How did such an opportunity come about? Well, dear cartographically inclined reader, it all started when we received a rather flattering invitation from Atlanta art blog, Burnaway, to contribute work to an upcoming exhibition of theirs. The exhibit is called Lot & Parcel and it’s all about maps and Atlanta neighborhoods.

If it pleases you, do come peep it. The opening party will take place in conjunction with Burnaway’s first annual fundraiser and is scheduled for this Saturday, June 19, from 7 to 11 pm at The Goat Farm (aka the E. Van Winkle Gin and Machine Works, aka Murray’s Mill, aka 1200 Foster Street).

Our map is of our home turf: Poncey-Highland. Our description is below:

“Poncey-Highland is an unusually unknown place given its central location. Moreover, even most of those who are aware of it would find it difficult to describe its boundaries.

With that in mind, we decided to investigate the various definitions of Poncey-Highland that exist amongst those who call it home. To do this, we asked Poncey-Highlanders to make maps, from their respective memories, of the neighborhood. We culled our representative from two neighborhood institutions, one new, one old: Manuel’s Tavern and King of Pops popsicle stand.

Their responses are depicted in tinted transparent paper on our map. The actual neighborhood boundaries are indicated as black hairlines: Ponce de Leon to the North, Moreland to the East, Freedom Parkway Eastbound to the South, and the proposed Beltline to the West.”

We at People of Resource were pleased to debut our design exhibition, Yall & Us, on Saturday, June 5, 2010 at our studio in the historic Telephone Factory at the end of Modern Atlanta’s design week.

Although the focus was on design from all over the US, it was certainly our goal to put a bit of a Southern accent on the proceedings.

Toward that end, we sought to align every aspect of the event with that combination of scrappiness and hospitality for which the American South is known. In contrast to the typical trappings of the design exhibition world (wristbands, “no sit” signs, and corporate sponsors), Yall & Us attendees paid no admission and enjoyed complimentary Bourbon & Blenheims and Pimm’s Cups while admiring 40 design objects by 15 designers from across the US.

Hands-on interaction with the objects was encouraged and those who were especially intrigued were able to order prized pieces for themselves from their mobile phones thanks to e-commerce support from Subports.

The design of the exhibit itself drew on the utilitarian language of workshops: information about the objects and designers was displayed clearly on clipboards throughout the space. Illumination was provided by generic, everyday clamp lamps fitted with halogen bulbs.

FEATURED DESIGNERS

Craigton Berman, Chicago
Design Glut, Brooklyn
Et. Al., Etc., New York City
Jason Miller, Brooklyn
Joey Roth, San Francisco
Jonas Damon, New York City
Kiel Mead, New York City
Materious, Chicago
Object Group, New York City
Refined Sugar Studio, Cincinnati
Rich Brilliant Willing, New York City
Studio 1 AM, Chicago
Thoughtbarn, Austin
Von Tundra, Portland
Wintercheck Factory, Brooklyn

COLLABORATIONS

One exciting aspect of planning, designing, and producing this exhibition was the opportunity it presented to work with talented friends on various components of the show. We were pleased to commission Jason Travis to photograph the weekend’s events. In the weeks leading up to the show, we commissioned Farbod Kokabi of Armchair to create the exhibit’s bold, minimalist promotional graphics. Finally, we designed an e-commerce site filled with objects from the exhibit for Subports. For their part, Subports handled development of the site and provided their innovative text-to-buy platform as the e-commerce backend for both the site and the exhibit itself.

Obscura is an exhibition of new works that are created to be self-illuminated and thereby only fully revealed and understood in an environment of total darkness. Stephen will be showing his series of lighting designs called “Origin of Species.” We don’t want to give anything away, but it involves concrete, suspension, and taxonomies of lighting devices. It is, in short, very SK.

Obscura will open this Saturday from 6 to 9 pm. We hope to see you there!