Done, done and done.

So, Changing Lanes is over but not completely without a hitch. Surprisingly, despite the rain and freezing temps people turned up. I myself was dreaming of ugg boots and hot tea whilst I stood shivering in the pouring rain, huddled under the marquees. 
FLESHold was a hit, perhaps a little too much. Actually, it caused quite a commotion. We even managed to get a mention in the Brisbane Times: 

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/entertainment/about-town/blogs/plus-one/inside-the-changing-lanes-festival-20120528-1zdyw.html

The piece is now in the process of being moved to the Collectors Cafe at the QLD Museum and Science Centre for a month long exhibition. If you missed it at Hynes St do yourself a favour and check it out at the cafe. 


I can guarantee you will feel something, whether it be repulsion, amazement or indifference.

Processes

This is our story:

D-Day

Finally, we're here. The piece is packed and ready to transport to site and infinite install to-do lists have been made. But what's that, weather report? Rain forecast all day and night? 

Excuse me, but there is no other way of saying this...

F*****g wunderbar.

Remember this photo?

This was taken 6 weeks ago. Look at us: no idea what's ahead. 
This team, though, has persevered through the late nights, early mornings, layering coat after coat of PVA glue on what seemed like an endless amount of stockings, welding, bending, shaping, sewing, and gluing and throughout it all we've still managed to find the hilarity in almost everything. Perspective is a wonderful thing. Mind you, lack of sleep and 2am sugar hits tend to make most things funny. 

It seems that every step of the way we have had drama after drama, so what's one more, right? We've come way too far to let a bit of water ruin it now. 

3 days to go...

Our lighting had arrived at LAD, so we now had all the components. Todays job was fixing and clustering pods and attaching the lighting. The day of the tszuj, as the girls had named it.

4 days to go...

After a quick trip back to the workshop, the spine support had been resolved. Panic attacks averted, it was now a matter of attaching the pods to the skin. After exploring every possible scenario and developing a love/hate relationship with the shop assistants at a certain large fabric chain that we won't mention we (eventually) made a decision to use the left over stocking gussets cut into tabs and hand sewn onto the skin. 

The polyps were then fashioned into clusters and tied to the tabs.

We could finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. Fingers crossed it wasn't a high speed train.

6 days to go...

Oh #%&@! 

We had hit the mother of all road blocks. After threading the skin on to the framework we discovered that the tension bowed the entire thing and the central support spine we had made was not holding.

After standing for about 10 minutes with our heads in our hands, we decided to get on with it. Louise (the practical one) experimented with a fairly rudimentary alternative, which seemed to work in theory. But then again so do many things, like maths and science.

All we could do now was head back to the workshop and re-do the spine. 

Sighs all round.

 

1 week to go...

The skin was all but finished with the only job left to do being the most exciting: picking off all 105m of masking tape we'd used as a guide when sewing.

Joy.

2 weeks to go...

By this stage, the frame had well and truly taken shape. The finishing touches were being added and it was almost ready to transport to the second location for the final stage of construction. In order to attach the polyps to the framework, a lycra skin was to be crafted that would fit over the ribs, much like a sock.

Again, we used our well exercised powers of persuasion and the roll of lycra was kindly donated by Eclipse Textiles. Before a pattern could be made the capabilities of the material needed to be investigated.

From here, we began to create the pattern.

Lighting was also another consideration that needed to be finalised. We had been in meetings with LAD Group, who had very generously agreed to contribute LED lighting strips to the project. We knew that the pods were to their best advantage back lit. 

The issue we came across was where to light them, whether it be in the very centre of the arch to create warmth in the hearth or around the perimeter to create interest and draw people in. 

3 weeks to go...

As yet, we did not have a resolved framework. What we did have was page after page and photo after photo of what it could be. So we made a decision to make a decision, which for an indecisive bunch like us was a feat in itself. A day of experimentation with chicken wire revealed that we did not like using chicken wire.

