Look what has a fresh coat of paint!
Up next: product testing. In Matt's living room. Up against two active ragamuffins.
Work, the Workout
Whew, we're up to our necks in commissions right now! Two particular projects are requiring some serious metal bending, which ends up being a decent strength workout for Matt and Ben. Here's evidence of their hard work.
Evidence not pictured: massive biceps.
Coffee Table
With their infrequent free time, Matt and Ben have been tinkering with their design and fabrication skills. Together, they've designed and created this coffee table, complete with a laser-cut "e" for Ekko. Next, it's off to get painted. If you want one of your own, let us know!
The Unassuming Pallet of Plastic
Here's a pallet of materials we recently procured for the Cincinnati project.
This unassuming pile of 40-percent recycled-content plastic is actually dichroic 3form, which basically means it cost us a pretty penny. Which makes it feel like one of these pallets.
With less buying power, but way more beautification power.
Educare Mobile Installation Pictures
Now that Ben (aka photographer extraordinaire) has recovered from the Educare installation, he's pulled together more pictures from the weekend. Enjoy!
Staging
Hyper-organized
Matt on a lift
Shapes
More shapes
Shadows
Above view
Educare Mobile
Matt and Ben just returned from Tulsa, where they installed a series of mobiles in a brand-new Educare facility. The design included 91 individual mobiles hung together to span the school's 60-foot long hallway.
Since the school year had already begun, Matt and Ben installed over the weekend to avoid disrupting all the educaring that occurs during the school week. They dove in Friday at 6:37 p.m. and finished Monday at 8:16 a.m.—61 hours and 39 minutes later, with about four hours of power naps (and who knows how much Dr. Pepper) to sustain them.
It could be the sleep deprivation talking, but they were deliriously happy with the end results.
Next!
We've shipped off the materials for this mobile, which we're planning to install this weekend. Meanwhile, we're diving into our next project, and 18-foot-wide suspended sculpture for a municipal building in Cincinnati.
In the Kitchen, Part Two
Alas, there were a few parts for this mobile that were too big to fit into Matt's stove, so we had to buy a heat lamp to finish the project. On the bright side, we should get plenty of use out of the heat lamp, thanks to its wide range of applications—from curing paint to grilling hot dogs.
In this picture, Ben is grilling the best-ever footlong frankfurters from nearby Olympic Provisions.
And no, the irony is not lost on us: these guys are using the kitchen for work and the workspace for cooking.
In the Kitchen With Matt
Here's Matt on a balmy August evening, spending quality time with a 245-degree oven to form these shapes for this mobile.
Stay tuned!
This Just In...
Materials! For this project!
It's always exciting when materials arrive, because it means a project is really coming together. But this time we're extra giddy, because for this suspended sculpture, we'll be using 3form, an ingenious resin-based plastic made of 40 percent recycled content. (Yes, we're geeks like that.)
Included here are the 350 3form shapes that Matt will individually had form using a sophisticated thermal forming process that may or may not involve his kitchen oven and an Ove Glove.