At the end of April we held the VARES spring exhibition, where Ola Lewczyk, Ben Weir and the artist duo DE JENZ showcased their work done during the residency. Here are some snippets of Ola’s installation:
𝟏𝟒𝟖 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐬
found clay, sand
construction debris, sawdust, human hair and straw
water from the unnamed stream
mixed by feet and thrown by hands into wooden moulds
gave 148 bricks
They are to be fired with wood in a clamp kiln built from themselves, stacked raw bricks, fire lit beneath. Raw brick kiln to fire the raw bricks, self supportive transformative space. A living, breathing earth and waste entity from underneath our feet, a temporary structure no1.
The fired bricks bound by an earth mortar will be used to build a table in one of the rooms of the Riia 5 building, resulting in a structure no2.
148 bricks uses the process of making and firing bricks from scratch as a way to engage with our surroundings and traditional craft practices. Thinking about the materials’ past and future, it uses found materials and urban waste to experiment with a clay recipe and the means of firing. The two structures test the possibilities of the clay mix and investigate the amount of labour that goes into manual manufacturing processes.
sore muscles, gritty eyes, a good night sleep.
each step informing the next, 148 bricks table made from what there already is.
Photos by Ola Lewczyk and Nika Gabiskiria.
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