Bootstrap Homes

Re:Boot! - Epilogue

scloutier — Mon, 20 May 2013 21:02:15 -0400

Heh! Someone finally planted the Maple. Rah’s had it since before she wrote up her thesis proposal: bought it at the Japanese Gardens during a sale near her birthday. She’s carried it in a pot with her through two years and four apartments.

May 20, 5:34pm

So after all that, your writer worked a full day. It was the most relaxing day I’ve ever had on the job. I had the chance to recount my adventures, and some people who had lived in New York shed telling light on why Rah’s building budget had gotten so high so fast: We’d been using debit cards instead of cash to buy many of our purchases, which in the smaller local shops added up to sales tax.

In New York, you have to spend money in order to spend money. The sales receipts Rah kept confirmed the story. My co-workers also gave me some first-hand accounts of how they had experienced being homeless in New York. A lot of it matched up to the observations Rah and I had made, and there were some surprises and clever solutions we hadn’t even guessed at as well.

Off the clock at 5:30 pm, I was eager to return home so I could bathe and sleep…but I had to stop when I saw the demolished garden in the daylight.

They’re subdividing the property so they can build another house and make more money. I know. I get it. I get it. But after that week?

It was really painful to see green growing things torn up and dirt and tarp thrown over them. There was a flourishing dogwood tree in that garden, and heirloom rose bushes, (we hope those at least were dug up and sold to be replanted somewhere) and the former gardener had planned their garden in such a way that it went through breathtaking color shifts as the season changed. Someone loved that garden.

Rah certainly had.

So I went home with my hands full of bulbs that I’d salvaged from the dirt-piles. I’m not exactly a green-thumb, but I know someone who is.

This is Rah’s project and Rah’s blog. I’ve made noises throughout the trip that maybe she should make a final post sometime, just…closing notes from the artist herself. It could still happen, but even if it doesn’t I would like to say that it has been an honor and a privilege to chronicle this trip for her.

This is KG, signing off.

Re:boot - Return to Portland

scloutier — Mon, 20 May 2013 20:33:36 -0400

I don’t know what time it is.

We made it back to Brooklyn, hungry and feeling the edges of our bravado beginning to crack. We went back to Mega-bites, where the waitress remembered us, looked us both up and down, and returned to our table with coffee and milk.

Guh. Look at that glorious spread. <3

Rah fed me, so I called the taxi. We found where Pratt Institute keeps its airport shuttle drivers, hopped into the cab, and drove in relative silence to La-guardia. (this means that the driver honked only twice, played decent classical Jazz, and we drove past two graveyards the size of small towns. That was a respectable amount of dead people.)

We got through customs okay. Nobody lost their tickets, and we had some time to wait. By this point I was beginning to fall apart a little, so Rah got me -actual tea- and drew the pitiful little creature which graces the top of this post. That cheered me up enough to get on the plane, but my nerves were stripped raw.

Rah was there, the last time I was stressed out enough to be non-verbal. She asked me what was wrong when we found our seats and I filled up half the pocket sketchbook Deb had lent to us with the key codes to the studio with one sentence: I Want To Go Home.

We spent the first half of the trip passing sketchbooks back and forth between us. Some of it was purging:

and some of it was voluminous collaborative note-taking and brainstorming, based on all that we’d seen and heard the past week. Improvements on the boot project that could be made, listing out the different challenges posed to a person who is homeless in New York in contrast to Portland, and the survival tactics we’d seen on both sides of the coast:

Some of it got ranty, or pointed at gaps in understanding. Some of it was a return to the drawing board: Simpler design, a re-shuffling of what essentials are needed when you don’t have reliable income or a safe place to sleep or stow your stuff, and some good hard questions about what someone who is homeless actually Needs. We had both grown a little tired of solutions which concentrated on aesthetics and functionality without taking the needs and input of the people actually facing this situation into account.

May 18, 7:00 pm (in Denver Colorado)

“Hey. You okay?”

Rah and I are sitting in front of a panoramic view of the massive thunderstorm our plane just flew through, taking it in with weary, reverent adoration. Nature’s presence is finally bigger than the presence of people again. We have to wait a little longer to get home because plane and attendants need to switch out, and because the weather is delaying other flights coming in from the east.

