Conceptual Framework

Fertility can be understood as the space and propensity for growth. The most unlikely of things must conspire to create something unexpected. A deceptively small, almost unknowable thing can take root and flourish into something far more complex, unknowable and unpredictable from its inauspicious beginnings. A thought can grow into a revolution, an encounter into a relationship. It all begins with a seed.

Overall Visual Concept

To describe this process Zoa unfolds and reveals in three parts; first, a beautiful, elegant, translucent structure inspired by seedpods rises from the playa floor; next, an awe inspiring mind-week burn; which then reveals an unexpected sculptural array which has been hidden within.

We can’t wait to see this amazing project come to life and the community that grows from it.

Building Zoa

The first step is to build a minituature 1/24th scale model, to give us a physical object to look at and test ideas. It lets us make fine adjustments to make the structure easier to build, structurally sound, and more beautiful to look at. The seeds which appear as metal mesh in this picture will actually be made out of wood, with fins and an open structure to give it better texture and less resistance to wind. (You know it’s going to be windy out there).

Next will be a 1/8th scale model that we can take actual measurements from, and that engineers can look at for structural soundness. Meanwhile, others in the shop are already building first prototypes of Zoa parts: a fire ball head for the Neumorphs, and support ribs for the seeds. We’re getting started!

By the end of the day there was a system for keeping track of all the joints in the pipe, a full sized grid to build upon, and a beautiful, wacky, creepy six-feet-or-so of Zoa large as life and ready to spawn an entire sculpture. We’ll be continuing our beastly fabrication next Sunday, and be sure to come to Bay 3 for the Thursday night meeting to check out the progress and see for yourself what Flux hath wrought on this first of many days of metal structure fabrication.

The piece is composed of a plywood grid that will act as a base for a cardboard sculpture that will evolve over the course of the three-day conference. Meeting participants will each open their registration tote bags to discover a colored 8.5″ cardboard square – our SNAPs (socially networkable art panels) and a set of instructions inviting them to visit our space to help create Colony.

Today, when we went to registration to pick up our own tote bags, the staff was so excited to meet us. Their curiosity was piqued by our cardboard squares, and they can’t wait to come build with us!

The Zoa model is getting tested and refined. Rebecca has been busy building and tweaking a minituature 1/24th scale model, to give us a physical object to look at and test ideas. It lets us make fine adjustments to make the structure easier to build, structurally sound, and more beautiful to look at. The seeds which appear as metal mesh in the picture above will actually be made out of wood, with fins and an open structure to give it better texture and less resistance to wind. (You know it’s going to be windy out there).  Next will be a 1/8th scale model that we can take actual measurements from, and that engineers can look at for structural soundness.

The model also gives us glimpses of what the structure of Zoa may look like in real life.

Meanwhile, others in the shop are already building first prototypes of Zoa parts: a fire ball head for the Nuemorphs, and support ribs for the seeds. We’re getting started!

“Cover!” shouts Cheryl. I grab my face mask and hover over her shoulder to watch the sparks fly.

The fabulous Zoa project is coming together as the Flux artists are busy hammering out models, drawing up action plans, organizing the shop, and teaching metal fabrication classes. We are also excited for our presence at the Maker Faire (May 19-20, 2012)

Last night in the shop I witnessed several projects being prepped and finished for the Maker Faire event including the Weevils, BrollyFlock!, and the Dragon Wagon. Cheryl shared with me some of her techniques for welding and grinding on the Dragon. Laying down the scales appeared to me to be the most challenging. She had to weld the thin pieces of sheet metal onto the small piping of the dragon’s neck and jaw.

“It’s a lot like performing surgery.” She explained.  I held my breath in hopes she wouldn’t accidentally burn a hole into the Dragon Wagon’s beautiful scales.

The finishing touches to the neck were made, remaining scales fastened, and we mounted the head. Does it shoot fire, you ask? – well of course! All this amazing work coming out of the shop and this is just the beginning of the season here at Flux!

xo,
Kali

Grounded in our belief that art builds community and that community can build art, the first installment of TweetHaus takes place in our own backyard—Oakland, CA, with Park Day School as its locus.

TweetHausOAK engaged 3rd grade students at Park Day in collaborative, project-based learning. Under the mentorship of FLUX artists, Park Day teachers and community professionals, an 8-week curriculum guided five teams of 3-4 students in the design, construction and installation of an urban Western Bluebird habitat. The program began with students and mentors collaborating in the classroom to learn about bluebird habitat and ecology. The teams put knowledge into practice by venturing into the neighborhood to find appropriate birdhouse locations. They then returned to the classroom and the school’s garden to design and construct a unique birdhouse and bluebird-supportive garden for installation at each specific location. The kids’ excitement about the program is uncontainable! Take a look at our photos on Flickr to see for yourself! Two birdhouses have been installed at Mosswood Park in Oakland, one at a neighborhood home and two at Park Day School.

