UNCONVENTIONAL CARTOGRAPHY

This interconnected series of site-specific art explores the notion of urban mapping, layered with geometries that reflect the design of the adjacent plaza. Compositionally, the artist has carefully curated and modified objects that not only integrate themes of business travel, but also the types of conventions hosted here, such as the Chicago Auto Show, the National Restaurant Show, C2E2, etc.

Spraypaint donated by Design Masters.

Thanks to Erin Murphy for paint texture treatment.

Ceiling installation for an office in Chicago’s west loop, described as “an otherworldly inverted coral reef”.

Collaborators:

_Pooya Mohaghegh (Kentucky)

_Samuelle Green (Pennsylvania)

_Jeremy Rise (Washington)

Assistants:

_Kyle Hefferman

_Ian Firestone

_Maxx Ludeke

_Sonya Gregory

_Terry Pomponio

Embodying the client phrase “information flows like wind”, this lobby showcase and adjacent hallway mural are designed to exist independently, while also speaking to each other through a common vocabulary.

This concept celebrates how technology and social media have and will continue to transform the way people connect with the world. The graphic figures represent humanity, the tangential lines and forms symbolize connectivity, and the 3D elements suggest “youth culture,” which the artist considers to be social media’s lifeblood.

Collaboration with Caleb Freese.

This installation, consisting of 7 layers of plywood, mdf, and colored acrylic, results in a unique collage of abstracted local mapping, patterning, and floral imagery. A complex array of steel rods strategically support the artwork’s floating panels, which were all precisely computer-cut. As a result of this collaged layering, one finds limitless discovery and depth within subtle translucencies.

CNC-cutting: https://chrisknightcreations.com

Laser-cutting: https://www.mhubchicago.com/

"Ludes in Urbem"

Lobby installation in lobby of Wilson Sporting Goods’ global headquarters.

Collaboration with Caleb Freese.

This custom art installation features a six-layered composition that blends history with modern design. The exterior layers showcase silhouettes of iconic airport architecture and detailed aeronautical elements, while the interior highlights structures from O'Hare International Airport. The outermost layer, designed as translucent ‘clouds’, encapsulates the essence of flight. At the center, a grid of ‘dots’ transforms into apples upon closer inspection, paying homage to the site's origins as Orchard Place—once a hub of apple orchards and a WWII plane manufacturing plant.

Without electricity, human life does not exist.

At the very core of our physical being, the human heart can be found continuously sending blood throughout the body. A heartbeat occurs when the atria and ventricles work together, alternately contracting to pump blood through your heart. The power source that makes all of this possible - electricity.

Deep within the heart’s interior, an electrical impulse starts with a small bundle of specialized cells (SA node), which causes the atrial walls to contract. A similar cluster of cells between the atria and ventricles (AV node) acts as a gate that slows the electrical signal before it enters the ventricles. From there, an intricate pathway of fibers, known as the “His-Perkinje” system, sends an impulse down the ventricle’s muscular walls, causing them to also contract. The result is a fascinating rhythmic synergy known as life.

The urban electric grid has proven to have a pulse of its own. By gathering electricity from a variety of sources and distributing it through a complex network of “feeders”, the power grid supplies and regulates electricity in a similar manner to the heart. The result is a large-scale example of “biomimcry” - the abstraction of one of nature’s sustainable systems. Like the electrical fiber network that keeps the heart beating strong, the grid continues to light our path and power our lives.

Welcome to the Grid of the Future Lab, where ComEd tests emerging technologies before field deployment, while supporting research efforts to enable a smarter grid. The objective is to build an intelligent network that accommodates to rapid changes in energy production and consumption while providing a highly reliable “always on” service.

Electricity is the inspiration for the sculptural form that surrounds you. This installation becomes an inhabitable translation of the body’s most important life system. Similar to the ‘‘His-Perkinje’ system (shown below in an electron microscope image) twisting and turning through the heart’s walls, you will find an open network of panels undulating across the structure itself. Once “inside”, an artistic collage represents the complex and intricate layering inherent in the grid itself.

Much like the human heart powers our very existence, electricity powers our society. And ComEd supports this vital service for a growing and evolving world.

3D modeling assistance: Pooya Mohaghegh + Travis Spears

This ‘archipelago’ of undulating felt forms was created to dampen peripheral sound for certain areas of the space where tours are given. Then the floor and wall graphics acted as clear way-finding to help navigation during these tours.

Thanks to Turf (turf.design) for the cutting + labelling of the sound-acoustic rigid felt material shown here.

