Over the next few days I will be re-producing the SMASH REPAIR project for the gallery Platform 21 in Amsterdam. This version, the largest Martijn and I have designed so far, uses a system of tiles, threaded rod and nuts for the repair of its structure. Each tile, and also the base structure, shown above, includes a pattern of breaking lines, to steer the breakage around the bolt holes and, hopefully, produce interesting patterns.
The very nice laser cutting was done by Dutch company Pronty.
Of course, part of the fun in this project is the “SMASH” part, so for this I have built a “smashing platform” from steel tubes inserted into a white plinth. When we built the last SMASH REPAIR, one of the problems we faced was the control of this aspect; sometimes the bricks would break the supports, completely crushing the structure.
Not that this was bad, but it slowed down the process. My plan this time is to stop the falling weight at the point where the horizontal supports are welded to the steel tubes.
Yesterday my assistant Kyoko Hashimoto and I began the first assembly of the structure, and I made special tools to attach and remove the nuts and rods. Today, we make the first smash.
