Claude Collins-Stracensky Interview

"Intersections of public and private enterprise, interaction and perception. It’s the structural dynamics of systems and how we see them that’s the fuel for the work. It’s success is in enabling a viewer to leave with an insight or better lit understanding of the dynamics at play in nature, the systems around them, and be able to apply that to how they see the world around them."

-Claude Collins-Stracensky





High Desert Test Sites "To find common ground between contemporary art and localized art issues. To contribute to a community in which art can truly make a difference. HDTS exists in a series of communities that edge one of the largest suburban sprawls in the nation. Many of the artists who settle in this area are from larger cities, but want to live in a place where they can shape the development of their own community. For the time being, there is still a feeling in the air that if we join together we can still hold back the salmon stucco housing tracts and big box retail centers. Well maybe."








From where did you arrive at the idea of your HDTS installation?

I'm always acutely aware of water when I'm in the desert. I'm made to feel very porous hiking out there. HDTS is a great context and opportunity to work with how we use water (something I've been working with more lately). The particulars of the sculptures came from a survivalist technique I came across a while back that with three simple things you can make distilled potable water from your own urine, and survive in the desert for some time.


Describe your project for HDTS 2011

I’m making two glass Obelisks that function as public water distillers, or water fountains for the arid climate. The ‘fountains’ look at our understanding and relationship with public sculpture and our relationship with water. Installed as permanent structures, they will act as markers to the ingenuity and resilience we have for aesthetic adaptation to our environments and circumstances. the fountains function as public water distillers powered by the sun. Using the method of vapor distillation, the ‘fountains’ purify liquids contained in the “grey water” basin – liquids such as contaminated water from plastic bottles left in the sun, “grey waters” like saltwater, to even human urine, are converted into potable H2O.

The design of the ‘fountains’ allows “grey water” to evaporate from the basin and collect on the inner lid of the sculpture. The condensed evaporation is collected through gravity and funneled into a cup by the ‘V’ shaped inner lid. Within an hour or so in desert conditions, a full cup of distilled water can be safely poured into your personal water canteen and drunk. Instruction glyphs will be etched on the sculptures side to instruct the user on how to interact and use the ‘fountains’.


Where specifically are these works located?

Two Sculptures in two spots. One near the HDTS Office in Downtown Joshua Tree, and the other deep in the Wash Hiking Trail in B.L.M. desert, in a place you could find yourself really needing water. -


Is there a story behind this work?

There is a quasi-narrative I suppose - or a structuralist framework that will be played out each time the work is encountered and interacted with – the work will bring out individual characteristics in how each person utilize or interact with the work, specifically, how they see themselves in relationship with their neighbors and community. The work sets up the potential for some very intimate encounters with our instincts for survival, both personal and communal, with water as a resource for communal and/ or personal usage/ survival. The sculptures can be used for the good of the next guy or for your personal survival, and how you interact with it, how you leave it, will show you something.





What are the materials?

They’re glass, reclaimed architectural skyscraper glass and new food safe glass for the functional parts. The top is mirrored to reflect light for visual marking from a distance, and is functional keeping the condenser lid cooler than the base to encourage a quicker evaporation and condensation return. There are a few stainless steel parts for function as well – or an overall look of a very peculiar Tech-Egyptian looking device that will need to be explored first hand to be understood.


How would you personally describe High Desert/Mojave area?

Sublime, speckled with Stucco.


Is your work a permanent installation? And if so, how will it change with time? Will the harsh environment of the desert play a factor?

We are fundraising through USA Projects now to enable donating the two works to HDTS and the town of Joshua Tree. We aim to make the works permanent and to be owned by the community there. We’ve made a group of editions as part of the project, and to help support it. (here) The work is designed to withstand the natural conditions of the desert, though its longevity will be through the care and upkeep by the people who interact with them as a public utility, or monument.


How does your HDTS project relate to your ongoing practice as an artist/designer/etc.?

My work is generated by intersections of public and private enterprise, interaction and perception. It’s the structural dynamics of systems and how we see them that’s the fuel for the work. It’s success is in enabling a viewer to leave with an insight or better lit understanding of the dynamics at play in nature, the systems around them, and be able to apply that to how they see the world around them.


