MARY MATTINGLY “WETLAND”

WetLand

Artist Mary Mattingly participated in the 2014 Fringe Arts Festival with her installation “WetLand,” a mobile, sculptural live/work habitat that floated on the Delaware River. A combination of art, architecture and ecology, Mattingly incorporated rainwater harvesting, gardening, performance space, and living areas into the project. RAIR sourced materials for the project, including irrigation for the floating planters, window frames for exterior of structure, tires for the dock bumpers, and miscellaneous components such as netting and tubing. For the programming during the installation, RAIR also connected Mattingly with resident Kaitlin Pomerantz for a workshop.

MEEI LING NG ‘GROW FOOD WHERE YOU LIVE’

Grow Food Where You Live

“Grow Food Where You Live” is the name of the 2014 project that Social Practice Lab artist Meei Ling Ng created to inspire residents and stakeholders of Chinatown North / Callowhill to establish small garden plots and, eventually, a central community garden. RAIR worked with Meei Ling to source materials for this project including a large metal hoop and connected her with resident Carrie Mae Smith’s “Want Knot” boat, which was repurposed as a planter for this exhibition.

GEOFF SOBELLES ‘OBJECT LESSON’

Object Lesson

Geoff Sobelle’s “Object Lesson” is a theater production that examines the relationships people build with the objects that accumulate around them. The show has won numerous awards including the 2014 Carol Tambor Best in Edinburgh award. The 4th staging of the production (and the 2nd of which RAIR has sourced materials) will premier at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in November 2014. The bulk of the “objects” in this show were sourced from RAIR and include dollhouse furniture, domestic kitchen wares, stuffed animals, armor, pottery, player piano scrolls, a chandelier, and an assortment of other ephemera

MOHAMED BOUROUISSA ‘HORSE TUNING EXPO’

Horse Tuning Expo

Artist and documentary filmmaker Mohamed Bourouissa invited RAIR to be among a selection of artists asked to design and construct a themed costume for a horse in a “horse tuning expo” in July 2014. The horse tuning expo was a two-part event, in partnership with Philadelphia’s Fletcher Street Urban Stables, that first showcased the skill of the equestrian riders in an obstacle course and then the artistic style of the horse/rider pair. RAIR sourced materials for the obstacle course and was paired with owner-rider PeeWee and horse Rosie for the style part of the competition. PeeWee and Rosie’s costumes were made from discarded rolls of metallic red and silver film plastics, which were made into streamers for the horse, rider and their accompanying drum line. The partnership resulted in the team winning first prize in the competition.

ALEX DA CORTE & JAYSON MUSSON ‘EASTERNSPORTS’

Easternsports

Longtime friends and first-time collaborators Alex Da Corte and Jayson Musson created a major new commission for the ICA in 2014. Featuring lesser-known strengths in their practices—video for Da Corte and language for Musson—Easternsports is a four-channel, loosely episodic narrative with discreet cameos by the artists, both of whom have deep Philadelphia roots.  For the final scene of the video installation, RAIR donated the horse armature built for Mohamed Bourouissa’s “Horse Tuning Expo” project and introduced Da Corte to Philadelphia resident Pee Wee and Rosie the horse.

ABIGAIL DEVILLE ‘SHE TAKS TO BEETHOVEN’

She Talks to Beethoven

New York artist Abigail DeVille worked with RAIR to source materials and fabricate the structure for her set design for the She Talks to Beethoven production at the Jack Theater in Brooklyn in 2014. Modeled after Richard Serra’s “Intersection II,”  parts of the modular set have since been reused in some of DeVille’s later sculptures. The underlying structure was built from salvaged wood and hardware in RAIR’s studio then transported to Brooklyn to be clad with an array of detritus also sourced from RAIR.