of a mobile cooking unit (for cooking as well as eating in).
Soft Pavilion Sewing Party: Sunday March 27
March 25, 2011 in Anchorage, Design Labs
2500 yards of yellow habutae fabric has arrived in Anchorage. The sewing has begun.
There will be a sewing party in Anchorage this Sunday (March 27) from 12pm-4pm. Help us realize the Soft Pavilion!
SHO-GLOBE Update
March 25, 2011 in Design Labs, Juneau
Sho-Globe will make appearances throughout Juneau during April 13-16. We will provide some location details once they have been determined, and will also announce locations via Twitter.
We expect the construction of the pod to take place between April 10-13. We are currently finalizing arrangements for our production space, as well as shipping the materials. Samples have been created and are being tested.
Sho-Globe is being designed to be packable/worn, so that it can be disassembled and easily transported from one location to another.
Video Interviews Wanted in Homer
March 20, 2011 in Design Labs, Homer
We’re seeking individuals in Homer to capture stories that will be combined & edited together for the Community Video Portrait installation at the Bunnell Street Arts Center. The video installation will be available for viewing on April 14th. Continue reading…
IGCA Exhibition Open Through March
March 11, 2011 in Exhibition
The International Gallery of Contemporary Art is partnering with the Alaska Design Forum to present installations and works created with the COMMON SPACE theme – imagining the possibilities for common space on any scale. Continue reading…
Nome Project Announced
March 9, 2011 in Design Labs, Nome
Nome artist team SPURSE has submitted their project plan for Niġġivik / Eating Place:
To eat is to celebrate the revolutionary acts of community building when we gather, prepare and share food. The vibrant practices of subsistence living among Alaskans already exemplify this spirit, conjoining people with place in radically unique ways. SPURSE imagines that such practices are not locatable by mere cartographic means, but by a vast conspiring of creatures, environments and processes that co-shape this event we call “eating.”
To test this logic, SPURSE members Iain Kerr and Petia Morozov will collaborate with the city of Nome to carry out a weeklong program of scavengings, schemings, and exchanges. These will culminate into three mobile dinner events that experiment with new forms of sharing a meal, and that speculate on future ideas about “common space.” Driving the larger ambition is to create a robust platform for rich social and ecological interactions that move both within and beyond the traditional bounds of “the commons.”
Juneau Project Announced
March 3, 2011 in Design Labs, Juneau
Juneau Design Lab artists Rebar propose to explore the notion of emergence, through their project Sho-Globe.
Emergence—whether from the depths of winter into spring, or from one spatial condition to another—is at the heart of the process of inhabiting public space. It is in the public commons that new social orders emerge, whether through protest and uprising or spontaneous creative improvisation.
Fairbanks Project Announced
March 1, 2011 in Design Labs, Fairbanks
Artist Candy Chang describes her project plan for Looking For Love Again, the Fairbanks Design Lab:
The Polaris Building is a landmark of downtown Fairbanks. Built in the 1950s, the once-thriving hotel is the tallest building in the city. The business has since closed, however, and the high-rise has stood empty for over a decade. How can this building be loved again?
Anchorage Project Announced
February 28, 2011 in Anchorage, Design Labs
Artists Pezo von Ellrichshausen have submitted their project plan for Soft Pavilion.
Homer Project Announced
February 28, 2011 in Design Labs, Homer
Hasan Elahi has proposed to facilitate a project titled Community Video Portrait as a communal vessel for the exploration of History as Common Space. The idea is to capture shared community history as Common Space, and present the media in an art installation at a public space.
Changes to Design Challenge Dates
February 25, 2011 in Statewide Design Challenge
We’ve removed the March 1 pre-registration deadline. So if you haven’t pre-registered yet, you can still enter the Statewide Design Challenge. Pre-registration is now optional.
The entry deadline (March 30, 2011) and Symposium (April 8-9) have not changed.
REBAR: Transforming Parking Space in San Francisco
February 24, 2011 in Design Labs, Juneau
REBAR, the Juneau Design Lab artists, took on the challenge of public space in San Francisco. One of their solutions was the creation and installation of “parklets” – platforms that transformed parking spaces into a place for pedestrians to meet and hang out. On particular project addressed the crowding concern in front of a sequence of cafes and restaurants, where customers often crowd the narrow sidewalk and occasionally spill into the street. Continue reading…
C is for Candy
February 9, 2011 in Design Labs, Fairbanks
Candy Chang, the featured artist for the Fairbanks Design Lab, likes to make cities more comfortable for people. This 2011 TED Senior Fellow is now living in New Orleans, where she has produced projects such as I Wish I Was, It’s Good To Be Here and Neighbor Doorknob Hanger. Continue reading…
COMMON SPACE Artist on The Colbert Report
February 2, 2011 in Design Labs, Homer
Hasan Elahi is the featured artist for the COMMON SPACE Design Lab in Homer. See a video of Hasan when was a guest of Stephen Colbert.
| The Colbert Report | Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| Hasan Elahi | ||||
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Idea Generators: Kits Sent To Artists
January 31, 2011 in Design Labs
Alaska is of course a unique place. And Anchorage, Fairbanks, Homer, Juneau and Nome each have their own special blend of history, culture, accessibility, weather and other facets that have shaped their local personality. Thus, we felt it was important to provide our Design Labs artists with tangible items – things they could hold, examine, contemplate and consider – to familiarize them with both Alaska and the unique community that they’ll be working in this April. Continue reading…