LABORAL - CENTRO DE ARTE Y CREACIÓN INDUSTRIAL

SOLIPSISM / EXPANSION / AUGMENTATION / REVEAL

MARTÍ GUIXÉ Cau Lamp, Danese, 2008

Lamp-shaped element acting as a kind of avatar in order to re-contextualize the world-famous
“workers lamp”.

www.guixe.com

AA Two and a Half Acres of Beans, 2008

To pass criticism on something it is necessary to set up some distance, to free oneself from the value judgments that manipulate us, to examine the circumstances from outside. But does this outside exist anyway? Can we get there? And if we got there would we still be capable of acting? Or is it only a new inside? How is it possible to maintain a critical distance and still be active? Critique starts with oneself; it forces you to disengage from your social affiliation, your obtained identity concept. To unmask yourself as a part of the system that you want to criticize is an impertinence, a risk, and precipitates a crisis. At this point it’s up to you to take action; criticism is not only the conclusion but it is a gesture and practical experience with a transformative effect and interpersonal
vibrancy. One day you will look out of the window and think that it was worth it to take heart.

By Tina Petras

www.aarecords.net

BRYONY BIRKBECK ID, EGO, SUPEREGO, 2007

Within the exhibited display is a collection of pieces highlighting specific projects carried out by Byrony Birkbeck over the past two years. Each individual project, dependent on client and purpose, is based on various themes, many of which touch on the exploration of the human condition and the psychology of the individual. Using hand crafted costume and props as a central focus of most projects, Birkbeck combines spontaneity and play with exploration and experimentation. Whether playing dead, being a giant spoon, a helpless cupcake chased by Vikings or a rainbow at a race track, we can be certain of one thing: Birkbeck always has fun. This erupts into a chaotic setup which invites the audience to become part of a surreal world..

www.bryonybirkbeck.com

DAVID BOWEN Remote Sonar Drawing Device, 2008

For Nowhere/Now/Here, David Bowen produced a multinational “remote infrared drawing device”. For this piece a drawing arm and infrared sensor array will be installed at LABoral and a drawing arm and sensor array will be installed in a public space near Bowen’s studio in Minnesota. Each drawing arm will produce gestures based on a participant’s interaction with the sensor arrays. The information gathered by the sensors will be sent via the Internet to the drawing arm in the opposite location. Therefore the arm in Spain will produce drawings based on the inputs it receives from the sensor array in Minnesota and vise-versa. The public will be encouraged to participate on both ends producing drawings halfway around the world based on their gestures..

www.dwbowen.com

FULGURO + THOMAS JOMINI ARCHITECTURE WORKSHOP reHOUSE/BATH, 2004

reHOUSE is a research platform for sustainable and ethical design. reHOUSE/BATH is a new section of this platform, focusing on the bathroom, thought as a biotop where nature and mankind interact. The following objects have been designed for this project: BATH is a mobile bathing surface. To wash, the user has to sit on the bench that strides over the edge of the bathtub. BATH’s evacuation system is connected to a series of plants that drink the water used for the washing. The user must adapt her/his water consumption to the number of plants around her/him. The grown up plants create thereby an organic screen.
reVAP is a ceramic water collector. The amount of water you can use for washing depends on the plants’ ability to evaporate it. reNET is a connection piece allowing multiple combinations between BATH and reVAP.
reSIZE: the washing is made with a bucket and a natural sponge to force the user to consume a minimum of water. No more bath or shower, just rinsing. Every bucket containing over five litres is perforated so that it can only contain this amount of water. reMAT is a natural felt mat. It pumps humidity after the washing and gives it back during the day.

www.fulguro.ch

MARTINO GAMPER Four Seater Empty Chairs, 2004

Four Seater Empty Chairs are pieces that explore the negative space, in this case that of a chair. Martino Gamper wanted to create a chair where one would use the inside void of a seat. It can be used in two directions: as a chair and in combination as a desk. The work was initially conceived for an exhibition called Furniture I’ve Always Wanted to Make at the M+R Gallery in east London.

www.gampermartino.com

RANDOM INTERNATIONAL Pendulum Lights / Fucus Foucault, 2008

The simplest version of Random International’s light installations, the pendant lights use the basic kinetic principle of the pendulum to create both consistent and random patterns on light reactive floor pieces. The aim is to visualise gravity and encourage people to witness their own impact on the movement of the pieces.

www.random-international.com

TORD BOONTJE Witches' Kitchen, 2008

Tord Boontje for Artecnica
Cortesía: Artecnica

An Artecnica Design with Conscience™ project, Witches’ Kitchen is a handcrafted kitchenware collection inspired by the witches and wizards of western lore. The extensive collection is a collaborative exercise in sustainable design. Designed by Studio Tord Boontje and handcrafted by artisan groups from three different South American countries, Witches’ Kitchen features black ceramic cookware hand-moulded by Colombian artisans, wooden kitchen utensils handcarved by Guatemalan craftsmen, and kitchen couture hand-sewn by Brazil’s Coopa-Roca women’s cooperative.

www.tordboontje.com

PEDRITA Grão, 2008

Grão is a visual composition and reproduction system that first of all aims to give a new life to end-of-theline, industrially produced tiles. It also aspires to become an innovative option for the rehabilitation of the urban built heritage. It recovers discontinued production tiles, using them as units of decorative cladding panels, destined both to architectural façades and to the (re)furbishment of other urban elements. Made up of hundreds, or even thousands of tiles—the “grains” that build an image of monumental presence—these panels aim to be part of the urban landscape in a both determined and surprising way.

www.pedrita.net