Woven Installation by Studio 400

A team of twenty students from a fifth-year architectural design studio at california polytechnic state university, san luis obispo, developed the large-scale, interactive sculpture to showcase each student’s research book. The piece integrates both the introduction of the students’ investigative publications and their collective installation by creating a previously unseen environment.

‘white’ is an actualized representation of the relationship between environment, user, material and space. The 4,500 square foot space has been transformed by a climbable sculpture constructed from 80,000 square feet of plastic sheeting arranged in cylindrical and tapered weaves. The material was first sliced, then loomed, woven, stapled, taped and tied by the collective in order to create a supportive surface in which gallery goers could rest and examine their architectural studies.

The rolling white installation has been constructed in such a way that it may accommodate the weight of many gallery goers, the twenty students aspired to create a sculptural work which would function as a climbable surface which could divide the space.

Studio 400 decided upon plastic to develop the work due to its flexibility, strength, cost efficiency and ability to be reused or modified following its role in the ‘white’ installation.

The short film ‘white: studio 400 book show installation’ by pablo sandoval showcases the construction of the dynamic sculpture.

Rain Room: it's raining, but you won't get wet

Rain Room is a hundred square metre field of falling water through which it is possible to walk, trusting that a path can be navigated, without being drenched in the process.

As you progress through the space the sound of water and a suggestion of moisture fill the air, before you are confronted by this carefully choreographed downpour that responds to your movements and presence.

The room is fitted with 3D cameras that sense your location in the room, and automatically turn off the water valves above your head, allowing you to walk through the downpour without getting wet.

Colored Pencil Sculptures by Jennifer Maestre

My sculptures were originally inspired by the form and function of the sea urchin. The spines of the urchin, so dangerous yet beautiful, serve as an explicit warning against contact. The alluring texture of the spines draws the touch in spite of the possible consequences. The tension unveiled, we feel push and pull, desire and repulsion. The sections of pencils present aspects of sharp and smooth for two very different textural and aesthetic experiences. Paradox and surprise are integral in my choice of materials. Quantities of industrially manufactured objects are used to create flexible forms reminiscent of the organic shapes of animals and nature. Pencils are common objects, here, these anonymous objects become the structure. There is true a fragility to the sometimes brutal aspect of the sculptures, vulnerability that is belied by the fearsome texture.

To make the pencil sculptures, I take hundreds of pencils, cut them into 1-inch sections, drill a hole in each section (to turn them into beads), sharpen them all and sew them together. The beading technique I rely on most is peyote stitch.

I'm inspired by animals, plants, other art, Ernst Haeckel, Odilon Redon, mythology. In fact, it isn't easy to specify particular sources of inspiration. Sometimes one sculpture will inspire the next, or maybe I'll make a mistake, and that will send me off in a new direction.