I’m still hugging my backpack and rocking a little. Big nature is wonderful, but this isn’t -my- big nature. The mountains in the distance are comforting, but flat open plains carpeted with macrofarms and beaded with big white grain silos isn’t forest, and the fatigue of jet-lag and hormones and a very long week has left me fighting to be an adult about this. “I’m trying to imagine where either of us would be at this moment if we’d gone on this trip without the other one tagging along.”

Thoughtful silence. Then,

“You would be here, tearing all your baggage apart searching for important paperwork that you need in order to get on the next plane…and I would still be in the subway in New York, crying, because I can’t understand the maps.”

“…I am glad that neither of those things is what actually happened.”

“Me too.”

We weren’t the only ones who had entered a fog of exhaustion. I narrowly avoided the holy blessings of a babe in arms as she burped a cascade of baby formula down her mother’s arm and leg. The woman checked to see that I had not taken a direct hit, serenely stepped back, and directed her energetic husband took her six year old girl on ahead while she cleaned up herself and her baby and changed them into new clothes. He felt bad that he’d gone on ahead, but she reassured him that he’d done exactly the right thing. They were a cool family. Just got back from a Disney cruise. Dad and Kids still excited…mom’s travel Zen in full effect.

I kept her and her patience/endurance in my thoughts as her daughter sat behind me and kicked my poor sore butt several times on our flight back. It’s a kid. I outlasted her and Rah as they both fell into naps about half an hour in the air.

1:42pm

Portland smelled so good when we landed. We got out of the Airport, onto the Max, and then onto the 33 line home, and walked the rest of the way. It was cold, dark, quiet. It smelled like rain, trees, clean air. There were about as many trees as people. Rah and I were Home — !

But our elation fell when we discovered what had happened in our absence to the beautiful, healthy, well-established garden at the edge of our block. Rah was swearing the rest of the way home.

Re:Boot! - The Exhibit

scloutier — Mon, 20 May 2013 19:34:00 -0400

2:57pm

The exhibit is complete and the Convention is open!

Carolyn got the video and the sound to work properly, and so the big flatscreen showed off the video and poster gallery of all the other affiliated schools and projects being represented in this exhibit. The orange house facade is Anna and Amanda’s project: They were part of the Emily Carr University design school in Vancouver Canada, and their graduating class worked together to tackle the problem of aesthetics, appeal, and affordability in temporary housing. Their aim was to create dialog about the homeless population in their area. The tiny homes they made were bought up and are now (As far as I know) being rented out as artist spaces. The link to their project is here. (link)

There were several other students exhibiting with us, but we didn’t really get a chance to meet them all face to face. The exhibitor’s list for our collaborative booth is here…but they don’t name individual artists. (link)

These guys were our neighbors. They were from the University of Cincinnati and their project was called Out Of Failure: Disaster Relief and Digital Fabrication. This fantastic modular shelter was accompanied by several smaller models of their prototypes, brochures, business cards, a big wall display showing their process and aims, and two or three really pleasant, intelligent, professional people running the booth.

Rah and I were impressed by how fast it went up, how sturdy it was, and how basic and easy the thing was to make. You could just send plans to places with basic hardware and equipment and let them have at it. And the result was a beautifully functional temporary living space which could have a tarp wrapped around it for further protection.

And these guys were our other neighbors:

They used 3D imaging and an extremely impressive machine to cut a beautiful table out of several solid planks of wood.

These guys were kitty-corner to us, and had a similar glee in things that worked in clever, practical, and aesthetically pleasing ways.

Rah fell in love with the rounded bookshelf and the one which suspended blocks of wood on springs, so when you dropped a book or any other object onto the blocks, they dropped down and the ones which didn’t provided instant book-ends.

I handed the phone camera off to Rah, who took lots and lots of pictures of the other exhibits:

This exhibit took up two immense squares of space and book-ended the front and back of the convention. It featured beautiful, traditionally handwoven African designs on contemporary furniture pieces.

I’m so glad Rah got a picture of one of the men as he sat down in the center of the front and began weaving. He used his toes to keep the strands taut while the shuttle went back and forth.

Rah also got some pictures of a pair of objects which made us think of Luka:

Some pretty light fixtures:

(she could not get enough of this one)

and a snapshot of this, because…wow. Her bootstrap homes project was a part of this.

Around then, we ran out of things to look at, and so we said our good-byes to Anna as we passed her on our way out. We’d already stated our plans to the show coordinators and the people manning our booth had been given the information they needed about the boots. We’d been checked out of Pratt, we were carrying our baggage, and all that was left was making our way back to Brooklyn to catch a cab to LaGuardia Airport in time to catch our flight.

