Lightweight Materials

Flashback to 1957

This post comes to you from Green Public Art

In 1957 the Eames Office was commissioned by the Aluminum Company of America (Alcoa) to design a product to “show off the potential of its lightweight materials.” The team designed a playful solar energy toy which they called the Do-Nothing Machine (1957) featuring whirligigs, pinwheels and kinetic parts simply engineered to spark the viewer’s imagination.  Charles and Ray Eames were American designers who worked in and made major contributions to modern architecture, industrial and graphic design, furniture, art and film.

Thanks to my summer issue of DWELL I was reminded of this brilliant project!

 

Rebecca Ansert, founder of Green Public Art, is an art consultant who specializes in artist solicitation, artist selection, and public art project management for both private and public agencies. She is a graduate of the master’s degree program in Public Art Studies at the University of Southern California and has a unique interest in how art can demonstrate green processes or utilize green design theories and techniques in LEED certified buildings.

Green Public Art is a Los Angeles-based consultancy that was founded in 2009 in an effort to advance the conversation of public art’s role in green building. The consultancy specializes in public art project development and management, artist solicitation and selection, creative community involvement and knowledge of LEED building requirements. Green Public Art also works with emerging and mid-career studio artists to demystify the public art process. The consultancy acts as a resource for artists to receive one-on-one consultation before, during, and after applying for a public art project.
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