3D modeling assistance: Pooya Mohaghegh

Installation assistance: Paul Leisen of Walnut Spaceship

This installation was conceived, created, and fabricated by Christophe Gauspohl + Mario Schambon as an official commission from the 2011 Descours art + technology expo in New Orleans. Spanning almost 50' in length is a recycled cardboard canopy suspended by hundreds of feet of tie line. This undulating organic gesture was intended to contrast the classical orthogonal nature of this historic bank building. The spatial dialogue is completed through inter-illuminated organ structures which are composed of over 2700 hand-scrolled vellum pieces. 

ARTichoke PROJECT (a new urban constellation)

This installation was conceived, created, and fabricated by Christophe Gauspohl + Mario Schambon as an official commission for the Make Believe competition in Chicago.

This project (like the vegetable it references) is a multi-layered, inter-connected concept that addresses the exploratory nature of complex forms in space, while encouraging the public to interact and “peel back” its elements to reveal a greater purpose. The installation proposed fuses a variety of mediums - architecture / sculpture / lighting / fashion / graphic design – all creating a unique narrative that engages its immediate audience while reaching a much broader audience.

The primary installation consists of the following “layers” - a large morphing structure composed of hundreds of repurposed lath pieces twists through the front of the space, a series of resin-molded mannequin torsos suspended as a window display, each with a glowing light source inside, a small part of the larger morphing structure which continues on the outside as if to penetrate the glass.

The secondary installations consist of the same mannequin torsos now “dressed” as a wearable art utilizing scrap material within each of the 6-8 neighboring stores.

[CREATION OF FORM]

The gravity-defying sculptural form will systematically and structurally address the tension between architectural space and the human form. It becomes the agent that ”re-activates the space”. It begins as a wearable garment that wraps one of the mannequins and extends back into the space through a series of undulations - a deconstructive “parasitic” gesture contrasting the white-box space. The resin mannequins act as reminders of a once-ornamental boutique stripped of its outer layers now revealing a more simplified/pure underbelly. The amber glow of the interior “heart” of the torsos creates a colorful contrast to the cool colored fluorescent lighting of the organic form. This end result will emerge as a melding of art, architecture and design with the intent of fostering the viewers awareness of this dynamic and symbiotic relationship.

[INTERCONNECTIVITY]

The idea of this urban “constellation” refers to a geographic network, which exists on both macro and micro levels. The broader nexus of independent businesses that house one of the secondary installations all become star-points within the constellations that all then refer back to the nebulous central storefront project. This not only introduces a “know thy neighbor” approach by encouraging store-owners to make a rare visit to meet their peers, but it helps the formation of an actual abstract graphic map on the storefront glass, which then has a direct interplay with the evolving form growing within it (and possibly an interactive element that the public participates in).

 [ECO-FRIENDLINESS]

The installation is almost entirely comprised of found objects. The lath is repurposed from a house only two blocks from the site. The torsos are molded salvaged dress forms. The lighting will include energy-conserving fluorescent bulbs and tubing. The paint used will be donated from a certified green eco-friendly boutique and UNscene client. All elements within the project have come from other uses and will be repurposed after their life in the space.

[EMPOWERMENT + OPPORTUNITY]

This project harnesses its collaborative nature. The various other specialists that will work on this project with me will be welcomed to participate in the creative process as the idea evolves. In addition, an exciting opportunity lies in the conception of each store’s torso projects. This process engages employers and employees in the challenge of creating a visual piece that embodies the stores identity. It also welcomes the public to explore the neighborhood to visit each of these project sites, which will ultimately generate exposure and business. In the end, all mannequin projects are brought together in the storefront space to help complete the installations greater purpose. The narrative unraveled.

“Swarm of Bats” is a site-specific installation composed of 400+ Louisville Slugger bats. The bats were stacked and staggered using a complex 3D-modeling program that calculated hundreds of exacting hanging points. The ‘swarm’ chaotically undulates through the lobby, as it begins to find order within a wall-mounted rack. This rack mimics the famed ‘bat cave’ at the Louisville Slugger factory, which houses bats from most of the all-time great baseball players spanning the full length of the game’s history.

3D modeling assistance: Pooya Mohaghegh

Installation assistance: John Preus

Collaboration with Caleb Freese.

Miscellaneous site-responsive installations.

Maculele is an afro-Brazilian dance and martial-art often practiced alongside capoeria. In this "warrior dance", multiple people gather to perform a rhythmic, high-energy ritual that builds over time. It is currently practiced throughout the world. 

