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Art
& Entertainment
Artists For Function in the Navy Yard
by Jennifer Needleman (jenn@brooklyneagle.net)
published in print 03-16-2004, online 03-17-2004
BROOKLYN NAVY YARD - After years
of producing furniture, interior architecture pieces, wall
panels and decorative crafts for the insider set of the design
industry, Susan Woods is ready for some show and tell. As
the namesake for her Brooklyn Navy Yard studio, Woods has
been hard at work for years learning how to find that happy
place where form meets function, and as of February 27th,
the public now has a place to check out the goods.
Aswoon, a "design and fabrication
collective"
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The Brooklyn
Daily Eagle
March 16, 2004
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an outcropping
of the Susan Woods Studio, features a showroom which displays
the work of several affiliated artists, designers and craftspeople.
The Susan Woods Studio, which encompasses an impressive space
on the second floor of a building deep in the Navy Yard, is
equipped for work in wood and metal. In addition to using the
space for her own work (one-of-a-kind objects, sculptures,
industrial prototypes and the like), Woods has taken on the
consuming task of coordinating a loose team of other artists
in order to tackle larger commissions.
Aswoon, which had been emerging
organically for several months before the opening of the
showroom, already has a few impressive items on its CV, including
the raved-about drop ceiling in the downtown Manhattan super-club,
Plaid. Aswoon's work at Plaid, the construction of which
Woods remembers with more than a single sigh of exhaustion,
is an innovative matrix of bowed and latticed wood that seems
to splash across the ceiling like a breaking wave.
"Aswoon works on several tiers,"
said Woods, who has an impressive CV of her own, including
half a lifetime of professional training at renowned institutions
like the Montserrat College of Art, the Sculpture Center
and the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts.
"We have designers who make
objects,"
continued Woods, "We do large-scale jobs like the nightclub
which involves several people - from the engineer to CAD
workers to craftspeople."
Woods sees her latest venture as
a way to efficiently capitalize on the varied skills of the
people she has met through her own work. Woods also intends
to promote Aswoon through scheduled events at bars and galleries
throughout the city.
Although the difficulty of actually
getting inside the Navy Yards might make Aswoon a little
bit of an insider's club, Woods is hoping that more "regular
people" take the opportunity to come down to the showroom.
"I would love to have visitors
from the public," said Woods, because for many years
she has dealt directly with industry professionals -interior
decorators, architects, gallery owners and the like. Woods'
style is both highly well-groomed and entirely on target.
She uses recycled or discarded materials - remainder scraps
from the lumberyard and the flimsy particle board/ply wood
made for merchandise crates. Her designs are modern but not
sleek, crafty but not quaint, woodsy but refined. Having
trouble picturing this aesthetic? That's because it's unusual
- and has emerged from years of hard work - Woods spent her
extended time at school "building the figure, up and
down."
Woods has constructed, for instance,
a screen made from handfuls of wood chips affixed to each
other in a roughly two-dimensional way and framed traditionally
with solid wood edges. She has made art out of a wood panel,
also framed like a painting, which can be used as a "wallcovering" for
restaurants, businesses or homes, and makes an understated
comment about the relationship between high-art and design.
She finds new textures and patterns by stripping away layers
of ply wood, exposing glue and its effects on the natural
material.
"It's all very landscapey," said
Woods, "my work is very painterly, even my sculptures." The
two-dimensionality of Woods' work is more than just an obvious
trademark - it makes for an easy segue into the more business
oriented world of interior and industrial design. After steadily
moving from fine arts into the world of crafts, Woods came
to a conclusion."I decided that if I'm going to go craft,
I'm going to go big. I'm going to make everything big and
everyone is going to be impressed," Woods told the Eagle.
It seems the tactic has worked.
Woods and Aswoon have been featured in The New York Times,
Elle Décor, Time Out New York, Paper Magazine and
The Daily News, just to name a few.
Some of the prototype items that
are available or soon to be available through Aswoon are
a fish tank-turned toilet, a chair that becomes a shower,
several modern pieces of furniture, paintings, and household
items like lamps and decorations.
Although you need an appointment
to see Aswoon in the flesh, you can certainly visit www.aswoon.com
for a little taste, or to get more information on Susan Woods
and her entourage of design professionals.
© Brooklyn Daily Eagle 2004
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