Gus Baum was right. Exhibiting here is an amazing opportunity. ICFF is internationally known and looked-to. The potential for meeting people was incredible (to Rah’s dismay and, once she met them, delight.) So Rah went to Pratt and built a boot for about 500$ in three days with the aid of Julia the woodshop manager, Carolyn the exhibit organizer’s assistant, Deb the exhibit organizer, PNCA, PALS, and this kinda scruffy dude who took a lot of pictures and blogged about the process when she didn’t need an extra set of hands to hold things or paint stuff.

Now to get ourselves back home in one piece!

Re:Boot! - Convention day

scloutier — Mon, 20 May 2013 18:46:00 -0400

May 18, 7:43am

“Rah?”

“Mm?” She’s already wide awake, dressed for the convention, cream-gold and black skirt and strappy shoes and a black and white sash, and trying to eat something in spite of not being that hungry just yet. I’ve just sat up from a dream about painting fish and I’m currently sizing up my day.

We have an airplane hanger full of people, a cab ride, a new airport, a very long plane ride with a layover in Minneapolis again, a max-line trip and a bus ride home…and then for me, back to work. This was technically a very long vacation and I’m still not sure what my work schedule will look like after this. I decide to complain about the obvious.

“I don’t know how you got me through customs. Is it just California and Canada that have problems with folks smuggling their exotic fruit over the border?” Rah smiles. She’s worrying about me, which means she won’t be worried about herself. That’s something at least.

We’ve gotta go meet Deb if we’re riding in. Hope I can score coffee and that both of us are ready for breakfast by the time we reach the Javits center.

Re:Boot! - So, Two Introverts walk into New York...

scloutier — Sat, 18 May 2013 00:55:00 -0400

(This photo dedicated to Martin French, Head of PNCA’s Illustration Department. We both immediately thought of you when we passed by.)

11:22pm -

Deb peeked in around the time I finished the prior post to ask us what our plans were. Dinner as a group was still nebulous and Team Fishboot was both quite done for the day…and had yet to really explore New York. And here we were, in the heart of Manhattan. Earlier in the trip noises had been made about us visiting the Highline park, and so Rah chirped up about going there.

Deb lit up with a smile like sun through a fogbank.

Highline park is clearly quite special. So special, she predicted we might not want to leave for a group dinner. We assured her we would call at around five to let her know what our plans were, shouldered our packs, and braved the busy streets again to go find the nearest burger joint Yelp could point us in the direction of.

This is a blog about Bootstrap Homes, and not about food. But there are two things about New York which have taken my breath away and left me overwhelmed with wonder and delight. Two things that have convinced me of its majesty and unforgettable character. Two things I will genuinely miss.

The subways, and the food. Not just one, but TWO random burger joints we hit up knew how to make The Ideal Burger. Portland’s Big Little Burger will never be the same. And forget Red Robin. Anyway. With our food in hand (it would become dinner later) we headed to Highline.

By the time we got to the park Rah was desperate for trees. We got greenery, and relative quiet, and that was enough. Deb was right: we didn’t want to leave. The people around us have been wonderful to work with, admirable in their efforts, professional and hospitable and eager to introduce us to their phenomenal city. We got to see the Empire State Building, the WTC Memorial building going up, crossed both the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges, experienced the train systems, saw the statue of Liberty with our own eyes. But where our guides might have brought our attention to things like this stunning metal sculpture using rusted and polished surfaces:

Or the magnificent skyline with its organic tangle of architecture:

or even of the graffiti artist working in the lower right corner of this image:

This was the sight we both had to stop, savor, and take one picture of in reverent silence.

We both miss the quiet, green expanses of the west coast very much.

Our morning adventure through the pipes went so well I didn’t capture any good footage of it. Here’s Rah having much better luck getting through the turnstile than I did.

By this point, we were both approaching our thresholds and getting a little overwhelmed by the sheer sensory/auditory input and numbers of people around us. Under great stress, Rah loses her ability to communicate verbally first, and at the same time she becomes hyperfocused on completing whatever goal she has set. With this project as evidence to my claim, this tendency of hers is one of her great strengths, and it’s what got this project done by two people in three days. The downside is, she loses the ability to step back and examine more efficient ways to achieve her goals.