Future projects?

I’m working on creating a rainbow, or breaking down the sun’s light spectrum with water from the Owens Valley in Los Angeles.










Claude Collins-Stracensky was born in Lakewood, Ohio in 1975 and lives in Los Angeles. He received his MFA from the University of Southern California in 2003 and his BFA from the Cleveland Institute of Art in 1997. His solo projects include; the Hammer Museum, Galleria Nicoletta Rusconi in Milan Italy, Kantor/Feuer Gallery in LA, and Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions (LACE). In 2003, he had a two-person show at Anna Helwing Gallery in Los Angeles, and has been included in group exhibitions at The Museum of Contemporary Art PDC, Los Angeles; Cherry&Martin, Los Angeles; Sister Gallery, Los Angeles; Le Magasin, Grenoble, France; and Taxter & Spengemann, New York, among others. Working under the CollectiveField he coordinated Spatial Expanse, The Oneness and The Suchness, a performative event at The Hammer Museum in connection with his solo show there. He has also participated in a number of group performances, including 88 BoaDrum with the Boredoms at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and Into The Vacuum at the Hammer Museum with Jim Shaw. Collins-Stracensky is currently working on solo, public, and group projects in Los Angeles, Milan, San Francisco, and New York, as well as projects with the CollectiveField.




HDTS 2011 October 15-16
Take a day-trip to Joshua Tree today.... Get lost, refuel the mind.



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Scout Regalia Interview for YHBHS

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"We strive for a sense of timelessness in our aesthetic, and we have a vision of design that is neither sterile nor too fussy. As designers, we want to create spaces and products that engage people in meaningful ways and encourage a two-way dialogue in a sense. " - Scout Regalia

"YOU ARE HERE. TAKE ONE. LEAVE ONE. "

One of the joys of YHBHS is the constant introduction to designers in the Los Angeles area. And sometimes, introductions lead to friendships, as in the case with Scout Regalia. At the moment, it feels L.A. is teaming with designers pushing forward multiple conversations of space, architecture, interiors, and furniture design, as well as what it means "to live" in California: "the city of quartz" or the "city of dreadful paradise." (you decide)

Scout Regalia "celebrates the inherent design of everyday living," and their studio name can be translated as “humble ornament”- an homage to finding the splendor in something austere and simple. Their studio and home is hidden away in the Echo Park hills with stretching views of the sun-drenched city below. It was the perfect place to understand "why they do, what they do."

Benjamin Luddy & Makoto Mizutani met in grad school at SCI-Arc in Los Angeles. Individually they have worked in the design offices of Space International Inc, Roman and Williams, Local Brooklyn and M1/DTW. When I asked about the difficulties of moving a design practice from New York to LA, they told me their office flourished creatively. "In fact, our SR Outdoor Table Set was designed when we realized we needed a picnic table for our yard. A lot of our work is inspired by thinking about what people might need or want for their lifestyle. Living in Los Angeles and being able to enjoy the outdoors has definitely been inspiring in our design thinking."

Their latest project at HDTS is opening this weekend in Joshua Tree! Go check it out!
- David John







What is your project for HDTS this year? Where is it located?

Our project is called “Trail Registry” and is inspired by the registries found at trailheads. We created this registry to help delineate the entrance to the Pioneertown site, which is full of sculptural pieces but is difficult to find if you don’t know where you’re going. The registry encourages people to leave and/or take a memento tied to the enameled aluminum rods, similar to the way people leave rocks in a pile at the top of a mountain or leave artifacts near trailheads. We’ll have some messages tied to the enameled rods, but we really want to encourage people to leave their own messages and objects on the registry. We hope that this creates a sense of exploration and personal narrative of both the site and the area as a whole. Trail Registry is inspired by totem poles and nudie suits, with representations of the variety of flora and fauna of the high desert. The registry is made of Doug Fir that has been CNC milled to create the form, and includes an aluminum strip in between the "front" and "back" of the two vertical totems, creating a juxtaposition between new and old materials.


