June 13, 2011
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today’s song?  we are totally inspired by autoprogettazione, the diy furniture project by enzo…

mari by martin rev

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gosh we love the Soap Factory.  we are very grateful.  they helped us do our project a simple chair (returning home) which was commissioned for Northern Spark, the first annual nuit blanche style all night art festival. a simple chair was a performative based project about making things and exploring the meaning the objects around us are capable of having.  we acquired an 80 year old hackberry tree the city of minneapolis cut down.  we made chairs from its wood on the roof of the soap factory.  our work was only visible via our shadows which were broadcast on some grain silos about a block from the gallery.  our profiles were probably about 30 feet tall and like most of the chairs we buy, you could only imagine how we were building them.  when they were finished, we lowered them over the side of the building, slowly, evoking the imagery of a flag being retired, we saluted the chairs and honored them.  people cheered.  music was played.  we then gave the chairs a parade or procession.  we walked them, on sedan chairs back to the place they lived as a tree. we enjoyed every minute of it. .

gosh we love the Soap Factory.  we are very grateful.  they helped us do our project a simple chair (returning home) which was commissioned for Northern Spark, the first annual nuit blanche style all night art festival.

a simple chair was a performative based project about making things and exploring the meaning the objects around us are capable of having.  we acquired an 80 year old hackberry tree the city of minneapolis cut down.  we made chairs from its wood on the roof of the soap factory.  our work was only visible via our shadows which were broadcast on some grain silos about a block from the gallery.  our profiles were probably about 30 feet tall and like most of the chairs we buy, you could only imagine how we were building them.  when they were finished, we lowered them over the side of the building, slowly, evoking the imagery of a flag being retired, we saluted the chairs and honored them.  people cheered.  music was played.  we then gave the chairs a parade or procession.  we walked them, on sedan chairs back to the place they lived as a tree.

we enjoyed every minute of it.

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heading up to the roof.  that’s ROLU’s mike brady. .

heading up to the roof.  that’s ROLU’s mike brady.

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we had to run a test to make sure the whole system would work. .

we had to run a test to make sure the whole system would work.

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a simple chair … hanging. .

a simple chair … hanging.

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testing complete! .

testing complete!

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we made “sedan chairs” with red velvet to carry the chairs on. .

we made “sedan chairs” with red velvet to carry the chairs on.

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it was time to start!  all systems go. .

it was time to start!  all systems go.

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the chairs were ceremonially lowered over the side of the Soap Factory via an amazing wooden crane.   .

the chairs were ceremonially lowered over the side of the Soap Factory via an amazing wooden crane.  

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some of our friends from the band Communist Daughter played music for the procession in honor of the chairs.  they were awesome. .

some of our friends from the band Communist Daughter played music for the procession in honor of the chairs.  they were awesome.

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the folks from the Up Take, an online news service were broadcasting our procession live on the web.  our numbers were starting to shrink here though.  we’d walked about a mile and a half and folks were bailing! .

the folks from the Up Take, an online news service were broadcasting our procession live on the web.  our numbers were starting to shrink here though.  we’d walked about a mile and a half and folks were bailing!

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jjjjustin and some cheerleaders in the background.   .

jjjjustin and some cheerleaders in the background.  

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in the end though, it was just ROLU (matt olson, mike brady, sammie warren and tim campbell) along with our friend justin mckinley and sam gould, who contributed an essay to the newspaper.  we sat with the chairs and talked.  we were happy and tired.  it was about 4am. .

in the end though, it was just ROLU (matt olson, mike brady, sammie warren and tim campbell) along with our friend justin mckinley and sam gould, who contributed an essay to the newspaper.  we sat with the chairs and talked.  we were happy and tired.  it was about 4am.

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we left the chairs in Riverside Park near the place the wood lived in its previous life as a tree.  they were both gone by noon the next day.  we hope they live a great life. .

we left the chairs in Riverside Park near the place the wood lived in its previous life as a tree.  they were both gone by noon the next day.  we hope they live a great life.

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