Maite Iribarren Vázquez

Between A Scaffold And A Bed Frame, 52dB Isolation

Between A Scaffold And A Bed Frame

Between A Scaffold And A Bed Frame, Crate Lid for Electric Utility Access Cover

Between a Scaffold and a Bed Frame
install at Putty’s Coronation, Brooklyn,
NY

52dB Isolation
acoustic insulation foam, steel studs, wood
5.5”x7”x58”

Crate Lid for Electric Utility Access Cover
polyethylene packaging foam CNC’d from subway station 3D scan, wood, epoxy
26”x20”x3”

In Between A Scaffold And A Bed Frame lie a wide range of objects and scales of attention. Somewhere in the wood, steel, and insulation separating two enamel coated metal structures, the same material flips between supporting laborers to supporting a body resting from said labor. Residential architecture holds a body when it’s on a bed frame but the architecture itself is propped by the same body when it’s on a scaffold. Between a Scaffold and a Bed Frame explores the inflection points between architectures supporting bodies and bodies supporting architectures. It cites residential structures as perceived to be body-holding and public urban constructions as held by the public body. In these works, Iribarren Vázquez looks at the attention given to objects when they are perceived as belonging to a public versus private context. She finds residential architecture and public transit infrastructure at opposite ends of this spectrum of attention scales. The materials that compose these environments are quite similar yet given very different levels of care. At the interfaces between these spaces, Iribarren Vázquez references natural gas pipelines, insulated walls, and plumbing installations. She uses distortions in these standard architectural and infrastructural components to speak of the arbitrary boundaries in attention scales they mediate.

52dB Isolation
52 is the decibel measure of sound reduction that this wall section can provide. This value is calculated using numbers for each material in the built-up section, determined through testing in accordance to ASTM E90-09. 52dB Isolation stretches the logic of these standards while distilling the conception of a wall’s function.

Crate Lid for Electric Utility Access Cover
This work presents as a common crate packaging lid. It was CNCed to match the topology of an electric utility access cover at the subway station closest to the gallery. An identical piece was epoxy adhered to the original cover at the subway station. These shipping motifs materialize the invisible connections between public and private space that only logistic and utility institutions can traverse freely.