October Recap > CNC Pumpkin Carving at KnowHow Shop

On the last Saturday before Halloween, dozens of de LaB friends gathered in Highland Park at the KnowHow Shop for some ghoulishly creative high-tech pumpkin carving.



Guided by our lab-coated hosts, we sawed our pumpkins in half...



...scooped out the guts...



...and chose one of several designs that the CNC milling machine would use to transform our gourd into a decorative pumpkin sconce.

 

We admit, there was something pretty creepy about letting a robot do our carving work. (Plus we had to stay clear of the CNC machine in action to prevent pieces of flying pumpkin from hitting us in the face.)



But the end results were absolutely amazing, with rich textures and precise shapes that you just can't get from old-fashioned carving.



Here, two satisfied customers show off their creations, which they etched out deeper by hand to let more light shine through. KnowHow Shop also gave everyone LED candles so they could safely hang their lit sconces.



The more advanced carvers took to the laser etcher, where they printed photos of architect faces, like this one of Frank Gehry. Or shall we say SCARY GEHRY???



The party continued into the evening, with a keg of Bloody Bitter English Pale Ale (handcrafted, of course).



Thanks to KnowHow Shop for teaching us about what they do, and for helping us impress all our neighbors with our fancy pumpkins. Let's do it again next year!

More photos are here and here. If you have any, please post them to our Flickr group!

November 17 > Samara Golden at Night Gallery > Lincoln Heights

In a quiet strip mall in a former party supply store sits the nocturnal art space, Night Gallery. Only open from Tues-Thurs from 10pm to 2am, the black-clad walls house some of the most experimental art you can see in Los Angeles. Join us for a special night at the gallery, with owners Davida Nemeroff and Mieke Marple as they explain the concept of a nighttime only gallery. We'll also be joined by artist Samara Golden, who will lead us through her show, "Rape of the Mirror," at the gallery.

Rape of the Mirror, Samara Golden, 2011

According to the gallery's press release, Golden's show is inspired by movies like The Long Goodbye and American Gigolo. "Golden constructs an architecture of luxury made entirely of silver insulation material known as Thermax. Reflective furniture, a jacuzzi and a queen-sized bed fitted with light blue sheets occupy the gallery space. A video of breaking waves crashes over the installation, illuminating the darkness while stretching the space to the other side of the earth. The gathering gloom watch as lights fade from every room with Golden's perpetual state of sunset plaguing the scene with a foreboding red hue. Night Gallery is reborn as an ocean side villa dangling from a cliff in the sixth dimension."

Join us for a late-night de Lab on November 17th (hey, it's a Thurs. You can be late for work the next day) to view the space and meet the gallerists and artists creating an alternative art scene in Lincoln Heights.

Thursday, November17

9:30 pm Meet at Night Gallery

10:00 pm Tour and lecture with gallerists Davida Nemeroff and Mieke Marple, artist Samara Golden

This event is free but please RSVP on Eventbrite.

RSVP here!

Night Gallery

204 S Ave 19
Los Angeles CA 90031
650 384 5448

There should be ample street parking around the gallery. See you then!

November 8 > Collecting Eames at JF Chen > Hollywood

Our next de LaB ducks into the showroom of legendary furniture dealer JF Chen for their latest show, Collecting Eames. The show features 425 products designed by Charles and Ray Eames, making it the largest and most diverse gathering of Eames objects in the U.S. In addition to the pieces of furniture for which the duo was best known, the show also includes rare posters, toys, and graphics, and extremely unique pieces like an Eames-designed tube radio.

Our tour will be guided by curator and editor of EamesDesigns Daniel Ostroff, who will point out some of the gems in this fascinating collection, and talk about the book which is being published about the show. You can check out more photos of the showroom here. Afterwards, we'll head across the street to Street, for eclectic drinks and savory snacks inspired by street food around the world.

This is the first event in our Eames Themes, celebrating the contributions and legacies of Southern California's greatest designers in honor of Pacific Standard Time. Stay tuned to hear about the next events coming up in December and January!

Tuesday, November 8

6:30 pm Meet at JF Chen

7:00 pm Tour and lecture with curator Daniel Ostroff

8:15 pm Walk across Highland to Street

This event is free but space is limited so you must RSVP.

WE ARE AT CAPACITY FOR THIS EVENT.

JF Chen

941 N. Highland Avenue

Hollywood, CA 90038

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October Recap > Oyler Wu's Netscape

On a breezy October evening, de Labbers gathered in the SCI-Arc parking lot for a tour of Netscape, the incredible temporary pavilion designed by Dwayne Oyler and Jenny Wu of Oyler Wu Collaborative. Dwayne and Jenny were commissioned by the school, where they both teach, to create a structure that would comfortably seat 1000 people for the fall graduation ceremony.

As the sun began to slip lower in the sky, Dwayne and Jenny explained how, with the help of 15 SCI-Arc students, they had transformed 45,000 square feet of rope, 6,000 feet of steel and 300 square feet of jersey fabric into a canopy that could gracefully shade the crowd in the early September sun.

