Iridescent Cloud is a grouping of acrylic prisms and stainless steel rods which is suspended above the ground by a series of delicate high-tensile cables strung between three massive hexagonal columns. The prisms create a shifting, shimmering projection on the surface of the surrounding plaza and grass that is constantly changing with the light and seasons. Demiurge has previously worked with Haddad | Drugan on Sun Spot, completed in 2010 at the Denver SPCA.

Original Artist Maquette (left), First Draft 3D Print (right)

To Fulton Ross, the work is about Opa-locka itself. “I met so many women who were heads of households, nurturers who had good and bad memories of the city, and this piece is a kind of tribute. Art transforms neighborhoods, and one day, Opa-locka might be full of artists’ studios.”

The residency will include access to shop space, design services, technical expertise, in-process media and documentation, vendor contacts, and other technical elements dependent on project. Demiurge will also provide input, information, and feedback to artists regarding the private gallery and public art process as appropriate.

Elements of the application:

1. Cover Letter

• Please describe why the residency would benefit you, how you would use the opportunity, and what you would produce.

2. Project Proposal

• How the piece relates to a body of work.

• What show/ commission/ exhibition the project is for.

• Expected Budget for the project.

• Expected Schedule for the project.

• Expected source of funding for the project.

• Why the piece cannot be fabricated by the artist.

• Materials and Processes being considered.

• Preliminary Visual Information - sketches, drawings, photographs, maquettes.

3. Current CV

4. Brief Artist Statement

5. 10-12 images of previous work

6. 3 Project-Specific References

Package all materials as a single PDF document and send to abby@demiurgedesign.com.

Residency Call PDF download

Relocation before and after.

Demiurge recently hosted artist Amber Cobb at our Denver studio as the first artist awarded the Demiurge Sculptural Fabrication Residency. Cobb was at Demiurge to collaborate on the planning and fabrication of her piece, As I Adapt. As I Adapt is a fine concrete casting of a full-size mattress and box spring. The complex nature of casting a piece of this scale requires precise timing and diligence throughout each phase of the process. Demiurge worked with Cobb to strategically plan each step of the mold making and casting process along with the necessary logistics to transport the large piece.

Creating oversize castings is time and resource intensive, and Demiurge was excited to host and have a resident with such a difficult fabrication process. After preparing the mattress for mold-making by sealing the fabric, the mold rubber was applied. The first coats were several layers of a less viscous brushable two part urethane rubber, followed by thickened coats of the same rubber applied until a sufficient wall thickness was achieved.

The inner urethane rubber mold was then structurally reinforced with an expanding polyurethane foam inside a reinforced mother mold box. With the mold cured and properly supported, the original mattress was removed and the mold cleaned, and prepared for casting.

With the mold finished, the project team could now focus on preparing for a concrete pour. The reinforcing bar and metal hardware mat were prepared and dry-fit within the mold, as was a large wooden box essential to making the piece a lightweight concrete shell instead of a solid casting. Integrated with these support structures were detailed connections designed to facilitate the safe and efficient transport and loading of this work.

With the support and reinforcing structures complete and dry-fit, we were ready to pour the concrete. A special blend of fortifier, Portland cement, and fine aggregate was used to ensure the piece had a high cured strength while retaining the fine level of detail on the completed piece.

The casting process is rarely simple or quick and having a thorough understanding of materials is crucial for creating a piece of this complexity. Demiurge prides itself on not only having a comprehensive understanding with a multitude of materials but what often sets us apart is our ability to adapt these materials to suit a creative concept.

From artist:

“Concrete is a rigid material utilized to create foundation and stability. The most admirable quality of the material is its ability to absorb the surrounding elements. It endures the harshest conditions by slowly adapting to rising and cooling temperatures. The mattress is at once a haven and a place of repressed anxiety. When we lay down to rest we are at our most vulnerable state: exposed, unguarded, and defenseless to the world. In a form of altered consciousness we lay ourselves bare. While awake we are rendered resilient. Through alternating states of awareness and slumber we are tempered to the world.”

