Trans-Tectonics

Art OMI, Ghent NY

Photos © Sarah Wagner

Exploring Material “Mis-Use”

This exhibition shares a set of four material provocations designed by Spanish architect, and MIT professor, Cristina Parreño. Each challenges conventional processes of material assemblies, and instead attempts to explore material “mis-use.” The prototypes PlyGlass, Ghost of Stone, Rock in Full Metal Jacket, and Wooden Bubble behave as “tools for experimentation through intentional mismatches, calculated discrepancies and improbable pairings of materials and tectonics.” At MIT, Cristina conducts the research TransTectonics, exploring non-conventional assemblies of materials through small prototypes, which are later translated to larger scales and contexts becoming architectural installations that activate public spaces. As project collaborator, my role was to assist in fabrication and implementation of design, and to coordinate with other outside collaborators, artists and experts.

Project collaborators: Adiel Benitez, Christopher Dewart, Michael Tarkanian, Miles Discroll and Michael Scheiner. Cristina Parreño was provided support by CAMIT, North American Sculpture Center, Precision Stone Inc., Epica International Roboticom and Biesseamerica. Project previously on view at Art Omi, Ghent NY, and the Keller Gallery at MIT.