…and I turn into a giggling lunatic when the pressure is on. My focus becomes “how do I get something done faster/simpler, and if I can’t, how do I find some way to make the endurance test more fun?” Between the two of us, we were almost prepared for the ride back to Pratt Institute on the Subway…until we ran into the break-dancers.

We tried to avoid the crowd and loud music, escaping down a flight of stairs only to realize that the subway had two levels, and the bottom one wasn’t the one we wanted. Up the stairs we went again, scanning frantically for directions that lead us to our goal…

“Across the platform with the dancers,” Rah shouts over the din at me, dismay and resignation in her voice.

“‘Fraid so!” I sound disgustingly cheerful even to myself, but the defense mechanism has kicked in and, like her, I can’t turn it off yet.

“—my Life and ALL my Life Choices up till this moment!” I hear.

“In general, or just the ones that lead up to it? Important distinction to make!”

She laughs. “Good point—” I’m trying to lead Rah through the crowd as fast as possible without meeting a collision, and so I am not expecting the sudden stop that wrenches my arm as she gets a good look at the dancers. When I look back she is beaming.

I am glad to see that smile and I care more about what state we reach home in than what time, so we stay and watch the street performers.

New York is full of incandescently talented people.

Two shuttles to Brooklyn rumble beneath our feet before we are ready to leave. Luck is with us and we don’t get too turned around on our way back to Pratt. It’s like the world’s going a little easy on us. Or maybe that’s the incoherent, adrenaline-fueled gigglefits talking.

I’m grateful either way. We’re back in the dorms, packing ourselves up, and preparing for the opening day tomorrow. From there, we’ll catch our plane back home, and we will begin the adventure home.

Re:Boot! - They grow up so fast.

scloutier — Fri, 17 May 2013 23:11:00 -0400

3:24pm

The Boot is officially finished and ready for its debut. Lots of pictures taken of the final product and the functionality of its interior stove and sink below the cut.

Final paint designs of the front door…

Back windows,

Flank one,

and flank the other. It’s a bright, eye-catching little wagon welcoming onlookers into a booth filled with exciting ideas and the work of talented people.

By this point we didn’t have anything left to do on the project, so we made ourselves at home and Rah demonstrated how the stove and sink work. (The yellow papers are Rah’s notes for the people working the booth in case anyone asks about the Boot)

This is not something we expect the passers-by to crawl in and explore for themselves, and it is arguably one of the cooler aspects of the design. This is the kitchenette with its stove, sink, and some essentials we brought along for presentation purposes:

And here, Rah explains to me the sink. She used a plastic tupperware bowl and a drain grate hooked up to some PVC pipe, which is then connected to an empty water jug.

Since we could not find a water-jug with a built in tap, Rah simply tipped the other water jug we bought on its side and separated its cap from the plastic holding ring only part-way.

This made it easier to stop and start the pouring process into the sink. I now understand why she was so insistent on a 6” saucepan. It fits into the sink perfectly.

The stove’s sides are not properly drilled for ventilation and so we will not light the candles and actually boil the water…

But we can still show how to set one of these stoves up. Seven Tea Lights, arranged evenly on the bottom of the stove cap:

(That’s Carolyn out the window, trying to get the media loops to work properly.)

Rah, observing safety measures and using a dishrag to prevent burning her hand from the imaginary heat. (These stoves absolutely work, by the way. She and I shared a cup of tea on one of the earlier prototypes during her thesis to test it out. Tea lights get these things astonishingly hot!)

This is my favorite part of the photoset. Rah and I discovered that my nervous habit of kicking or rocking when I type makes the boot move in a way Rah finds soothing. So, she further demonstrated the functionality of her project, curled up, and took a nap inside as I sat in the doorway writing this all up.

It finally looks and feels like a place someone could live in.

“I love this boot.” Rah’s voice behind me, sleepy and wistful and affectionate. “I love it and I can’t keep it.”

“We may have to go home, save up, and make one that’s finally for you, then. Six is a good lucky number, yeah?”

“Hee! Yeah.”

