Folding and twisting, folding and twisting, around and around. That’s what Jason Hackenwerth will be doing for over a week as he builds The Titan and the Fireflies, opening on Friday October 30 at the Skybox at 2424 Studios.

Inspired by the dramatic turn-of-the century industrial space, Curator Eileen Tognini invited Hackenwerth to create his monumental – scale biomorphic sculptural creatures made from balloons to evoke a spirit of wonder and fascination. The use of familiar and ordinary objects, yet unconventional by classical standards of art materials to create art, have long been a personal interest of Eileen’s. It’s my goal to introduce artists who use unexpected materials that will expand the definition of “what is art”.

“The ephemeral nature of an installation is an unmistakable reflection of our own lives. Because of its delicateness, it is difficult to predict how long it will last,” Jason notes about his own work, considering his medium as a metaphor for the way artists make their way into the art scene.

A New York City based artist, Jason has been exhibited internationally including the Venice Biennale, SCOPE Art Fair in London, Jang Heung Art Museum in Seoul, Korea and The San Diego Children’s Museum. Most recently Jason finished among the Top 10 competing for the largest art purse from The ART Prize in Grand Rapids Michigan where he competed amongst 1262 artists entries to win based on popular vote.

Show: The Titan and the Fireflies
New Work by Jason Hackenwerth
Curated by Eileen Tognini
Opening Party: Friday, October 30, 2009 7 – 10 pm
Exhibition: October 31- November 28
Gallery Hours: Tuesday – Saturday
12 – 6 pm

Skybox Promo from Dave Williams on Vimeo.

a new work by Aurora Robson

Opening party Friday October 15 2010 7 -10 pm
Exhibition October 16 – November 7
Gallery hoursTuesday – Saturday 12 – 6
Where The Skybox

“Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless, like water….you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup, you put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle, you put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Water can flow or it can crash. Be water my friend. “

- Bruce Lee

be like water, a new work by Aurora Robson, will be presented as a DesignPhiladelphia event opening on Friday October 15 at the Skybox at 2424 Studios, a new studio building at 2424 East York Street in Fishtown. Inspired by the dramatic turn-of-the-century industrial space, Curator Eileen Tognini invited Robson to create a monumental scale installation made from thousands of recycled plastic bottles and over 108’ long. “My work is largely about transforming something negative into something positive, recognizing and exploring potential. be like water is an installation comprised of bottles and caps that would otherwise be burdensome on the environment. Instead, I have transformed them to create what I hope is suggestive of an uplifting waterfall of light and form.” says Aurora Robson.

In conjunction with the show, invited schools, including Philadelphia public, charter, private and a community school have been engaged in collecting plastic bottle caps. Plastic bottle caps are especially problematic as they do not get recycled, and end up in landfills and oceans- likely to be ingested by birds and fish, due to the opacity and bright colors. In a joint effort to raise environmental awareness, bottle caps will be collected, and sorted by students, and then displayed at the event. Robson will then deliver all bottle caps to Aveda, located in Babylon, NY, one of the only places in the country to recycle caps.

The use of familiar, ordinary, and recycled materials, yet considered unconventional by classical standards of materials to create art, have long been a personal interest of Eileen’s. “It’s my goal to introduce an artist’s work whose use of unexpected materials may expand the definition of “what is design or art”, moreover to use design and art to show how waste by-products can be brilliantly re-imagined so materials don’t end up in the waste stream.”

Robson is a 2009 recipient of the Pollock Krasner Grant and the New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship in Sculpture and a 2010 recipient of an Arthur Levine Foundation Grant. She has exhibited internationally and has works in major public, corporate and private collections worldwide. Robson is in the process of forming an international alliance of like-minded artists, designers and architects called Project Vortex, creating a global opportunity for artists to join forces with Project Kaisei and the Ocean Conservancy to help eliminate the plastic vortexes in our oceans.

The Brooklyn-based artist is known predominantly for her large-scale works transforming bodies of waste into ephemeral uplifting works of art. She is a leader in raising environmental consciousness in the arts and was extensively featured in Art in America in October of 2009. She is a teacher and an advocate, working with young artists and youth on large scale installations comprised of thousands of discarded bottles, plastic bags and other waste. Eileen Tognini has been organizing and curating art-centered events, gallery shows, artist salons, and sculpture gardens for the last 14 years. Her work focuses on exhibiting to talents of emerging and recognized artists in the Philadelphia/New York region.

This show has been made possible by The City of Philadelphia Office of Art, Culture and the Creative Economy, and the generous support of private donors.

Eileen Tognini | DesignPhiladelphia.org

For more info

Eileen Tognini:
mobile
609 868 8270
eileen.tognini@verizon.net