The structure was actually knit using traditional techniques, with the students creating giant 4o-foot looms in the parking lot to make the panels of rope. The steel trusses were welded together and assembled with the help of two forklifts. The louvers, which are made from the same material as sports jerseys, were placed at the exact right angle to completely shade the structure at the moment the ceremony began.

We got to watch as the shade crept over the parking lot, right on schedule. A huge thanks to Jenny and Dwayne for taking the time to guide us through their creation. You can read more about Netscape and watch a short video about the process over at Fast Company's Co.Design.

Afterwards we walked down the street to Wurstkuche for our own mini-Oktoberfest, complete with rattlesnake sausages, truffle fries, and big old goblets of beer.

Mmmmm, beer. A few more photos are over at our Flickr group! If you have any, you can add them there.

September Recap > Neutra VDL Studio and Residences Lecture and Reception

Thank you to everyone who joined us for an incredible evening of education, conversation, and libation at the Neutra VDL Studio and Residences on September 29th. The evening was a fundraiser for the famous compound, which is currently undergoing important restoration work, and we are pleased to announce that de LaB raised more than $800 that evening!

Though the studio and residences are open to the public every weekend, we were treated to a special lecture by Leo Marmol of Marmol Radziner, the firm selected to oversee the compound's repair and restoration. Leo shared many interesting historical tales, including the fact that the original plans for Neutra's famous Kaufmann House are rumored to have burned during the 1963 fire at the VDL compound.

Thank you again to the many students from Cal Poly Pomona who acted as docents that night, as well as Interim Director Robert Alexander and Caretaker David Hartwell, for creating such a memorable evening.

To support the ongoing restoration efforts at the VDL compound, click here; to learn more about upcoming events and programs, click here. And thanks to all who attended!

October 18 > Oyler Wu's Netscape > SCI-Arc, Arts District

On Tuesday, October 18 we'll be in the downtown Arts District to check out Netscape, the temporary pavilion installed in the SCI-Arc parking lot by our friends at Oyler Wu Collaborative. Using 40,000 feet of polypropelene rope, 600 feet of steel, and 300 square feet of jersey fabric, Dwayne Oyler and Jenny Wu's creation offered shade to hundreds of SCI-Arc students at their graduation ceremony in September. Dwayne and Jenny will give us a tour of the structure and show us how they created Netscape's unique texture using 40-foot looms and traditional knitting techniques!

Photos by Scott Mayoral

After our walk through this tangled web, we'll head across the street to Wurstkuche for our own version of Oktoberfest as we dine on their exotic sausages and craft beers. This event is part of Design Week Los Angeles, a city-wide celebration of design that takes place October 15 to 23. Check out all the Design Week events here!

Netscape Tour at SCI-Arc with Oyler Wu

Tuesday, October 18

5pm-6:30pm Tour in SCI-Arc parking lot

6:30-8pm Sausages and beer at Wurstkuche

SCI-Arc (meet in parking lot)

960 E. 3rd Street

Los Angeles, CA 90013

Wurstkuche

800 E. 3rd Street

Los Angeles, CA 90013

This event is free, but please RSVP so we can get a headcount for Wurstkuche.

REGISTER HERE

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October 29 > CNC Pumpkin Carving Workshop + After Party > Highland Park

For a special pre-Halloween event, de LaB is heading to Knowhow Shop LA, the awesome DIY workspace in Highland Park, for an afternoon of CNC pumpkin carving, followed by a ghoulish after party!

For this seasonally-spiked workshop, all that's required is that you bring your own pumpkin (round, non-heirloom varieties preferred). In exchange, Knowhow Shop will be using their digital fabrication equipment (think CNC router, laser cutter and engraver) to help us create architecturally patterned Jack-O'-Lantern sconces. The afternoon will culminate in drinking, music by Paul Grain and prizes for either best costumes (that's right, come dressed to impress), or best Jack-O'-Lantern sconce!

Photo by Scout Regalia

Knowhow Shop LA is a collaborative workspace and design studio providing tools and expertise to design practices, professionals and enthusiasts. Founded by architects Joshua Howell, Justin Rice and Kagan Taylor, Knowhow Shop is now run by Justin and Kagan, whose design agenda stems from their crafts-person's sensitivity, genuine good humor, feral strangeness, and belief that what they make can redirect their discipline from the hyper-digital to the real-surreal.

CNC Pumpkin Carving Workshop + After Party

Saturday, October 29th

3:00-6:00pm Workshop

6:00pm-Onward After Party

Knowhow Shop

6019 Echo Street

Los Angeles, CA 90042

This event is free, but space is limited, so please RSVP!

REGISTER HERE

We'll have some beer and snacks onhand but if you have any seasonal treats, we'd love it if you could BYOB some pumpkin beer or candy corn.

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