Carbon fiber fabrication
We’re not masters of making precision-molded carbon fiber parts.  But we are totally masters at stretching, sculpting and folding the material into really cool looking flowers with beautiful finish inside and out, with interfaces to connect to the stems.

Whit and Brett with Carbon Garden prototype flower and sign

Our process is quick and repeatable, laying the carbon fiber over custom molds that we’ve copied with a vacuum former, or just some beach balls.

Aldo and Sarah work in the garage flower nursery

Erik Walker has been leading the charge here with Brett Levine, MaryAnn Hulsman, Eric Nguyen, Jascha Sohl-Dickstein, Mark Abel, Matt Silvey, Tony Godshall, Sandy Martino, Sara Chieco, Sarah Oitzinger, Aldo Franciscolo, Andy Lee, and Gia Alam.  We are reinforcing 11 blooms, making more, and getting ready to install LiveSpark Flame Elements.

Using the ShopBot CNC Router down at TechShop we can cut precision drawings into beautiful glossy carbon fiber sheets.  We just ordered a diamond end mill that will make for even faster and cleaner edges.  Andy Lee and Erik Walker on CAD are building models for new geometric petals and metal part drawings ready for the CNC plasma cutter and sheet metal brake.

We’re experimenting with carbon fiber threads and sleeves to make “grass” and other interesting flower shapes and stems.

Making carbon fiber "grass"

Interaction and Music
Mary is building Max/MSP software to control flower fire behavior.  Bash is building a sensor array to detect when people enter and leave the garden.  The flowers will have two modes: one for when no people are around and another when people enter.  JD is writing original music that is really zen and blissed out.  The music will be triggered dynamically and layered with other sounds for five channels of audio (one for each flower patch).

Mary develops interaction software

Stems!

Whit Bissell, Ian Baker and Nicole Aptekar are working in the blacksmith shop at The Crucible on steel stems.  They have been taught to use the forge, bending tools and power hammers by Chris a master blacksmith and teacher there. The results are stunning.  Beautifully textured steel pipes, bent into organic curves.  They have already made 24 4′ stems and are planning to build 8 more 10′ stems out of even larger diameter pipe.

Whit, Ian and Nicole working in the blacksmith shop

The largest power hammer moves a 100LB weight up and down, smashing the red hot steel pipe. Fun danger.

Events
We are slated to bring 20 flowers to American Steel for Sand by the Ton on July 11: http://www.headlesspoint.com/sand, where not so coincidentally False Profit will be DJing on the Symbiosis stage with our flowers.  July 15-18 we move our flowers down the street in Oakland to the Fire Arts Festival.  We leave for Burning Man on August 29.

This entry was posted on Friday, June 19th, 2009 at 1:14 pm and is filed under Uncategorized.