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County CollectionSouthwest Building and Safety Permit OfficeDrop-In DistractionArtist:
Ball-Nogues Studio
Date:
2009
Region:
Gateway/South LA
District:
Second
Location:
Southwest Building and Safety Permit Office
1330 West Imperial Hwy Los Angeles , CA 90044 Department:
Public Works
 
Photos by: Joshua White | Click for larger photos
Project DescriptionArtists and architects Benjamin Ball and Gaston Nogues of Ball-Nogues Studio created a suspended sculpture, Drop-in Distraction, for the Southwest Building and Safety Permit Office lobby where engineers, architects and contractors, among others, apply for construction permits. Drop-in Distraction expresses the artists’ desire to blur art and architecture. Composed of over one thousand individual nickel and brass plated bead chains hanging from custom-made aluminum ceiling panels, the work exemplifies the artists’ experimental and inventive approach to sculpture. While light-weight and diaphanous, the sculpture has a voluminous and undulating presence intended to intrigue the waiting clientele. Ball and Nogues developed custom software to determine the form of the sculpture, manage the chains, and expedite the cutting of the bead chains. This software-generated design made for a simple fabrication process and an efficient installation. In an August 2009 Los Angeles Times interview, Ball explains that they like to produce sculptural forms that enhance the “atmospheric, the sensorial and the spectacular. . . That's one of the things about architecture -- the sensation and feeling that it can incite in the viewer.” Drop-in Distraction is the first permanent public art commission for Ball and Nogues.
About the ArtistBenjamin Ball and Gaston Nogues of LA-based Ball-Nogues Studio, began their practice together after having met as Sci-Arc undergraduates. Prior to partnering in business, Benjamin Ball worked for several Los Angeles architecture firms including Gehry & Associates and Ramer Architecture, and Gaston Nogues worked as a product designer for Gehry Partners. As a Studio, Ball and Nogues have completed designs and installations for the New York Museum of Modern Art / P.S. 1, the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art and Materials & Applications. In the fall of 2008, they were invited to install their artwork, Echoes Converge, at the 2008 Architecture Biennial in Venice, Italy. High Resolution Downloadable Images View photos of studio visit and reception |
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