PNCA :: Untitled Magazine

scloutier — Fri, 17 May 2013 10:15:36 -0400

PNCA :: Untitled Magazine:

10:10 am

Brief Update before heading out again. Bootstrap homes is live on our school blog, Untitled…

…And we’re not going to starve. (furthermore, we’re probably not going to have to live out of a Boot ourselves when we get home!) THANK YOU RAH’S PARENTS. <3

Re:Boot - Well-slept at Last

scloutier — Fri, 17 May 2013 09:57:02 -0400

May 17, 8:53 am

Yesterday, I kept minutes on twitter, but I was not able to blog. We were very busy setting up, or we were very busy…sleeping. We got back home around 7pm New York time, showered, crashed, woke up at like, five in the morning, crashed some more. This morning, we feel a little more like human beings again.

In lieu of being able to write about it, I took some pictures of yesterday!

Getting the fish out of the studio space was initially quite easy. It slipped through the open door like a dream with an inch to spare. However, it would not fit through any of the other doors, so we had six people carry it upstairs…and through heavy construction and uneven ground because the campus was repaving its sidewalks around that area.

Nevertheless, we got it loaded into the truck, and then helped the other exhibitors with their pieces. There was a rush of activity at the convention center as everyone got registered and donned their badges and figured out where we needed to be, and then a lull as we waited for our truck to arrive.

Forklifts are a godsend. This convention space is huge.

The forklift operator was very gentle, and as he listened to our abbreviated explanation of the project he repeated some words Rah and I have heard many times from strangers: “Yeah, way things are going there might be quite the market for these in the future. I wouldn’t mind having one.”

“We could set them up for student housing,” one of our companions joked.

“No, FACULTY housing!”

This is the PALS booth, in the process of being set up. I think that might be Carolyn in the center with her laptop.

I didn’t get a chance to show the back windows of the boot with their windows in, so here they are! Rah is pondering how we’re going to get the boot onto its wheels. Luckily Paul, a fellow PALS exhibitor with very powerful thighs, was happy to help hold the thing up with them while Rah drilled the planks with the pipe suspenders in place.

Looks very good in theory. There was only one problem:

There was absolutely no way those poor wooden dowels were going to hold the Boot’s weight for long. See how the dowels bow, the wheels turn in? And the tilt of the washers?

So, one last search was made for the metal bars we were looking for. And lo, we FINALLY GOT THEM. But those are pictures for later, once we’re back at the convention center and I have a camera in my hands again. We couldn’t really celebrate the victory because Both. Of. Us. Were Dead Tired.

In a few short minutes, we’re off to the convention again, and due to the carrying capacity of Debera’s car, we may have our first New York Subway Adventure.

Re:Boot! - From the Desk of the Shambling Undead

scloutier — Thu, 16 May 2013 09:53:54 -0400

May 16, 2013. 8:53am

Rah is made of sterner stuff than I. We crawled into bed at about 3:30, and about 30 minutes ago she hauled herself back out of it and back down to the studio. She asked me if I was coming with, and I would have gone but sleep paralysis hung on for another thirty minutes. I only just now got my body to move again. Food tea and studio, and when I’m there I can post the image of where we left off last night.

9:27am

Rah has been given coffee, sugar, and chocolate, and has gone from sensible hummingbird to defcon peep. I’m going to watch closely in case she starts to get a headache, but she seems to be fine. She was here to try and meet the loading truck for the projects, which we told would be here at 8:30 am. It appears that shenanigans struck again, as the store Deb rented the truck from is closed today.

The projected loading date has been moved to 10:30 or so, and it sounds like there are some other surprises…like whether or not we’re supposed to be officially registered or not for the ICFF convention, even if we’re exhibiting. Some other people with more brain than I have to spare at the present time appear to be working on that.

Meanwhile, Anna has some help at last besides Julia from the shop and the lovely intern from last night. The woman’s name is Amanda, the man with her is her husband, and they’re associated with the remarkably well-assembled orange shapes Anna has already put together and arranged on the studio floor.

Rah is at the finishing touches stage: She is alert and productive, but she’s reached the point where she can no longer communicate very well verbally and has resorted to abbreviated games of charades.

Still. The windows are in, spot-painting of the places we missed, sink is waiting on water containers alone, stove needs a cheap 6 inch saucepan and some tea lights, if Carolyn is obliging we can stuff some borrowed camping gear in there for presentation, and the wheels need to go on. That’s it.

The Boot, by the way, is 37” wide…and the door is 38”. We will very carefully cross that bridge when we come to it.

