Mike Simi
Mr. Weekend, 2010

Robotic arm, custom software, fabric, 2 channel audio
15 x 7 x 8 ft.
Courtesy of the artist

 

Mr. Weekend from Rodrigo valenzuela on Vimeo.

Art Liestman
Pillars of Antiquity, 2011

Scorched big leaf maple wood
Courtesy of the artist

These wall mounted pillar forms are evocative of old decaying buildings, ruins from an ancient civilization, or simply eroding geological formations. The form is still visible, but it is deteriorating. They have an aura of antiquity. At the same time, although they look something like old stone or brick buildings or rock formations, they also celebrate the structure of the wood they are made from. Each of the pillars is a single piece of wood and, if you look closely, you will see the grain patterns and individual fibers of the wood.

The pillars are first shaped using various tools and then textured. The texture is produced by cutting into the wood and breaking off chunks. Breaking exposes new surfaces, revealing the actual fibers in the wood. In this particular piece, the surface is then scorched with a propane torch to give the illusion of aging and to highlight the wood structure. There are two other series of these pillar forms. In one, the forms are bleached to look like they have weathered in the sun while in the other variation they are colored with graphite, giving the illusion of stacked slate or coal.

Nancy Callan
Bee Butt Swarm, 2011

Blown glass

Christian Burchard
Fragments #9, 2005

Pacific madrone, bleached, sandblasted
Courtesy of the artist

"Fragments #9 exploits the multiples concept with intriguing results. Assembling thin slices of warped madrone timber into a grid like composition, Burchard creates works of variety and visual character. The language of the wood, including knots, color grain, texture, warped surface and contour, along with the relationship of individual pieces to each other and to the whole, offer a provocative visual experience." -- Mark Richard Leach

Etsuko Ichikawa
Traces of the Molten State, 2008

Glass pyrograph
25.6 x 51 feet each
Courtesy of the artist

The Seattle-based artist is known for her "glass pyrographs," ethereal drawings made by literally painting with the fire and smoke emitted from hot molten glass. Her pyrographs are just one way in which Ichikawa captures fleeting moments – both in the physical and emotional world. The light and airy Museum Forum features three large-scale pyrography scrolls made specifically for BAM as part of her first museum solo exhibition.

Photo: Richard Nicol

Peter Pierobon
Chair Stack

Bronze

Peter Pierobon is a sculptor inspired by the natural beauty of the Pacific Northwest and the art of the Inuit, African, Northwest Coast Indians and the Aboriginal Australian cultures. His goal is to create objects that are delightfully functional and at the same time sculptural in focus. The chair literally mimics the human form as it offers support to the human body. The chair also departs from this function through exaggeration (four legs) as it engages it metaphorically.

Julie Speidel
Miach, 2004

Sandstone and bronze
84 x 16 x 16 inches

Miach was inspired by Speidel's visit to the Avebury Stone Circle in Wiltshire, England. The Avebury Circle is the largest stone circle in Britain, dating back to 2,500 BC and cloaked with mysteries that archaeologists have only begun to unravel.

The length of time for the main continuity of use of the Avebury complex throughout the Neolithic and Early Bronze Age was, according to present dating studies, around 2,300 years. This lengthy span of time and the vast size of the whole complex give testimony to the fact that the Avebury temple was perhaps the most significant sacred site in all of Britain, if not the entire continent of Europe. Miach, made of sandstone and bronze, represents the power and life inherent in the stones of Avebury.