Thatchsquatch 2.
Mashburn Gallery, CoA University of Houston, Houston, TX
Paul and Lulu Hilliard Museum, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Lafayette, LA
Originally Designed for 2014 Winterstations Competition, Toronto.
emerymcclure architecture with Kristi Cheramie and Sarah Young
Originally designed for the 2014 'Winterstations' competition in Toronto, Thatchsquatch investigates the physical and metaphysical characteristics of warmth. It physically incorporates layering and thickening and was originally designed to enrobe a lifeguard stand and shield the audience from ice and winds of a Canadian beach. The outer layer is thatched with bundles of reeds creating a dense coat; the interior layer is fringed with recyclable plastic grocery bags stitched tightly to form a downy fill. From afar, Thatchsquatch hunkers down to face the wintery bluster. Inside, a diaphanous and dense fringe-- white like snow, but soft like fur-- nestles the audience and frames the wide expanse of winter. These two layers create a thickness with independent framing systems that originally attached to each other and clamped around the lifeguard stand. It looks and acts like a warm coat. This installation, Thatchsquatch 2, presents a full scale material study of the original design.