Maculele is primarily a form of revolt derived from repressions that occurred during the Brazilian-Angolan slave trade. It exercises warrior combat training tactics disguised as tribal dance. It uses "grimas" or wooden sticks as a modern metaphor for ancient weapons. By rhythmically striking the sticks both together and with other performers, a fierce interplay of offense and defense forms a game that moves in chaotic spatial patterns. 

Our installation embodies the spirit of maculele. Like acrobatic forms twisting through the space, we explore the journey of the dancing warrior in motion. This non-linear undulating gesture demonstrates a sort of motion-captured translation of human movement. The wooden lath becomes the kinetic limbs lunging and spinning. The lights become illuminates "grimas" that are repititiously pulling away and striking. 

In relation to the installation, the audience is forced to play this same game of attack and escape through basic interaction with the space. Having to actually bend down and reach around in order to circulate within the space, the audience performs its own dance. 

Our choice of materials for the piece was a conscious effort on a number of fronts. First, the idea of working with salvaged, locally-sourced lath, a construction material no longer used, is a physical evocation of the past, in the same way maculele conjures a century's-old warrior dance into a new interpretive art form. Second, by working with lath, we have repurposed one of the most elemental materials as a "weapon" of design, which is analogous to the primal wooden sticks used by maculele dancers. 

This installation aims to systematically and structurally address the tension between architectural space and the human form...coalescing light, architecture and performance with the intent of fostering the viewers' awareness of this dynamic relationship. Through the use of salvage building materials, the public is invited to experience an immersive, site-specific environment. 

This kinetic installation, conceived, created, and fabricated by Christophe Gauspohl + Mario Schambon, was a finalist for Chicago's largest art prize in the Art Loop Open competition in Chicago.

As the largest piece in the competition, the form fused thousands of feet of repurposed lath into a swirling gesture bound by neon fabric. Strange tubed umbilicals created a secondary system which seemed to lead into the building's infrastructure - and ultimately led to a butterfly-clad conical space seen only through the outside windows.  

Additional artistic assistance came from Aaron Goland and David Candelaria.

This piece was created for the Elysian Ball [speakeasy erotique].

Orchestrated as a modern interpretation of a classic speakeasy concept, this event showcased a well-curated variety of erotic-based performances in conjunction with interactive installations, fashion exhibits, video art, spoken word and more. 

Extravagant theatrics and performances fused various artistic mediums into a spatial narrative. A 9,000 sq. ft. loft space in Chicago’s West Loop was transformed into a circus-like environment which welcomed the audience into a deeply sensual environment combining old world sensibilities with new technologies, conjuring a winter escape of wonder and spectacle. 

The Elysian Ball is an interactive exhibit which encouraged guests to come dressed in costume or creative formal wear, making actors of audience members...all within an installation designed to delve into the primal and visceral interpretations of erotica. A team of accomplished multi-media artists and performers created a unique landscape designed to bridge the gap between high-design and entertainment, between the ancient and the modern. 

This piece was created for the Elysian Ball [speakeasy erotique]. 

Orchestrated as a modern interpretation of a classic speakeasy concept, this event showcased a well-curated variety of erotic-based performances in conjunction with interactive installations, fashion exhibits, video art, spoken word and more. 

Extravagant theatrics and performances fused various artistic mediums into a spatial narrative. A 9,000 sq. ft. loft space in Chicago’s West Loop was transformed into a circus-like environment which welcomed the audience into a deeply sensual environment combining old world sensibilities with new technologies, conjuring a winter escape of wonder and spectacle. 

The Elysian Ball is an interactive exhibit which encouraged guests to come dressed in costume or creative formal wear, making actors of audience members...all within an installation designed to delve into the primal and visceral interpretations of erotica. A team of accomplished multi-media artists and performers created a unique landscape designed to bridge the gap between high-design and entertainment, between the ancient and the modern. 

This sensor-based audio installation was conceived, created, and fabricated by Christophe Gauspohl + Peter Gogarty, for the M5 Flora event in Chicago.

CAFEteria [a pop-up cafe + laboratory] was conceived, created, and fabricated by Christophe Gauspohl + Doc Sanjurjo, and was awarded best-in-show for the 2011 Guerilla Truck Show held annually in Chicago's West Loop.

Made entirely of repurposed materials, this project was a play off of the school science lab. Guests entered, picked up huge cafeteria trays with a hole drilled in the center, and were served a shot of expresso and a mini-cupcake, both combined within a large plastic test tube. These were served with medical tongs by costumed (labcoat + medical gear) baristas. The test tubes slid perfectly into the holes in the absurdly over-scaled trays. 

Thanks to Bleeding Heart Bakery + Metropolis Coffee for their generous donations.