Re:Boot STILL AT IT

scloutier — Thu, 16 May 2013 02:48:00 -0400

2:40am

Yes we bed happens but this had to Uh

Axels arranged. Everything which is not on the fish already goes on later today. Rah is pumping tires. Why is Rah pumping tires. I can no longer take pictures because the entire world is out of batteries. Rah. Raaaah. As your official sanity buddy I insist that we rotate ourselves into a landscape format. Rah? Rah?

Oh thank god. Good luck Anna. You are a gem and a miracle worker. I hope your homeless wall goes up well.

Re:Boot! FISH!

scloutier — Thu, 16 May 2013 01:24:54 -0400

1:14 am, May 16, 2013

Exhausted. Everything left to do is after we sleep. I’mma let the pictures do the rest of the talking.

Back view.

Side.

Other side.

Top.

Front door.

Fiiiiiish.

We’re gonna put windows in. Handles on. The details of the sink, stove, wheels, and fins happen tomorrow. We’re tired, we’re broke. But the thing is at least 90% done and in retrospect, it was the easiest boot to put together and it’s the prettiest one so far.

Re:Boot - Happy Accidents

scloutier — Wed, 15 May 2013 20:27:00 -0400

8:20pm

So I was helping Rah touch up painting the Fish’s butt and mouth, when I suddenly…

RAH. RAH STOP PAINTING AND COME LOOK AT THIS 8D

ACCIDENTAL STAINED GLASS CEILING!!!!

We can barely wait to break out the gold and copper accent paints. Rah is currently making some bold decisions with the gray paint on the gills.

Re:Boot! D8 LOOK OUT BEHIND YOU

scloutier — Wed, 15 May 2013 19:06:00 -0400

I CAN’T LOOK

TELL ME WHEN IT’S OVER

Re:Boot - WE'LL DO IT OURSELVES

scloutier — Wed, 15 May 2013 18:58:22 -0400

6:54pm

We could not, for love or money, find ourselves a bike hitch that fit our specifications in the four days we looked. So Rah went and made one here in the shop!

It’s basically a square metal rod with two carriage bolts on one end and two wire ring anchor points on the other. It’ll do! Back to painting orange scales on the back of the fishboot.

Re:Boot! And somma this

scloutier — Wed, 15 May 2013 18:20:45 -0400

6:10pm

Four days into the project, and Rah and I are both officially broke. But that is a tale for later. On the bright side, we have everything we need, and all we have to do left is paint this beast. Group dinner will happen tomorrow, but some amazing soul ordered pizza in for everyone who has returned to the studio to finish their projects for ICFF, so Rah and I could recharge just a little.

We managed to find some wooden dowels which will work for the axle, and a square metal rod which can be fashioned into the bike hitch. I’ve chosen to conserve our camera’s remaining batteries and wait until it’s completed to show off its paint-job. It is a delightful splash of canary yellow, cherry red, a darker red, and soon it will have orange, gray, turquoise, and finish with black, gold, and copper detailing.

More later.

Re:Boot - Bit of this and that

scloutier — Wed, 15 May 2013 14:17:35 -0400

2:07pm

Back from materials run (a very successful one, as the art store down the block is closing and we scored 14$ worth of stuff for only 6$) and Rah has been fed. She’s now busy taping up the boot while we wait.

Paint run hasn’t happened yet, but Deb should be back in about 20 minutes. We don’t know if the axel arrived yet, but Carolyn knows some people to call. No luck on the bike hitch or water jugs just yet.

Rah projects that we’ll break again at 4pm or so, and again for dinner at 6. And then back to the studios by about 7pm for as long as it takes to finish the job.

Re:Boot! - Fresh Fish is Back on the Menu!

scloutier — Wed, 15 May 2013 11:52:00 -0400

11:04am

Our amendments to the projected plan for today are as follows:

1) Rah’s camera is just about out of batteries and I don’t know how long it will last. I’m tinkering with Rah’s phone and hoping I can borrow a camera from someone else if I can’t get it to work.. Ah, okay. This will work. It’s clunky but it will work.

2) Debera is adamant about the fish design for the boot. She did not like the design I made up for it yesterday at all: too serious. (Sleep and chocolate have returned my sense of humor to me once more and I am at this point enjoying the conversation happening before me.) As I’d sort of suspected, it was the color -and- whimsy of the ~~Stupid Unicorn Boot’s~~ Blue Handprint Boot’s paint job that had grabbed Deb the most about Rah’s thesis Boots.

