IICE III
Materials & Applications Invitational Ice Construction Event 2007
January 6th - 7th, 2007
Saturday: 12 - 5 pm
Sunday: 12 - 5 pm
The Rochester Art Center in Minnesota will host the third annual ice construction event led by Materials & Applications, a Los Angeles-based architecture and design research organization. Architects and artists invited to participate will construct temporary forms and structures of ice on the Rochester Art Center grounds over the weekend of January 6th - 7th, 2007.
Unlike typical ice constructions that use blocks of ice to build more traditional structures, or use blocks of ice as a solid medium for carving sculpture, the constructions will take advantage of two properties of water: its fluidity while in a liquid state, and its strength in a solid or frozen state.
Inspired by the work of Heinz Isler, the renowned Swiss engineer of thin shell concrete structures, who since 1955 has been experimenting with ice in his winter garden, M&A and the invitees hope to further explore thin shell construction. Using a garden hose, a spray attachment, and rubber coveralls, Isler creates both beautiful sculptures and functional shelters in ice. He sets up simple supports in the snow, drapes them with a light mesh fabric, and sprays them with layers of fine mist until an icy shell forms.
He explains that there is only one rule when playing with the transformation of water into ice; "one has to listen and obey what the water/ice wants to do!"
In this spirit of creative play M&A will recreate some of Isler's experiments and create some new ones at the Rochester Art Center in Minnesota. Last year's event brought together innovators from the various disciplines of art, architecture, and industrial design to produce stunning results using weather balloons and great skeins of lightweight mesh. In 2006, the experimentation will continue!
In these experiments, the pieces created will stay until the heat of the sun melts them away, gradually changing their contours and beauty as they go through the process.
An archive of the IICE events from 2005 and 2006 that includes photos and news spots from KTTC and KAAL can be found on the Materials &Applications website.
If you would like to participate, please
contact M&A :
or Scott Stulen at the Rochester Art Center:
sstulen@rochesterartcenter.org
or call (507) 424-3309