Zack Weaver, an ATLAS lecturer who played a key role in establishing the ATLAS BTU Lab, stands in front of Maker Made 2020. Weaver is a creative technologist at BLDG 61: Boulder Library Makerspace and a curator for Maker Made.
A group of six artists and technologists connected to the ATLAS community contributed to Boulder Public Library’s Maker Made 2022, which runs through March 28.
Who: Everyone is invited
What: Maker Made 2022, a gallery show celebrating the diverse and inspiring work by local makers.
When: Runs through March 28. The exhibit is open whenever the library is open.
Where: Canyon Gallery, Boulder Public Library, 9th Street and Canyon Boulevard, Boulder
Cost: Free
“There’s no better way to celebrate a period of creative output than a party and a show-and-tell, and that’s what Maker Made has become,” says Zack Weaver, one of the show’s curators and a creative technologist at BLDG 61: Boulder Library Makerspace. BLDG 61’s makerspace provides maker education to the public for free in an “inspiring and inclusive environment.”
Weaver, an ATLAS lecturer who played a key role in establishing the ATLAS BTU Lab, says inspiration for Maker Made dates back to his days as a Carnegie Mellon student of Professor Mark Gross, now director of the ATLAS Institute. Gross, along with university colleagues organized annual exhibitions, similar to the ATLAS Expo, Weaver says.
The ATLAS Connection
Creative Technology and Design graduates Luciano Mejia and Chaz Golin helped curate Maker Made 2022. Hired as "Contract Killer Creative Technologists" in late 2021, the two were major contributors to the show’s success. For exhibits by members of the ATLAS community, see below.
ATLAS community exhibits featured at Maker Makes 2022
Invisible Visible by Celeste Moreno
Celeste Moreno, an ATLAS PhD student with a long relationship with BPL as a coding mentor and workshop instructor, created “Invisible Visible,” laser-cut rubber and hand-carved linocut stamps printed with black ink on paper. The prints feature diatoms, microscopic algae that produce much of the planet's oxygen. Images of diatoms were isolated from micrographs (photos of microscope slides) and were laser-etched into a rubber stamp material, allowing the real forms and textures of the diatom to be visible, Moreno says.
Abandoned Resonance by Slaton Spangler
Slaton Spangler, who as a computer science undergraduate was very active in the ATLAS BTU Lab, created the “Abandoned Resonance” installation from recycled plastic and repurposed electronics. Spangler is now a software engineer with LASP; his interaction design skills first landed him at Meow Wolf, Santa Fe. The exhibit is described as "a derelict aural structure, unknown in purpose and age.” Touch the copper accents to hear it sing, Spangler says.
9 Stories, 2016-2021 by Steven Frost
Steven Frost, (they/them/their) faculty director for the B2 Center for Media, Arts & Performance, created the exhibit “9 Stories, 2016-2021” from cotton, acrylic, t-shirts, chenille, churro wool and fancy yarn. Frost says each of the nine weavings serve as a journal entry describing their travels and work; for the exhibit they utilized found or bought materials from Berlin, Colorado, Scotland, New Mexico and Alaska. Each story was made on a laser-cut loom, with the open-source design altered so the loom could fit into a sketchbook. Since creating the loom in 2016, the artist has made hundreds of tiny weavings to document their travels.
Frost is a long-time friend of the BLDG 61, Weaver says. Frost hosted camps, taught scores of workshops, and collaborated closely with BLDG 61 for years, in addition to being part of the Library Commission, Boulder Library Foundation and Boulder Library Champions, groups that steer the library's mission and sustainability goals and align with Frost’s goals of equity, diversity and inclusivity.
Yoked Samurai. Found Egg Cartons by Chaz Golin
Creative Technology and Design graduate Chaz Golin often uses recycled materials in a desire to practice climate-conscious methods of making. Yoked Samurai was constructed from found egg cartons, and offers a peek into the whimsical objects of Golin's sculpture practice. More of his projects can be found online at chazgolin.com, or on Instagram @chazgolin. "Exploring a myriad of materials and fabrication methods is central to Chaz Golin’s playful sculptural practice," Weaver says.
Boba Fett Helmet by Zack Weaver
Zack Weaver says his Boba Fett* Helmet exhibit is "simply the giddy realization of a childhood dream, made possible by amazing 3D printers at BLDG 61.” At the ATLAS Institute, Weaver taught "Object" in 2020 and is currently teaching "Creative Technologies" to the “coolest grad students in all of academia,” he says.
*Boba Fett is a fictional charactor and armored bounty hunter featured in both the original and prequel Star Wars film trilogies.