As part of the creative community we strive to support local artists like Amber Cobb through our Sculpture Fabrication Residency program. This program allows Demiurge to assist emerging artists through a single specific project. Cobb’s piece - As I Adapt can be seen at RedLine in Denver from June 1st - July 28th, 2013. Check back with our blog for information about upcoming residency opportunities, or contact abby@demiurgedesign.com.

From the Artist:

“It [Distortion] is representing spatial connectivity, visual effects and geometrical references of Cedar Rapids.

The contemporary artwork is developed as a contrast to the architecture of the building introducing a synthetic balance. The sculpture is represented as a distorted field condition connecting the past to the present and the future. The colorful pattern allows for multiple readings and a playful ambiguity between surface and openness. The material choice of colored Aluminum highlighted with a spectrum of multiple colors is a balanced towards the interior qualities and tonality of the Convention Center atrium.”

The richness and complexity of this piece required superior project management and digital workflow; projects such as Distortion with large quantities of unique elements require careful workflow and production design. To that end, Demiurge developed a small piece of custom code to read the 3D model the artist produced and output a spreadsheet for precise bending of the aluminum sheet, as well as coordinating and labeling all of the parts. Demiurge also took advantage of our close vendor relationships to ensure the parts were cut to precise tolerances and labelled before leaving the waterjet table to keep our workflow intact. The parts were then precisely bent using the code-generated spreadsheet, assembled into the finished pieces, prepared, and painted using paint codes selected by the artist and digitally checked in Adobe Illustrator using our large color library. The piece was crated and shipped to Cedar Rapids where our installation team met the piece and installed it over the course of three days. 

This piece, with all its complexity and precision, is an excellent example of the use and benefits of digital design, digital fabrication, in combination with the workflow and manufacturing integration Demiurge implements with every project.

Volkan Alkanoglu is the founding principal of Volkan Alkanoglu | DESIGN LLC  whose works have spanned the globe and received both national and international recognition receiving awards for art installations, product design, visionary building designs and sustainable environments. We are excited to continue working with Volkan on his public artworks. In addition to the Cedar Rapids project, we are currently fabricating Quill Motion, to be installed at the Salt Lake Community College in Taylorsville, Utah at the end of May 2013.

Grasshopper is a graphical algorithm editor which integrates with Rhinoceros, an advanced 3D modelling and production software. Grasshopper enables artists and designers to harness the power of generative scripting and computer programming to simulate natural physical processes. The possibilities afforded by the use of this software are as vast as the physical world we live in. Grasshopper can perform complex simulations of biological processes, cellular automata, and physical forces, as well as other processes which can be described using mathematical equations.

Grasshopper demonstrates a wide variety of modelling and design approaches by the the mass customization of artistic components through digital fabrication. For pieces with repetitive elements, it enables the preview of many different iterations of placement, spacing, and organization before a single part is fabricated. 

Grasshopper allows artists to capture the true nature of objects because the design can be “grown” in the same way, using the same rules, as the physical object the artist is trying to emulate. This creates all the nuances and uncertainty of these natural objects with a minimum of time invested, empowering the artist to focus more on composition, color, location, and the business of securing art commissions.

Behind the scenes, Grasshopper permits us to automate large parts of the production process which saves considerable money and time over traditional methods of fabrication, and ensures the highest possible quality in all of our produced work. Cut sheets are generated and exported to Excel spreadsheets from models automatically. Updates to one element propagate throughout the project, eliminating the need to re-draw components and with them, the chance of error. Workflow can be optimized for a variety of digital outputs, including integrated toolpath generation for CNC systems and Additive Manufacturing on our in-house 3D printer.

Excel Cut Lists

These advanced design capabilities, long the purview of academic research laboratories, enable Demiurge to transcend the role of art fabricator to offer conceptual design in addition to our construction design services. By partnering with Demiurge on your next sculpture proposal or installation, you can utilize the knowledge and expertise of our designers and fabricators as well as our advanced design software and techniques to give you capabilities far beyond what has previously been applied to public and private art commissions.