One option ruled out, 1 307 893 to go.
The conversation eventually came around to creating an archway. Conversations with tutors revealed the idea of reinforcing bar as a material. 

(image from http://rebar.materialsuppliers.com/)

It was cheap, fairly light and reasonably easy to sculpt. 

Lucky for us we had connections in all the right areas, so we managed to have 12 x 6m lengths donated. 

So off we skipped to the QUT workshop, work boot clad and ready to assemble. The workshop guys guided us in the construction and made sure we didn't sever any limbs with the power tools.

There was one casualty when Tamara's nose collided with the bendy machine's (technical term) handle, but she's a trooper and besides, it saved her a couple of grand on the nose job she had planned (definitely kidding).

Thumbs up all round!

4 weeks to go...

Because we are a generous folk, we decided that we would share the polyp production. They were made by inflating a balloon inside a plastic bag, inside a stocking leg...

...and coating it with layer upon layer of glue.

Here's some we prepared earlier:

The ANZAC day public holiday gave us all a chance to come together and basque in the magnificence that was the polyp.
Tamara, being the organised, motivated person she is, had charged ahead with her own polyp production and contributed 80 to the total.

That gave us 80. I think we'd best get polyp-ing. 

5 weeks to go...

Our challenge now was to create a form that the polyps could attach to that would not disturb the envelope of the building. We were also presented with another consideration. After the night of Changing Lanes, all the furniture pieces of the groups were to be transported to the Collectors Cafe at the QLD Museum and included  as apart of the 'bespoke' series of exhibitions. The framework, therefore, had to be self-supporting as we would not be able to rely on an existing structure in the cafe. Various different materials and forms were considered including fly screens...

fencing...

aviary wire...

and gutter guard, but none fit what we had imagined.

Meanwhile, polyp production was well under way. The incubating polyps began to form, invading our homes and, let's face it, our lives.

6 weeks to go...

Before we were able to progress any further it was necessary to meet with Ian Wrightson of Wrightson Stewart to gain permission to install in his doorway. We were all quite nervous about the kind of reception the piece would receive. Luckily for us, Ian loved the idea.

So away we skipped on our merry way, off to make a FLESHold.

7 weeks to go...

After 2 (what seemed like) endless weeks of discussion and debate, our piece had taken on another life. A visit to the site revealed that to make the canopy we were imagining would require almost 1000 polyps.

Considering each one was handcrafted and the process was quite detailed, it was time and effort we most definitely did not have.
It was during an inter-group meeting that a concept presented itself: a threshold, a transition zone attached to the doorway of Wrightson Stewart, an interior design firm involved in the organisation of Changing Lanes. The inspiration came from the performance art piece "Imponderabilia" (1977) by Marina Abramovic and ULAY that explored the idea of touch and human closeness.

Initial thoughts were of an organic growth protruding from the envelope of the building and enclosing the doorway with polyps.

How this form would come about was yet another hurdle.  

8 weeks to go...

This was the week of talk. Hours and hours of discussion about what form and function these peculiar polyps would take. Our first thoughts were for a canopy with each pod individually lit.

After watching this...

...we decided that a pulsating light source would give the canopy a life of its own, emphasising the human flesh-like quality of the material. Whether or not this was possible was another conversation entirely.

9 weeks to go...

And so begins a marathon effort, starting on 14th March with the deadline of 25th May. Nine weeks, six girls and one furniture piece, all for the shining end result: a prime exhibition spot at the Brisbane INDESIGN 2012 launch party. Sounds simple enough, right? That's what we thought.

Unlike most other furniture projects, the capabilities of the material were used to inform the design. And what was our material?

The humble flesh coloured stocking, stretched and coated with layer upon layer of PVA glue. This was the result:

What on earth were we supposed to do with this?

Introducing Team A (mazing)

From left to right: 

Tamara Eade, Hayley Fitzgerald, Rebecca Shaw, Louise Willey, Simone Lockley and Rachael Gwaro.

Oh, what fun we will have.