October 28, 2009

WWW.PKS3.COM

Our new website is up... www.PKS3.com This new site focuses visitors on my art projects, covering public art/commissions, sculpture, and works on paper. Over the next few weeks, we will be revamping www.theartoffice.com as our architecture and design website. Each site will be linked and accessible from each other for those that are interested in the full spectrum of work. ENJOY and let us know what you think!

DISC 1

Inspired by a series of circular drawings I've been working on over the last year, Disc I seeks to merge the 2-dimensional ideas of these drawings with our 3-dimensional investigations of formal purity, transformation, and containment. The piece is also inspired by how a smooth, glossy surface can create an undulating line drawing of reflections of the surrounding environment. The topography of the form merges with the environment and the viewer's eye oscillates between a 2-D and 3-D experience.

"INHALE/EXHALE" DEDICATION AT UNIVERSITY OF LA VERNE

On the morning of October 19th, 2009, "Inhale/Exhale" and "Clarity" were dedicated as the first two public art sculptures in the new Muriel Pollia Sculpture Garden at the University of La Verne, just north of Pomona, CA. In attendance were the trustees of the Muriel Pollia Foundation, University professors, staff, and students, City Staff, friends and family, as well as the University President, Steve Morgan, and the Mayor of La Verne. There has been incredibly positive feedback about the sculptures from a very wide spectrum of people....very encouraging!

"INHALE/EXHALE" INSTALLED AT UNIVERSITY OF LA VERNE

On September 29th, in the early morning, "Inhale/Exhale" arrived on a flatbed truck direct from Kreysler & Associates, the fabricator for the sculpture. It was like the best Christmas morning unwrapping the piece. The finish and quality of fabrication was superb, as expected from a quality fabricator like Kreysler. With the help of KAR Construction, Mr. Crane, and a last minute renting of a Grad-All, install went very smoothly. We had a consistent group of people watching the action over the course of the two hour process. Once the piece was lifted off of the truck, it was angled up and lifted into the sky....up and over the 40' tall oak trees. At 54' tall, the required crane was impressive and the operators were stellar. After a little knocking of the anchor bolts, the piece slid down soundly and was bolted down permanently to its site. Final concrete, electric, lighting, pavers, and landscape occurred over the following two weeks prior to dedication.

"CLARITY" INSTALLED AT UNIVERSITY OF LA VERNE

"Clarity" is the second of two sculptures we recently installed in the new Muriel Pollia Sculpture Garden at the University of La Verne, just north of Pomona, CA. This sculpture appears to be a cropped view of a larger circumstance. The view here is one that has two clear endpoints with a seemingly "unclear" center. The disruption at the center occurs within the confines of an invisible sphere, with the lines never crossing the edge of this three-dimensional datum. The result is a questioning of the creative vs. the logical. Of whether the precision is moving from the outside inward or from the inside outward.

"PUSH/PULL"

"LINE TO LINE" INSTALLED AT ROYALE PROJECTS

This temporary installation piece shown at Royale Projects in Indian Wells, CA challenges notions of simple graphics and two-dimensional mark- making through a transformative three-dimensional space built out of styrofoam. Line to Line is a complex answer to a simple question: How does a line become a line? Oscillating between a two dimensional drawing and a three-dimensional surface, this piece combines the precision of the computer with the raw nature of the creative human hand. Built as a thin, structural skin, the sculpture’s form redefines the space of the gallery, while presenting a seemingly endless interior space at its core.

May 05, 2009

FABRICATION OF "INHALE-EXHALE" AT THE UNIVERSITY OF LA VERNE

We are currently working with Kreysler + Co. near San Francisco on the fabrication of the Inhale/Exhale piece for the University of La Verne. At 55' high, the fiberglass piece requires solid experience, engineering, and innovative ideas, which is why Kreysler is perfect for the job. Josh Zabel and Serge Labesque have been very helpful in ensuring the fluidity of the form as well as the smooth, glossy surface. Below are some of the fabrication shots from inside their studio up north. The overall form has been split up into 10 modules and each module has been split into 3 parts. These images show the development of the first sections of the individual module. More to follow as the project develops. Installation is slated for September 1st of this year.

April 21, 2009

"ONE VOICE" INSTALLED AT INDIO TEEN CENTER

April 06, 2009

INDIO TEEN CENTER - Day of Installation

April 03, 2009

INDIO TEEN CENTER: Final Stage

January 22, 2009

INDIO TEEN CENTER

After a 9 month process of design conversations with the Youth Advisory Council, approvals from the Arts Commission and City Council, and many conversations with the structural engineer, Brian Gottlieb, and our lighting designer, Teri L. Jackson with Seaport Lighting, our 25' high public art sculpture for the new Indio Teen Center is in fabrication. White's Steel in Downtown Indio is building the piece for us, Sullivan's Shutter Factory in Indio is waterjet cutting the lettering out of regular steel and stainless steel, and PSI General Contractors is helping us with the excavation and pouring of the footing. In about one month, around February 20th, the piece will be installed at the Indio Teen Center, located on Ave. 46 east of Clinton, across from Indio High School. Look for updated images here on our blog between now and then!

