KIOSK HELLO

Matt McGregor-Mento is next up for our series of exhi­bi­tions: Wednes­day Octo­ber 29th until Sat­ur­day Novem­ber 1. Mini-Opening on Octo­ber 29th from 6 –9 pm - Have some beer,cider and cheese. Read more below! Hope you can make it! /KIOSK

Black­Cross “Fly­ing Machines”

What is it about things made with our own hand that makes them more fun to use? Why is a rough hand­made aes­thetic so appeal­ing right now? How can mak­ing an object inten­tion­ally less “func­tional” bring us closer to the pure expe­ri­ence of using that object? And ulti­mately, what is the human fas­ci­na­tion with speed — and why is our exhil­a­ra­tion height­ened when cou­pled with the sense of unpre­dictable disaster?

Black­Cross “Fly­ing Machines” is a re-inventing of three com­mon recre­ational objects.  Built crudely of wood, the ply­wood belly­board (or paipo), the ship­ping palette sled, and the sim­ple lum­ber skate­board all feel like Mid­dle School shop-class inventions.

Func­tional objects intended for use, they are all capa­ble of pro­duc­ing immense joy through move­ment and speed. But, each is flawed by design. The skate­board is too small, closer to rid­ing a mov­ing bal­ance beam. The belly­board is heavy — barely able to float — and lacks a leash. The sled is unsteer­able and has no seat. But despite, or because of, their lim­i­ta­tions, all three inten­sify the pure sen­sa­tion of speed and bring a fresh appre­ci­a­tion of the recre­ation itself.

In order to invite peo­ple into the cre­ation process, the belly­board (the most dif­fi­cult of the items to pro­duce) is also being sold in kit-form. This open­ing of the project allows oth­ers to cre­ate their own designs and dis­cover the sat­is­fac­tion and joy of using some­thing crafted with their own hands.

Matthew McGregor-Mento