The Washington Post Magazine columnist Kris Coronado spent the day in the Washington Glass School this week, interviewing Erwin Timmers for an upcoming article on recycling and environmentally conscious artwork.
Above & Below: Washington Post photographer Benjamin Tankersley photos artwork made from recycled glass components.
Erwin talked wth Kris about his background in sustainable design, and how the growing awareness of the limits to our natural resources has led to a greater appreciation and interest in work made with environmentally responsible materials. Post photographer Benjamin Tankersley set up a full photo backdrop to properly document Erwin’s eco-artwork. The Washington Post article is due out in the paper in early June.
Safeway has started construction of a new supermarket in Bethesda, MD.The new store will be a LEED certified supermarket as Safeway is committed to the greening of its stores. Besides going green, the supermarket will be built to what Safeway calls the urban “lifestyle” market, with high-quality urban design. Safeway is one of North America’s largest supermarket chains with more than 1,700 stores.
As part of the project, Safeway commissioned the Washington Glass Studio to integrate artwork into the architectural façade of the building. The wall of artwork will activate the street along the Bradley Street façade, and marks the first public artwork commission by the national supermarket chain for its stores.
The cast recycled glass and steel artwork is integrated into the architectural façade.
Over 30 feet long and 9 feet high, the glass and steel artwork will be a strong element located in Bethesda. The new building design will act as a “civic gateway” to Bethesda‘s Central Business District (CBD).
Responding to the architectural design by Rounds VanDuzer Architects the large scale artwork will feature colorful cast recycled glass made from glass salvaged from the original Safeway supermarket on the same site. Ecoartist Erwin Timmers had slogged thru the site demolition, removing glass for the artwork. Erwin’s integration of reconfigured and recycled components has made him a leader in sustainable design and he continues his work in multidisciplinary LEED projects.
Cast recycled window glass sample of custom “fresh herb” design for Safeway.
Above is the “bay leaf” pattern.
UPDATE: Click HERE to jump to images of finished project.
>Our Guru of Green – Erwin Timmers – will be spreading the word of eco-art to the great free State of Texas.Erwin will be teaching a Recycled Glass workshop at Hot Glass Houston.
Erwin’s class will be in Mid-October and the class will cram as many techniques and ways of kilncasting recycled glass as possible!
Don’t Mess With Texas.
For those of you who aren’t in the Lone Star State – you can take the class here at the Washington Glass School – click HERE to jump to the class description.
Materials: cast recycled window glass, steel. Dimensions: 70″ x 50″ x 16″
The beautiful dark green glass with gold highlights was recovered from the construction site of a Virginia office building where the building was undergoing a cosmetic updating of the facade. The spandrel glass discarded from the old building was used as the basis of the cast glass panels.
About the exhibition: “Excess and Environment”
The presence of excess exists in our day-to-day lives, but often hides behind masks of disposal systems, social acceptance, and misinformation. This exhibition explores the idea of the impact of our excess on our natural environment both visually and theoretically. The art involved will relate to mass consumption and waste’s effects on the environment. Art using these excess materials as a medium will also represent this concept of sustainability in the midst of excess.
Excess and Environment
Opening Reception:
Friday, April 16th 2010
7:00 pm to 11:00 pm
AE Studios LIC, 39-06 Crescent Street, Long Island City, Queens, NY 11101
(One stop on the subway away from Midtown Manhattan)
Detail: images of panels depicting the 1980’s and 2000’s
According to the artist, the series, What We Leave Behind was conceived from the viewpoint of an archaeologist, who might, centuries from now, uncover artifacts from our era.Just like the archaeologist, you are looking down to uncover the items.Elements are recognizable from the various decades … objects once in popular use but now resting in landfills.
The title of the work is based on the book about our culture of excess and the impact our trash will continue to make long after we are gone: “The World Without Us” by Alan Weisman.
The profits from the art sold at this exhibit will be split between the artists and Art for Global Justice, so that we may sustain the local artist community and keep Art for Global Justice’s youth workshops and art exchange program going.
