Kiki Brown Bear

He Dreamt of Spaceships

Kiki Brown — Tue, 11 May 2010 02:02:56 +0000

Intoxicated by fantasy, he rose
excitedly, hurriedly
shaking me awake. The expanse
of our blankets peeling back

sends chills down my skin. Still
under the veil of night
his lips explode in fumbling mumbles. Utterance,
only half understood. He wakes to tell me

he dreamt of spaceships. Thrilling intergalactic exploits
with me by his side. In league,
shoulder to shoulder, lips to lips
we take up arms.

Victorious in a dreamt struggle
he wakes to share the thrill of blood,
exhilaration of the win. Delighted
he pulls me in and breathes.

I feel his smile on my neck
as I clasp him too. An intimacy
that can’t be mistaken. Yet I am not courageous
enough to tell him my own.

Utilize Part 1

Kiki Brown — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 08:38:36 +0000

Elissa and I have been working on a project for the last few weeks we’re just wrapping up now. We’re calling the project Utilize. Since I’m about to sum up the past 15 or so weeks, I’m going to have to do this in installments.

via flickr

We were inspired by Kudzu, which is an invasive plant. It was brought to the US in 1876 to the Centennial Exposition at erosion cover and livestock fodder. In the 30′s it was being subsidized by the government, and planted all over. By the 70′s Kudzu had grown out of control and finally in 1997 put on the Noxious Weed list by Congress. So, needless to say, Kudzu is crazy and smothers anything in its path. It’s super prevalent in the South due to a “perfect storm” of growing conditions, no natural enemies and negligence. Kudzu requires constant harvesting to control its rapid spread.

However, Kudzu is a super awesome, beneficial plant too. Its edible (full of nutrients – something like 24% protein) and has uses medicinally. It can be processed into an ethanol, paper and even a fiber for weaving (which is why we love it). Kimonos in ancient Japan before they found Silk worms, were made of Kudzu.

We found this great book that has sort of been our bible for this project. Sadly its out of print but available on google books.

Any way, Liss and I found some really great people in the South to collaborate with and/or advise, befriend, inform, help, etc. us. Thanks to conversations with Crop Mob, Kudzu Kollege, Elsewhere Collaborative, Jay Gamble, Alix Bowman and her Goat Patrol , Junco Sato Pollack (Kudzu/Fiber artist) and other various community organizations we met along the way, we have forged on to create something we’re both really happy with and can really apply and adapt to any invasive plant.

In a time of depleting natural resources, there are many under utilized and unwanted resources. By collaborating with available communities to utilize abundant “waste” materials (Kudzu in this case), we can help control devastating invasive plants while building a healthier relationship for the community and its local fauna.

We worked along side sustainable eradicators (controlling without chemicals) in North Carolina to eradicate and harvest the vine. We did this on Jay’s land, practicing surgical root crown removal. Strategic grazing would probably work just fine too. Basically, land is fenced off and goats roam and eat up the Kudzu to kill it. The last thing they go after is the vine itself which is the piece we need to make the fiber. If processed correctly, the length of the vine is the length of the fibers you get out of it.

This is all I can handle right now. Stay tuned.

“Goodnight Moon”

Kiki Brown — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 07:17:42 +0000

1. a small lidded jar full of little razor blades
a model of a unit I never realized full scale
a silver danish duck, carved wood, head turned about, peering behind himself
leaves of a spider plant sprawled about
abstract, almost like feathers, red, yellow, orange leather earrings made by a friend
an ever growing heap of high heels by the front door
wet red dishes drying by the sink
over flowing heap of dark clothes by the dresser, needing to be laundered
the slight greening of the inside of my turtles tank
a lone twig amidst the sand at the bottom of the tank
the cinnamon overpowering the chocolate of my winter soy drink
abstract golden bird bookends, over exaggerated long necks
a wax owl, aging into white
a crumbled bridesmaid dress of a wedding I wasn’t invited to and didn’t attend laying on the floor
the dress is weaved golden ribbons and golden christmas ornaments
a turquoise and pink corset draped across the floor, forgotten with the relief of freedom and breath
ginger root at the bottom of a white ceramic mug
Average, off white, plastic fork with longer than usual tines
little squares of paper filled with tiny handwriting
a travel mug, green paint peeling, showing age and use
red faux leather wallet, thick and heavy, over filled
white jar of creamy, orangish hand lotion
white take-out container, probably used to house chinese food, now full of penne covered in sauce
black headphone wires, twisted and knotted
white shell with brown spots, wrapped in a thin silver case to make my ring
faceted small diamonds, refracting light into my eyes

Haikus

Kiki Brown — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 07:27:36 +0000

Quiet city tide
Subsides under toe nail moon
Darkness
_________
Cheeks flushed, tired eyes
Pacing to be the breeze
That won’t ever come.
_______________
Junkie grabs his face
With one hand at his jaw
Looks at the sky and screams
________________
The cigarette between his lips
Dangling
Where I want to be

Back to the future…

Kiki Brown — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 16:48:00 +0000

Classes have started back up again and I’m as busy as ever. There are some really cool, interesting projects I’m working on right now that I can’t wait to finally post about.

