In this edition of SPArts’ monthly artist-to-artist series, Lettie Haggard talks to Rusty Oliver, who runs South Park’s HazardFactory, an industrial arts studio specializing in the “artistic re-direction of technology”, where he teaches welding classes and offers open studios. On May 19, 2010, Lettie ventured from her adorable Witch Hat House near Marra Farm northward to the industrial banks of the Duwamish to meet Rusty at the HazardFactory.

Lettie: Hi Rusty, I’m Lettie…

Lettie enters the large warehouse and notices metal things everywhere. The space is very well lit and organized. She can tell this guy is serious about what he does. She spies a structure made of truck gears, a metal shaft and a bicycle wheel attached to the top. It looks like some kind of lightning rod or a work in progress. She knows she has to inquire about the contraption.

Rusty: This is a sculpture that I am working on. The base is a truck gear. It has electricity running through the spokes. The wires of the spokes are tunable, when you turn the crank it creates an electric current and it makes sound.

Lettie: That’s really cool! Could a person ride it like a bike?

Rusty: No, I think you would be electrocuted!

Lettie: Ooh yeah you’d get burned… You said you teach welding classes. Who do you teach?

Rusty: I teach kids and adults. I have a group of kids from Coyote Central, in Madison Valley, who are working on bicycles right now. They are really into the chopper bikes.

Lettie: So you teach them how to modify the bikes?

Rusty: Yes they make their own bikes out of pieces of old bikes. They learn to weld the parts together. When they finish the kids are equipped to make almost anything they can imagine.

Lettie: What other art activities do you do?

Rusty: I organize the power tool races at Artopia in Georgetown. People can access my website and find out about designs and the rules for the race. I open the studio for people to assemble their “racers”. I have all the equipment here to turn power tools into racers. Every Friday night until June 26th the studio is open for people to come in and work on their designs for the Georgetown Power Tool race.

Lettie: What is the HazardFactory?

Rusty: The HazardFactory is an adult industrial arts facility. I offer classes in fabrication and metal casting. I teach welding and focus on safety. I can build anything out of metal right here. Anything from lawn furniture to art pieces.

Lettie: I can see that! Tell me about that big dragon on the shelf, up there it looks like it is ready for the Fremont parade.

Rusty: That is a fire-breathing dragon. I designed it and made it from aluminum. The dragon is constructed in two pieces so a person can wear it. It really breathes fire.

Lettie: The mouth is black like it has burned… I don’t think I want to wear that dragon suit of armor. (I neglected to ask Rusty how it can be worn and breath fire at the same time without burning the wearer up! Perhaps you will find that out when you, the reader, visit Rusty Olivers’ studio!)

Lettie: That’s really cool! Where did you learn to do all this, my dad was a welder, but he learned it on the job, at Lakeside Sand and Gravel.

Rusty: I learned metal fabrication at school. I went to Evergreen State College…

Lettie: Oh yeah, Geoducks! I am going to Evergreen right now! Evergreen is awesome! Does Evergreen have all this metal fabricating equipment in their art department? I’ve visited the campus and the art building looks full of paint and pottery and other stuff, but I didn’t notice arc welders and things like that.

Rusty: Wow! Yes, Evergreen has all the equipment to learn this stuff – some people graduate and don’t go very far away because they want to access the metal shop! I also studied International Political Economy at Evergreen. It is difficult to get people to read a dissertation, but you can reach them through art. Burning Man is an example of a gifting society. It is an old concept that works.

Lettie: Burning Man! I want to go to Burning Man! I hear you locate your “tribe” and form a community. How many times have you been?

Rusty: I’ve been nine times. Burning Man works well if you have a group to share the supplies — you need shade and water and possibly a generator. It is best to divide up the list between people, so you don’t duplicate, but then you have everything you need while you are there. It is a pretty harsh environment out on the desert. I bring art with me to share, that is how you obtain the things you need, by sharing. I don’t really make any art while I am there. I really go there to socialize and meet people, other artists. Burning Man is a place where the things we do as artists are justified.

Lettie: Wow, now I really want to go to Burning Man!

Rusty: There is a group of Burners who meet once a week, I’ll send you the link. They have a potluck and talk about Burning Man. It is a good way to learn about the culture of the event and connect with people who go back to the desert year after year. Everyone interested in Burning Man is welcome to go to the weekly potlucks.

Lettie: (The rain has slowed down, I parked very close so I won’t drown when I walk to my car. The time went by so fast and I think I need to take some lessons at the HazardFactory.) Thank you for letting me come over to see your workshop. It was really nice to meet you Rusty! I don’t take very good notes so I hope I don’t put words in your mouth!

Lettie Haggard lives in a great old farmhouse full of art tucked away in the southern reaches of South Park. She’s been making art since she was a wee thing — from repairing her mom’s beaded necklaces in the 70s to pottery, crewel, wax casting silver, and now driftwood garden angels. In addition to making art, Lettie is studying Human Services at Evergreen, where, for her spring project, she incorporated Peeps into a presentation about the possible flood emergency from a failure of the Howard Hanson Dam, upstream from South Park. Find Lettie selling her mixed-media garden angels at one of Seattle’s art fairs, in Fremont, at the Junction Festival, and SPArts’ Art Under $100.

Tags: artist-to-artist, HazardFactory, Lettie Haggard, Rusty Oliver

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