I am really excited about this upcoming collaboration with artist Jamie O’Shea, whose work I’ve been following for a long time before Eyebeam brought us together. Cloud Vessel will take place on a desolate desert property in Los Lunas, New Mexico. Over the months of June and July, desert clouds passing over the project site will be photographed. I will model selected clouds in 3D software and modify them into the form of drinking vessels. These ‘cloud vessels’ will then be 3D-printed in white food-grade ceramic and brought to Los Lunas.
Jamie O’Shea’s Caloris Basin
Over two weeks in September, a solar-powered atmospheric water generator invented by Jamie O’Shea will be built on site. The water generator is a functional but fantastical way to extract drinking water from desert air. Powered by a Caloris Basin — a new technique to inexpensively concentrate sunlight, an atmospheric water generator chills evening air below the dewpoint and condenses the moisture into a container.
Local residents will be invited to a series of water-tasting parties where they will sample the water gathered from the desert air using the water generator, served in the ceramic cloud vessels. The cloud vessels will be hidden on site after the water-tasting party.