Deb’s words while describing what she wants to Rah at this moment are “Fresh, Painterly, Fabulous, and Fun.” This is a thing Rah is well on the way to delivering. We are attempting to coordinate the paint-run and Anna (the other builder invited here for PALS from Canada who arrived last night) has some specific colors in mind for her project: Safety orange was the first thing out of her mouth, which Debera had expressed a clear aversion to in her and Rah’s palette discussion yesterday.

Rah has suggested extension cord orange, which seems to satisfy all sides. It sounds like Black has been nixed as a color from the paint board as well, replaced with dark gray. We will buy a tube of black acrylic anyway, because some of these details demand a solid dark value in order to make them pop. Also some gold acrylic paint, because gold details make Rah happy and she’s bouncing on her heels at the thought of it.

Our coordinator feels a little more nervous today than she was yesterday: it’s hard herding artists through what sounds like a very high end furniture show. For now, Rah is hungry and we need to return paint.

Re:Boot - RESULT!

scloutier — Wed, 15 May 2013 00:42:00 -0400

12:28, May 15, 2013

Rah made a thing and it is beautiful. She’ll finish with the roofing screws on the outside, we’ll pull up the tape, and then we’re going home for the night.

It still needs its windows, wheels, bike hitch, handles, some supplies for the sink and oven, and its last coat of paint. The supply run will happen tomorrow. Resting happens first.

Re:Boot! Coming together

scloutier — Wed, 15 May 2013 00:26:49 -0400

11:20pm

I went to Luigi’s pizza place across the street for Pizza: Carolyn had recommended it, and it would take less time and energy than cooking. When I came back, Rah had made a thing! And it was looking more and more like a thing!

I was escorted into the studio by some curious campus cats, including a very handsome gent with a white handlebar moustache, tuxedo, and spats. He was not in the mood to let me have a picture of his good side though.

The next phase of the night involved a lot of taping. Here, Rah was beginning to mark up the paint guides for the design.

The helpful custodian from last night snuck into the photo above. That’s him peering through the door.

The sink has been installed, and the stove assembled. (We will need to get a grate and tea-lights as well as a water jug to complete their functionality)

And the handles and locks have been installed. This boot’s door is much easier to use than the others of the past. Measurements are tighter and fit together with cleaner joins than the past four boots.

Here, Rah is taping the sheets of coroplast together to make the outer roof.

We discovered to our delight that coroplast is cheaper, lighter, stiffer, and infinitely nicer to work with than plastex, the sheeting Rah used in earlier incarnations of the Boot. We could just tape and roll the whole thing over to tape the other side. Did this several times, and then gave the inner roof the same treatment….ack!

So, this part of the project is coming together a little faster than I can blog about it. I had to beg her to let me get a picture or three before she proceeded. This is Rah using a castoff piece of the coroplast to take measurements for the inner roof of the boot,

And this image shows all three of the important markers for one end of the boot. The top of the arch is flush with the top of the door and back wall.

And here is where she got a little too fast for me and made the cuts to the inner wall and put it in place before I could snap a shot. I understand why though: This was the neatest snap-in of any boot she’s worked on. I shared in her enjoyment, thanked her for her patience, and graciously kicked myself out so she could go in with her noise gun and screws.

And now she wants me to help with the outer roof. Hang on —

Pfff she got distracted by the inner lock on the door. Now that’s done, as well as the rest of the inner roof. Okay. Now she needs help with outer roof —

— it is 12:07 in the morning and this REALLY funny for some reason. So after we were done giggling at eachother and catching the attention of the security guard, who seemed every bit as puzzled at his presence in the room as we were, we set to work taping the outer roof down. It is NOT going to hold long, so Rah got out the drill again.

This is not the position you want to find yourself in while discovering that your drill is unplugged and the extension cable is halfway across the room. I plugged it back in for her. And this is probably why she keeps me.

Rah's Sketchblog: Re:boot! Smooth Sailing.

scloutier — Tue, 14 May 2013 21:05:05 -0400

Rah's Sketchblog: Re:boot! Smooth Sailing.:

scloutier:

8:33pm

Rah continued to work as I went to recombobulate. When I came back, the Boot had become remarkably Boot-shaped:

Rah’s in very good spirits. The drilling and screwing and caulking has been falling together fast.

These parts were put together as I wrote up the last post. Here’s…