June 09, 2008

"TRANSFORMED FLOWER"

May 20, 2008

DAY 6: Anticipation

Day Six was another relaxing day....mostly spent in the research library at the Nelson-Atkins. The last bit of work to complete was to position the lighting around and within the sculpture. We met James, the electrician, at the site at 8pm tonight and finished our work. With some slight tweaks and turns, all of the lights have been positioned....and the piece looks better than ever. I look forward to coming back to Kansas City for the park rededication on June 1st to see all of the park lights on and with the landscaping complete. More great photos to come at that time. Tomorrow, we finally head home to Palm Springs. By the way, Jack Stacks BBQ is the best!

May 19, 2008

DAY 5: Relaxation

Day Five was an easy one. With the piece finished, we are just waiting for the electrician to finish his wiring so that we can position the lighting on Tuesday night. We went up into one of the nearby office buildings today to take some photos looking down onto the site. As we walked into an office on the 7th floor to ask if we could take photos, everyone mentioned that they had been watching us build the sculpture. When we went down to the 6th floor to get a better angle from the corner of the building, we stopped in an office where the man that greeted us mentioned he had just been looking at a photo of the sculpture in the Kansas City Star newspaper...it was still laying there on his desk. The photo and caption are below...I'm not sure how I feel about "Flower Tower," but I'll take the photo! Look for those night photos tomorrow evening...

May 18, 2008

DAY 4: Completion

Today we completed the sculpture...nearly three days early. The question we were asked most today was: "How much higher are you going?" Many of the people walking by the site today were residents in the surrounding condo towers and had been tracking our progress over the last few days. In fact, our final visitor of the day came by just as we were installing the last piece on the final Layer 90, and he had been looking at the sculpture from the 11th floor. He had mentioned that from his condo, the colors of the sculpture blended to a pure gradient, smoothly transitioning from white to yellow to orange to red. There were no apparent individual parts. As he approached the sculpture for the first time, he appreciated the varying levels of detail. His sincere comments were a rewarding end to the last few days. Tomorrow, we break down the crates and, in the evening, position the lighting with James, the electrician. Check in Monday evening for some of our final photos....plus, evening photos with the lighting in place. Thank you to all of you for your supportive emails! Plus, many thanks to Susan Pfannmuller, a photographer from the Kansas City Star, who spent about an hour with us today taking some great shots and kept us entertained. We look forward to seeing the article this week in the newspaper!

May 17, 2008

DAY 3: Almost There!

The weather for Day Three was beautiful...82 degrees and sunny. We started the day at Layer 58 and ended at Layer 73. Only 17 more layers to go. At this point, we are about two days ahead of schedule. We were the only ones working at the site since it's a Saturday...it felt like our own open art studio. After building the lower half in our studio in Indio, it has been very rewarding to be working out in the open in the public realm. While we've always known that this sculpture was a public art piece, nothing prepared us for the excitement of building the sculpture as the world of Kansas City goes on around us. People were giving us thumbs up and "yee-hawing" from their cars. Almost every kid that drove by in a car stared at the sculpture. There was a group of high school girls in a limo that yelled to us from the sunroof, while a couple hours later, a group of guys stuck their head out of their own sunroof and yelled, "That thing rocks!" Building the piece over the last few days has allowed us to enter into people's lives here and has given us insight into how this sculpture will affect the people that will experience it.

May 16, 2008

DAY 2: A SOLID WORKDAY

With the drama and excitement of Day One behind us, Day Two was a solid workday. The weather was perfect...about 75-80 degrees with a nice breeze that felt like we were at the beach...in the midwest! We began the day on Layer 43 and by the end of the day, we were had added 30" of height and were at Layer 58...moving closer to our ultimate goal of Layer 90. Burzeen and I got into the groove today and streamlined our building process. Meanwhile, I became a pro on the scissorlift. As the piece got higher and wider, people's reactions became more evident as they drove or walked by the site. People pointed, stopped to for questions, even asked for autographs. In the afternoon, we were visited by our landscape architect on the Rescue Mission, Scott Van Sooy, his partner, Eduardo, and some of Scott's family. It was good to see a familiar face! The day ended with a walk over to the Steven Holl designed Bloch Building at the Nelson-Atkins Museum. The Noguchi Sculpture Garden as well as a Donald Judd and Sol LeWitt sculpture added some solid inspiration to the day.

