stock-a-studio.: [ a kit of these some parts ] x budget gym ]

Materials & Applications is pleased to present [ a kit of these some parts ] x budget gym ], a temporary work-out space constructed from a deployable kit-of-parts assembled to form a functional gym. The project is a new work by stock-a-studio installed in M&A Storefront, an architecture activity center and experimental exhibition space. 

[ a kit of these some parts ] x budget gym ] is a temporary architecture in-service of the activity: in this case, the activity of working out.  Co-opting the architectural formulas of rentable event-tents or trade show booths, where poles, panels, tension straps, and tarps complete otherwise generic structural frames, the project intertwines custom elements with generic ones and images with budget materials to provide a set of parts that come together to form a cohesive environment. 

Such architecture turns to diversion tactics from diy queer cultural production, which are often low-budget material assemblies re-aestheticized and reassembled to serve future uses. Repainting the same 2x4 over and over is thus a queer approach to resource diversion as well as an environmental tactic. Materiality here relies on continuously reimagining our physical world through surface manipulation, reassembly, and aesthetic layering to extend an object’s lifespan. 

The project proposes assembly, rather than construction, refinish rather than remake, as ways of creating a rentable and reusable architectural kit that considers its own futurity. The architecture is a series of components that come together through provisional assembly: through tension straps and bolts. Impermanently tied together, objects to objects and objects to place. Only existing together for the duration of the program, these strappy, interim methods are equal parts kink, equal parts sensible architecting. The kit includes: a structural steel system, foam padding, hold downs, tape, ratchet straps, shims, dunnage bags, sandbags and vacuum-formed panels. Varying in size and use, they blur the lines between scenographic backdrops, material prototypes, props and prosthetics. Through such mechanisms of assembly, the project acknowledges the fast metabolism of aesthetics and the excessive production of sheer stuff created by the accelerated loop between culture and commodity. 

[ a kit of these some parts ] includes several component parts. In its iteration as [ x budget gym ], the project will serve as a meeting point for exercise-based activities, such as weight-lifting, trainer-led workouts and a hydration station and meet up point for hiking and biking groups. The public is also invited to use the gym for personal fitness at any time by emailing info@materialsandapplications.org for an appointment. Additional programs and performances are forthcoming. The project is complete with a [ x video game ] where one can customize a future version of the project by inhabiting the catalog of parts. 

The deployable architecture is available for event-rental in Los Angeles, CA and Ann Arbor, MI areas after January 2020 by visiting someparts.parts

stock-a-studio. is a multidisciplinary design studio interested in the circulation of materials and commodities. Their research focuses on the way our built environment is affected by the politics of aesthetics, logistics, and media. stock-a-studio. is Laida Aguirre, an Assistant Professor of Architecture at the University of Michigan’s Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning. Special Thanks: Delaney McCraney, Waylon Richmond, Anika Shah & John Vieweg. 

M&A Storefront is an experimental architecture exhibition space and activity center run by Materials & Applications. Opened in 2019, the Storefront is a temporary project space focused on unconventional public programs that activate the street and provocative exhibitions that challenge the relationship between audience,  artistic work, and institution. This tiny storefront on Sunset Blvd allows us to host intimate events and temporary installations, with an annual calendar of 3-4 exhibitions and 5-10 public programs.

This project made possible through support from: Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grant, and Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Michigan.