Let's talk about those nudie suits.....

We wanted the totems to include some influences of the desert and the West. We really like the representation of nature found in Nudie Suits and the western wear by Manuel. One of the most famous Nudie Suits was the one worn by Gram Parsons, who died in Joshua Tree in 1973. We thought that all those visual influences would work well with the registry.

"In the late 1960s, Gram Parsons became enamored of Joshua Tree National Monument in southeastern California. Alone or with friends, he would disappear in the desert for days searching for UFOs while under the influence of psilocybin or LSD. " (here)

What is HDTS, and how did you become involved with this project?

High Desert Test Sites is an incubator for some really interesting work in the desert communities of Joshua Tree, Pioneertown, 29 Palms, and other surrounding areas. Since 2002, they’ve had weekend events full of experimental art. Recently they have also introduced architecture and design projects as well. We were brought on to participate in HDTS 2011 through Brooks Hudson Thomas, who has been such a supportive advocate of young designers in Los Angeles. He has given a lot of designers, including us, a chance to showcase work through his Specific Merchandise site, Product Porch, and now as a curator for this year’s HDTS event. We are really honored to be part of the weekend with so many talented designers including WELCOME, ROLU, and Von Tundra, and Ball Nogues.


What is the mission of Scout Regalia?

Scout Regalia is a Los Angeles based, multitasking design practice obsessed with the design and fabrication of space, furniture, home products, graphic identities, material processes, and sustainable living. We started working together in 2006 but became a bona fide office in 2008. We work with local fabricators and aspire to embody innovation, discipline, and inquisitiveness in all the work that is produced. Working with fabricators we know and trust and supporting local businesses is really important in the way we do things. We often talk about how design can learn from the food movement. Years ago, organic, local food was considered a novelty or luxury and most people didn’t really think about where the food they were consuming was coming from. Now, there is a growing understanding of how food is produced, processed, and ultimately finds itself in your kitchen. We hope that people start looking at design in a similar light with an awareness of where and how something is designed and fabricated.


How would you describe the Scout Regalia aesthetic, and how does your HDTS project work into the Scout Regalia practice?

We strive for a sense of timelessness in our aesthetic, and we have a vision of design that is neither sterile nor too fussy. As designers, we want to create spaces and products that engage people in meaningful ways and encourage a two-way dialogue in a sense. We aren’t the type of designers who impose our aesthetic in situations that wouldn’t fit the program or the user. We were given a lot of free reign for the HDTS project, and we think that our Trail Registry is right in line with our aesthetic and interests as a whole. The registry is simple and functional with some visually interesting influences such as nudie suits and totem poles. At the same time, we included the exchange of information in the form of leaving/taking objects from the rods as a way to engage personal narratives for each user. It’s a new take on the idea of an informational trail registry- the content is created and curated by visitors to the site.


Douglas fir and aluminum... Any reasons why you chose these materials?

The new doug fir with the enameled aluminum creates a nice juxtaposition between new and old materials- something you see in our products including our SR Outdoor Table Set. We like the way these materials can age together, with the metal starting to visually pull away from graying wood.





Do you have any memorable experiences to talk about regarding trail registries?

We try and go camping as much as possible. When we lived in New York, we did a lot of backpacking in the Adirondacks, hiking through some amazing terrain. In Southern California, we backpack and hike all over the San Gabriel, San Bernadino and San Jacinto ranges. We love the way trails are marked and how registries, signs, and markers can easily fit into the natural landscape- they never seem overly designed or underutilized. We hope that our Trail Registry embodies some of these values as well. It will be a permanent installation and will hopefully be used by visitors and residents alike.


What are you working on next?

We’re always working on new project and products. We’re getting ready to release a new cutsheet project in the next few months, and we’re currently refining a design for a stool. We have dozens of products that we’ve designed and haven’t released yet. It’s a challenge to be a small office and to find the time and resources to bring a product from conceptual design to an actual product. But our office is steadily growing and we’re looking forward to more upcoming opportunities and releasing new products.





go to Scout Regalia here.
go to High Desert Test Sites here...



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