May 15, 2008

DAY 1: Transformed Flower Install

The day started at 7am at the site. The crane from Belger Cartage arrived at 7:30 and by 8:15, our two crates showed up on a flatbed truck. The big crate (6'4" x 6'4" x 7'6"h) containing the lower half the sculpture we built in Indio, weighed 4000 pounds, while the other crate (4' x 8' x 4' h), containing the parts for the upper half, weighed 5000 pounds. The crane lifted them into place with ease. Once the crates were placed, we took out our stainless steel base plate and found that the threaded rod cast into the concrete base did not match our template. With some help from Chris and Kurt from McCownGordon, the contractor, we put a new plan in place. By 1:30pm, all eight rods had been cut off and eight new 5/8" stainless steel rods, threaded at the machine shop that day, had been delivered to the site. The new rods were drilled and epoxyed into place, using our steel plate as the template. By 2pm, the sculpture was in the air and positioned into place by Frank, our crane operator. The steel rings aligned perfectly and I jumped into the center to bolt the rings together, securing the sculpture to the concrete base. James, the electrician, then jumped into the center and installed the LED light bars that will help the piece glow from the inside at night. Burzeen and I negotiated the scissorlift for a couple of hours, securing a few layers into place and trying not to run over the well lights that have been cast into the concrete. At 6:30pm, Burzeen and I called it quits. We will begin tomorrow morning at Layer 43. We need to get to Layer 90 by Tuesday afternoon.

May 14, 2008

BUILDING THE TRANSFORMED FLOWER

May 12, 2008

DUNE MAGAZINE

M MODERN RECEPTION DESK

ZONE 101 IN THE HOOVER GALLERY

May 06, 2008

FABRICATION OF M MODERN RECEPTION DESK

April 25, 2008

THE ART OFFICE STUDIO

TRINA TURK RESIDENTIAL

M MODERN GALLERY DESK

March 18, 2008

LIBERTY ENERGY

The Art Office has been hired by Liberty Energy Resources to provide design concepts for the skin of their newest alternative energy power plant in Hamilton, Ontario, about 1 hour southwest from Toronto. The current concept is to create a transparent container for a cloud. Using translucent and transparent polycarbonate paneling over a pre-fab steel building system, this concept is translated into a simple graphic using a 3' x 8' grid. We wanted to create an image for this project that is 180 degrees from the look of existing heavy industrial buildings in Hamilton, which are banal, unwelcoming, and mysterious as to the processes occurring inside. The Libery Energy plant will be open, light filled, and will glow at night as a beacon on the city skyline, welcoming the viewer to see what is happening inside of the plant.

TRANSFORMED FLOWER UPDATE

Transformed Flower will be installed in Kansas City, MO in early May. The custom made HDPE sheets have been fabricated and the milling of the 720 parts has begun. We hope to exhibit the construction process during our open studio event that will take place in late April....stay tuned!

INHALE-EXHALE @ ISOMATA SHOW

The Art Office was part of the Inside/Outide show at Parks Exhibition Center on the campus of the Idyllwild Academy of the Arts. The show ran from February 8-29, 2008. We exhibited Inhale/Exhale. This piece is a simple geometric transformation from a triangle to a triangle to a triangle. The tip of the triangle becomes the face of the next triangle, which then becomes the point of the next triangle. It is built out of 1" MDF, car painted glossy orange, weighs approx. 380 pounds and is 3' x 3' x 6' high.

ZONE 101 IN THE HOOVER GALLERY

Zone 101 at the Museum is being transformed by The Art Office. The new space will be an art lounge for all ages and will showcase a large scale collage of images from the Museum's permanent collection. There will be a library and art making area. Additionally, Zone 101 will continue to be the space for poetry readings and family events at the Museum. Construction is anticipated to be complete by mid to late April. Look for Zone 101 opening events coming soon!

TRINA TURK RESIDENTIAL

Work on the new Trina Turk Residential is moving along. Construction is anticipated to be complete by April 15th. Stop by the store, which is next to Trina's existing Palm Springs boutique, to take a look at construction progress and the new design. We've used one of Trina's signature fabric patterns as inspiration for an undulating 3-D graphic that runs through one side of the store. Look for opening parties coming soon!

PALM SPRINGS REIMAGINED

As part of Palm Springs Preservation Foundation's Palm Springs Re-Imagined ideas competition, The Art Office submitted a proposal for the historic O'Donnell Golf Course reinvented as the O'Donnell Public Park. Our scheme was featured in the Desert Sun and prominently in the February issue of Palm Springs Life. The proposal was exhibited, along with other projects, in the Marks Gallery at the Palm Springs Art Museum. Additionally, Phil was interviewed by Stephanie Firth for http://www.mydesert.com/. Sahar Moin and Kyle Schertzing teamed up with The Art Office to help in the design and production endeavors. Many thanks to the team and the people that commented so positively on our project!

