scaffolding!
Living in China, we are all used to seeing bamboo poles functioning as scaffolding on highrises construction sites. In fact, just down the street from my house is a consruction site that is using 4" round timbers as scaffolding. Most common of all though is the "tube and clamp" style of metal scaffolding, consisting of um...metal tubes, and different kinds of clamps to secure them together at either right or variable degree angles. The "tube and clamp" style is the most adaptable and configurable, meaning you can use it on round structures and buildings of odd shapes and sizes. You are probably asking yourself right now why I know so much about this. Well, last September I co-organized an exhibition at the Luggage Store Gallery in San Francisco called the Amber Room (see pics here) and one of the Chinese artists in the show made an installation using scaffolding. Since the artist, Wang Wei, was accustomed to working with scaffolding in China, he specified the "tube and clamp" style of scaffolding for his project. I quickly discovered that this style of scaffolding is rarely used anymore in the States, not only because it is deemed unsafe (the clamps are hand tightened and could come loose), but because it requires far more labor to assemble than the newer styles which require slipping metal pegs into holes on the tubes rather than clamps (naturally the labor factor is not so much of an issue in China). In any case, all the companies I talked to about sourcing "tube and clamp" thought I was nuts and couldn't understand why. When I explained that I was doing an art project with an artist from China, they would inevitably say, "hey, do you know they use bamboo scaffolding over there?"
Finally I located a company in the East Bay that was willing to help out. The guy there launched into a long story about how the "new" style with pegs and holes is the wave of the future. When Wang Wei arrived we went there to check it out and got a demo on how to assemble it. Yep, it sure was easy. It was at this moment that I remember hearing someone remark about how the "new" style is not used in China even though it is made there. Well Mike, today I finally saw it in action for the first time. I am sure I am not the first one to notice this, and it isn't exactly the same type as the one we used, but given my weird accidental penchant for scaffolding, I couldn't help but stop and take notice.
Finally I located a company in the East Bay that was willing to help out. The guy there launched into a long story about how the "new" style with pegs and holes is the wave of the future. When Wang Wei arrived we went there to check it out and got a demo on how to assemble it. Yep, it sure was easy. It was at this moment that I remember hearing someone remark about how the "new" style is not used in China even though it is made there. Well Mike, today I finally saw it in action for the first time. I am sure I am not the first one to notice this, and it isn't exactly the same type as the one we used, but given my weird accidental penchant for scaffolding, I couldn't help but stop and take notice.
