Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Design Convo #19: Streets/Art Part I


Click on image to see a larger version.

Next week is the return of the Baltimore Design Conversation, held every month on the first Wednesday at the Wind Up Space. This go round is being curated by Fred Scharmen and the topic is Streets/Art. Fred has invited guests to look at aspects of public art that occur outside and between the institutions that have traditionally supported art in communities. On hand will be sculptor and performance artist Jonathan Taube; activist, artist, and facilitator Paulo Harris; and street artist, sculptor, and painter Andrew Pisacane.

This will be the first in a two-part look at how public art impacts cities. The second part of this conversation will take place at June's Baltimore Design Convo to be curated by Ben Stone.

At the event, Paulo Harris will unveil his design for the Nurture Form Community Bench:



Below is an image of Jonathan Taube's Over There, installed on a median in Baltimore in 2009. It's fabricated from steel, Stucco, and faux finish banana peels. Here's what Taube has to say about it: "This plop sculpture consists of a replica of a 'blast wall,' a modular concrete barrier that is commonly used in contemporary military conflicts to protect against bombings. Able to withstand the force of an explosion, this section is mass-produced, easily transported, and quickly assembled into a wall. However, a massive pile of banana peels attempts to topple the wall."



See you next week!

Design Convo :19
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
12 W. North Avenue
6:30 - 8:30 pm

As always, this event is free and open to the public. Special thanks to the Baltimore Community Foundation for its support of these conversations and to The Wind Up Space for being our gracious host.

For those of you not yet familiar with the Design Conversation or D:center Baltimore:

D:center Baltimore is a new organization composed of a broad cross-section of disciplines and individuals invested in improving and encouraging design—in all its iterations—in the Baltimore region.

Each month the group hosts a Design Conversation at the Wind Up Space in Station North. The event is a casual gathering that is free and open to the public. It is supported by the Baltimore Community Foundation as well as the hard work of a core of dedicated volunteers. Each Design Conversation is curated by an individual or a team of people and is organized around a theme related to design, architecture, community building, urban planning, and city life. (For a list of upcoming themes visit the D:Center Baltimore blog)

Local and national participants are invited to address the evening’s theme in order to stimulate a dialogue among audience members. Since it launched in 2008, the Design Conversation has spurred creative projects across the city through a number of collaborations born at the event. It has also stimulated a recognition of shared interests and existing projects around the city and the country.