January 24, 2008

MODERN MASTERS FINE ART, PALM DESERT CA The Art Office's two most recent sculptures were part of the January 18th, 2008 opening reception of "Finish Fetish" at Modern Masters, including works by Andy Moses, Alex Couwenberg, Michel Tabouri, Ron Reihel, Jimi Gleason and Suzan Woodruff. The sculpture to the left is the 1/4 scale mock-up for the "Transformed Flower" arts in public places piece for the Richard and Annette Bloch Cancer Survivors Park in Kansas City, MO. It is built out of the same UV-resistant HDPE, or High Density Polyethylene, that the actual sculpture will be constructed with. The piece to the right is from the "Inhale/Exhale" series and is a geometric transformation from a triangle to a triangle to a triangle. It is built out of MDF that has been car painted.

INFINITY COLUMN, PALM DESERT CA Our most recent art in public places sculpture, "Infinity Column," was installed in Palm Desert, CA on December 27, 2007. The piece is 15'-0" high and constructed of 45 stacked layers of 4" high rusted steel. The piece transforms from the least sided polygon, a triangle, at the top to a square to a hexagon to a heptagon to an octogon and so forth until it transforms into an infinitely sided polygon, a circle, at the base. The piece is located on Dinah Shore Drive, east of Monterey and is about 1/4 mile down the road on the right hand side as part of the Pointe Monterey commercial development.

TRANSFORMED FLOWER, KANSAS CITY Work is progressing on our "Transformed Flower" piece for Kansas City. We recently ordered 20 actual size test parts from Polymer Industries in Henagar, AL. The pieces arrived on a palette and assembled beautifully. We'll be ordering about 35 custom 2" thick sheets of plastic and the milling of the 720 parts. Install must be complete by May 1, 2008.

June 28, 2007

ART IN PUBLIC PLACES

TRANSFORMED FLOWER, KANSAS CITY

April 02, 2007

HEY KARIM !

About a year ago, Karim Rashid lectured at the Palm Springs Art Museum as part of the Architecture and Design Council's lecture series. As he talked about how we have to deal with bad design in our daily lives, he "blasted" the existing podium in the gorgeous Annenberg Theater. The next day, Bill Scott and Arthur Keller commissioned Phil Smith to design a new podium for the space. Completed in November of 2006, this is the first article to recognize the design. Recently, great people have spoken from behind the podium (besides Sidney Williams) such as Steven Ehrlich, Ed Ruscha, Dennis Hopper, and Frank Gehry (see below). Click on the image of the podium for the article in the Desert Magazine.

COSENTINO WINERY LIGHT SCULPTURES

Fabrication has begun on the Cosentino Winery's light sculptures. These three lamps will be great additions to the Karen + Tony Barone designed Signature Tasting Room in Napa, CA.

THE ART OFFICE AT CA BOOM 4

Burzeen and Phil headed to CA BOOM 4 at Barker Hangar in Santa Monica on Thursday, March 29 to set up for the show. From Friday through Sunday, Lisa Vossler joined Phil to "sell" The Art Office's newest work to the world. Over the course of the event, we talked to a wide spectrum of people ranging from senior designers at Ford, to buyers at Disney, to green interior designers, to people in need of a new dining room table. The show was a huge suceess for us and we thank the staff at CA BOOM for a great event!

March 23, 2007

GROUNDSWELL: SITES 1+2

Groundswell: Sites 1 + 2 are currently under construction at the University Village project on the southwest corner of Cook Street and Gerald Ford in Palm Desert, CA. The basalt columns have been plumbed, conduit has been run for lighting, and the circular concrete rim has recently been poured. It should be just a few weeks before the water and lights will be turned on.

March 22, 2007

The Art Office at CA BOOM4

The ART OFFICE will be exhibiting at CA BOOM 4 for the first time next week, showcasing our new line of “TAO FURNITURE.” If you would like to purchase tickets online, please add “ART OFF” in the promo code for a $4 discount. Please join us in person at BOOTH B-39 in the Fine Furnishings section. Click on the link below to learn more about the show, including location, hours, and home tours.

DINING TABLE CONSTRUCTION

We have recently completed our prototype for the IN/OUT Dining Table Base, which is part of the TAO Furniture that will be showcased at CA BOOM next week. It's more beautiful than expected and is waiting to receive a gorgeous elliptical glass table top from PRL Glass. We are taking orders via our online store or through Thom Home in Rancho Mirage.