TweetHaus will expand into the larger community through participation in Maker Faire 2012 and in new partnerships with the Oakland Parks and Recreation Department and other local community organizations and schools interested in implementing the curriculum. It is our aim to have a shareable curriculum by Fall 2012 that anyone can use in any location to build bird houses for the Western Bluebird!

Zoa’s Conceptual Framework:

Fertility can be understood as the space and propensity for growth. The most unlikely of things must conspire to create something unexpected. A deceptively small, almost unknowable thing can take root and flourish into something far more complex, unknowable and unpredictable from its inauspicious beginnings. A thought can grow into a revolution, an encounter into a relationship. It all begins with a seed.

Zoa’s Overall Visual Concept:

To describe this process Zoa unfolds and reveals in three parts; first, a beautiful, elegant, translucent structure inspired by seedpods rises from the playa floor; next, an awe inspiring mind-week burn; which then reveals an unexpected sculptural array which has been hidden within.

We can’t wait to see this amazing project come to life and the community that grows from it.

xo,
FLUX

CONCEPT SKETCHES:

LAYOUT DIAGRAMS:

3D RENDERINGS:

The first pilot program of TweetHaus

TweetHaus is the fifth project for FLUX. It is a public art + ecology project focused on citizen science and interactive learning. It fosters community through the design, construction and installation of bird habitats and public pathways in urban environments.

TweetHaus expresses itself on multiple scales, using the platform of birdhouses to create an ecologically-oriented place-making experience. The project honors the interconnection of human communities and the natural world and builds an expanding network of birdhouses, pathways, public artists and citizen scientists. Grounded in our belief that art builds community and that community can build art, the first installment of TweetHaus takes place in our own backyard—Oakland, CA, starting in March 2012.

Files for constructing Western Bluebird nest boxes

Oakland is our pilot program, TweetHausOAK. it focus on the Western Bluebird, which is threatened in urban areas. Under the mentorship of FLUX artists, teams of elementary school students design, construct, install and monitor urban Western Bluebird habitats (including gardens and pathways) throughout their neighborhoods using community-sourced and recycled materials. After installation, the project is then expanded by FLUX hosted community walks and bike ride, local events, and then expanded out to the world via social media and an interactive website.

TweetHausOAK locationsTweetHausOAK locations

TweetHaus has been developed to be an ongoing, multi-locational, multimedia project, designed to be replicated in other neighborhoods and cities across with other species across the country—TweetHausOAK, TweetHausSFO, LAX, PDX, AUS and beyond—expanding awareness of our diverse needs and those of the animal and plants that share our not-only-human world!

Photo by Jess Hobbs

A maker workshop for building flame effects

NEXT WORKSHOP: TBD
Cost: $100 – workshop only
$325 – workshop+poofer ($250 in materials)

What you’ll do: 

This one-day class will introduce you to the basics of flame effects and give you the hands-on experience building your first poofer. The class will feature a broad overview of flame effects; an introduction to safety standards; and a review of the basic design of a specific flame effect — the poofer. Once you understand these concepts, you’ll team up with one or two other students to build a poofer together.

What you’ll learn:
*How to be safe AND set things on fire!
*How to use new tools, like the baby spud!
*The world of flare and NPT fittings!
*The appreciation of the swivel hose barb and the beauty of the snap fitting!
*A new vocabulary that, on its own, will make you smarter than most people you know!

How it works:
This workshop has options: you can simply take the workshop to learn about building poofers, or, for an additional materials fee, you can walk away with your very own poofer! Either way, you will walk away with a diagram, parts list and arsenal of skills and knowledge to build a flame effect of your own in no time. Limit: 10 students (5 workshop only; 5 workshop+poofer). Facilitated by: Catie Magee, Matt Mynttinen & Staice Reichmuth.

More Information:
matt(at)fluxfoundation(dot)org

Photo by Arin Fishkin

While we love building really Big Art that inspires and wows people, we started thinking about how nice it would be to have a piece that’s small and fun. Our criteria was to make something with a simple yet exciting interactive flame effect, something that’s mobile — preferably on wheels, and something that’s small enough to fit in the back of a pick-up truck and go anywhere we wanted. Matt and Catie got together over the course of a week and built just what we were looking for: the FLUXcycle. These low-cost, high-impact sculptures have a simple design: a light-weight metal sculpture with an interactive flame effect on a trailer pulled by a bicycle.

The FLUXcycle debuted in November, first at the Dia de Los Muertos parade in San Francisco and then at Art Murmur in Downtown Oakland. And it was a huge hit! Hundreds of kids and adults lined up to pull the handle on the interactive ‘poofer’ effect. It was also an amazing outreach tool, sparking conversation about our work and inspiring people to come to the shop to get involved. These pieces are an easy way for FLUX volunteers to develop and build a project from beginning to end in a very short time. We built the first one in 5 days with the help of four people, two of whom had never worked with us before. We can’t wait to build a fleet!

To see images of the FLUXcycle, click here!