Otis Gallery
The art and science of sustainable design is the subject of Do It Now: Live Green, running through Oct. 20 at the Ben Maltz Gallery at L.A.s Otis College of Art and Design. The show includes home furnishings made of salvaged materials, as well as other environmentally friendly consumer products. Co-curator Meg Linton says the show poses the question: With public interest in sustainable design surging, how can the average person navigate all the green products entering the marketplace? Were training all these new designers, Linton says. What better place than an art school to have this kind of exhibition. (Genaro Molina / LAT)
The Otis show includes clever pieces such as the Banksia Pod Floor Lamp by Topher Paterno. (Genaro Molina / LAT)
Paternos lamp uses the woody floral spikes of the banksia tree as organic shades. (Genaro Molina / LAT)
Paternos banksia lamp, one of several designs that called upon recycled materials. (Genaro Molina / LAT)
The Otis show is a mix of mass-market manufacturers such as a IKEA, whose Jordbro pots made of recycled milk containers and baby diapers are shown here, and local venues such as Venice-based Epoxybox and Epoxygreen, an art gallery and building products store focused on sustainable living. Anything that has to do with this issue is incredibly valuable. If it stirs conversation, great, Epoxybox owner Sasha L. King says of the shows focus, which she calls conscious commerce. (Genaro Molina / LAT)
Landis Kauffmans NewsPly Table consists of sandwiched rolls of newsprint. (Genaro Molina / LAT)
Artists Rob Dubar and Mason Brown of Long Beach-based Cardboard Robot devised a low-cost riff on the designer cardboard furniture seen in museum shops and high-end showrooms. Their Skyscraper Chair is made of die-cut 2-inch corrugated cardboard and sells for $250 to $300. (Genaro Molina / LAT)