Our design theory class has begun keeping a blog of our responses/thoughts/concerns to articles we’ve been finding. We’re trying to find out who we are as designers while becoming more articulate along the way. We would love to hear other opinions are get feedback on our writing, anything to fine tune our styles.

Our senior class is also working on a multidisciplinary project right now. We’ve synced up with multimedia seniors and the first and second year industrial design grads to tackle real issues for real clients. I’m working with a group aiming to help the UArts finance department more efficient, for lack of a better definition. It’s been fascinating so far, getting to know the people involved. If you want to follow this project, you can check it out here.

In our Professional Communications class we’ve been learning graphic techniques to further our communication skills. We’re currently working on a video project/advertisement.

Hey, RED Design is on the phone

Kiki Brown — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 14:32:21 +0000

“A call to action.” RED is a UK firm practicing interdisciplinary, human centered design. Recently, for the UK design council, they’ve made a series of proposals including a new design practice, Transformation Design. I’m very excited about design “on the cusp of a new phase.”

Transformation Design has evolved at a time of shifts; cultural shifts, climate changes, “user revolution” (ordinary people have taken design into their own hands). It calls for a new design structure.

This summer I was working on an interdisciplinary team to build a curriculum for a five week interdisciplinary project between our ID class, the graduates and multimedia we’re currently working in. We meet with Neil Kleinman for conversations on design. I don’t know if he’d read RED’s call to action, or if it had been published yet, but he was talking about similar shifts in design. Both Kleinman and RED mentioned the old linear design process of breaking problems down into a “smaller and smaller chunks” to a silo structure. This new structure is hierarchical but non-linear. Complex problems can’t be solved one way, they need to be viewed/tackled from many angles/levels.

These new ideas were thoughts I’d had in passing but never dwelled on them. The conversations from this summer and in reading Transformation Design, have really resonated with me. I’m still trying to wrap my head around it all and trying to figure out how to apply it to my future work, in school and into professional practice.

-Kiki

Magic Isaiah Zagar

Kiki Brown — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 01:47:30 +0000

If you’ve ever been in Philly you have undoubtedly seen the work of Isiah Zagar (pictured above). His murals are featured all over the city, especially on South Street where his main studio, museum and wife’s gallery are. His work is made of trash picked items, items he’s given and paints over and tiles he makes himself. One of his son’s made a movie about him recently which had been traveling around the country, shown on HBO last night and will be available on DVD next month.

Anyway, Isaiah is a close friend of Warren Muller, the light sculptor/co-owner of bahdeebahdu. Warren liked the work I did on the silverware screens (which have finally been installed) and introduced me to Isaiah. Now I’m his “little helper.” When I have free days I help him with his studio needs; clean, cut tile/mirrors, mix cement, etc. We’ve been having some fun. He’s a very interesting guy with a lot of interesting things on his mind. I snapped these photos the other day while I was making some tiles.

Better Silverware Screen Images

Kiki Brown — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 18:41:28 +0000

These detail photos RJ took of the screens while I was still making them. They’re better at showing the screen than the photos I have below. I’ll show them again when they’re installed. More photos of the screen on my flickr.

Ali

Kiki Brown — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 16:37:52 +0000

While writing this post I’m listening to N’Timbara. I wanted to share Ali with everyone reading this post but couldn’t find a copy of the song. So watch this instead.

My new charger still hasn’t come in the mail yet. I’m starting to get anxious.

Stacker Nightstand/Side Table

Kiki Brown — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 17:45:10 +0000

During winter break I began designing a stackable nightstand or side table for small spaces and frequent movers. I want the legs to be sturdy but easily removable if the user was moving it would take up less space. I realized however, people rarely take their furniture apart once it’s together. So that is no longer a priority, but still on my mind. The original design also had a back “pocket” meant for cable management. I also took that out in the more recent redesigns to make the whole piece more minimal and require less material. I think the resulting product is very elegant. I’m very open to critique.

As it stands now, the table would be made of 3/8″ with 3/4″ Birch Ply legs. The model is Birch Ply. I love the way the layers look on the drawer face. All my early sketches and renderings were of various woods and Plyboo. The legs still need to be extend wider for more stability.

Stacker (first design), Plyboo and brushed steel

Deconstructed for moving

Close up of the outlet compartment in the back

Newer Stacker design