Forts!

This is what happens when I get bored.

Spike Jonze's blog, WeLoveYouSo and Booooooom, had a competition this weekend to promote the "Where the Wild Things Are" movie. The premise was simple, build an awesome fort.

I assembled my entry in about two days using a pile of old pallets. No nails or screws were used in the construction of the actual fort. Instead the pallets were lashed together with hundreds of feet of twine. The entire structure is surprisingly sturdy, even up on the third level.

Unfortunately, this is only temporary. As much as I'd like to keep/live in it, I'll need the wood and space for an upcoming project. Check out the site to see the other entries, all of which are amazing. I was really impressed with the quality and volume of submissions.

Update: I won the grand prize! Check out the postings below, and special thanks to Jeff over at Boooooom for putting together such an awesome contest.

Booooooom: Wild Things! Forts! Winners!

WeLoveYouSo: Fort Contest Winners!!!

Buy Art

Last week I set up one of the trees to help display the window paintings in a newer Pawtucket gallery. I had to shave a few inches off of the upper branches, but eventually got it to fit. I really like the the way the wood looked against the gray wall, and ended up taking a few pictures. One of which I submitted to Providence's "Buy Art" campaign.

The city is choosing 5 images to be used in this year's button campaign. The buttons are sold at various retail shops as part of "a city-wide advocacy initiative that spurs us all to actively participate in the Providence Arts Scene." In addition to the exposure, winners also receive a generous stipend, which would almost cover the amount I've paid in parking tickets over the past few years.

Consolation Prizes

So I didn't win a lifetime supply of notebooks, but I did get a few great things from the good people at Moleskine Asia. The exhibition looked awesome, taking place at several locations. My piece was shown at the City'super! Harbour City. Unfortunately, even after sending written instructions and drawings, my entry was still displayed improperly. I'm told it was eventually fixed, but for now I'll just use that as my excuse for not winning.

Moleskine 2.0 prototype

Finished up the prototype for the exhibition in Hong Kong. I had to omit the third translucent tracing panel, as I ran out of both time and room in the notebook. This project was especially challenging due to the nature of the materials. However, I am very pleased with the finished product, and to my own amazement it actually works quite well.

Moleskine 2.0

My Moleskine 2.0 would entail adding three hinged panels to the inside cover of the book. Each of these panels would contain a different type of plexi-glass, one mirrored, one magnifying and one translucent. When combined in different ways, these panels would perform a variety of functions. Using the mirrored and magnifying panel, one can view media from their portable device enlarged and upright. Similar to how a projection television or arcade cabinet works. Setting the magnifying and translucent panels to 45 degree angles creates a tracing tool similar to those from our childhood. By looking through the translucent panel from the left side, any image placed on the magnifying panel seems to appear on the pages of the book. All of these positions would be achieved through a simple hinge and magnet system. In addition to these two functions, the mirror and magnifier could also be used for their intended purposes, signaling search planes and burning ants.

Update: This was an entry for the Moleskine 2.0 competition, to which I made it to the next round. More information can be found here.