new york NEW YORK

Columbia GSAPP
critics: François ROCHE & Ezio BLASETTI w/ Farzin LOTFI-JAM

suckerPUNCH: Describe your project.

Carson RUSSELL & Mengna MIAO: Against the extreme heat, we bring extreme cold, against the wall of molten rock, we engage with icy water. It is a battle we cannot win. A loud engagement, characterized by the cracking of petrifying rock over the hissing of evaporating water. The result is fragile, bound to fall victim to corruption by the continuous advancement of the lava.

Magmatic Contingencies is an exploration of a kind of battle of impermanency. A swarm of robots inhabit a volcanically active icelandic glacier and spray super-cooled water into the advancing magmatic field. The result is a delicate and charred latticework evident of the struggle between the two extremes.

sP: What or who influenced this project?
CR & MM: François Roche, Ezio Blasetti, plate tectonics, Kuka robotics, and hexapods

sP: What were you reading/listening to/watching while developing this project?
CR & MM: Reading Deleuze; listening to A$AP Rocky.

sP: Whose work is currently on your radar?
CR & MM: Kokkugia, Jared Tarbell, and Casey Reas.