skills for good(s) – Broken City Lab

April 29, 2013July 5, 2018

Photography for Goods: A Skills for Good(s) Sharing Session

Last Friday, Mike DiRisio, University of Windsor MFA candidate and artist behind the pop-up free store project Common Goods, stopped by to run a workshop on the art of the perfect object photograph. He started with a handful of found objects and led us through the process of studio setup, photography, and editing. All of this was informed by the photographic work he did to showcase the objects donated to Common Goods.

Mike did a demonstration of objects that would be easy and difficult to retouch using his method in Photoshop. Because of the contrast between the radio and his white paper background, this example was the easiest.

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Common Goods is a project that creates a forum for the free exchange and circulation of used goods – everything from books to sofas to ceramic owls. All items that come through the Common Goods pop-up free stores cease to be owned, however, and are redesignated as common property (meaning not the possession of a single individual).

The drop off location is in the Lebel Building at the University of Windsor (click here for map and instructions).

You can also email Mike to arrange a pick-up time.

April 25, 2013July 5, 2018

Photography for Goods: A Skills for Good(s) Event Hosted by Mike DiRisio

Friday, April 26th, 7pm @ CIVIC SPACE – 411 Pelissier Street, Windsor, Ontario

Photography for Goods, a Skills for Good(s) workshop hosted by University of Windsor MFA Candidate Mike DiRisio, will cover ways to light and shoot objects to white out the photograph’s background – methods similar to those used in product photography. However, we will be using very basic materials, like desk lamps and large sheets of paper, so that you can easily reproduce this at home. We’ll then do some basic edits using Adobe Photoshop software, to completely white out the background and make the photographs as sharp as possible!

Please bring a used object (preferably something no bigger than a microwave) to donate to the Common Goods freestore – we’ll be photographing these for the demo.

Please visit Common Goods to see examples of objects photographed this way, and to learn more about the project Common Goods.

December 12, 2012July 5, 2018

Skills For Good(s): Yummy Tortillas And Fun Skill Share

Last night, Arturo Herrera hosted The Tortillas Workshop for the bi-weekly Skills For Good(s) at Civic Space.

Traditional style corn tortillas is what was on the menu for the night. Most important ingredient: corn masa flour.

Arturo grew up in Honduras as a child and loved the tradition and culture his South American hometown provided him as a child. So, he decided to bring some of that culture and tradition to Civic Space.

Firing up the gas burners!

Arturo shows us how to make the tortilla dough. All you need is:

-water

-corn masa flour

– salt (optional)

Mixing it up!

Some of the barter items: Canadian identity.

Skill sharing.

Time to flatten this tortilla!

Arturo also showed us how to heat up refried beans in style.

The first tortilla is almost ready. The key is to wait for it to start rising.

Then Arturo opens up his kitchen space for us to make our own corn tortillas.

Sara patiently waiting her turn.

When the tortillas are finished, they’re place in this towel to stay warm.

A salsa filled sample.

Eating the tortillas was definitely a highlight from this Skills for Good(s).

We’d like to thank Arturo Herrera for sharing this skill with us!

December 8, 2012December 19, 2012

Skills For Good(s): The Tortilla Workshop

How to make traditional style corn tortillas with Arturo Herrera

December 11th, 2012 at 7pm at Civic Space

Windsor based artist, Arturo Herrera will show us how to make traditional corn tortillas from scratch with fresh ingredients on a skillet. Herrera finds inspiration in corn tortillas and it is one of his favourites foods from his childhood upbringingin Honduras. He not only eats the corn tortillas,but also uses them as canvases in his own artistic practice.

This will be the last Skills for Good(s) before the Holidays, so come out and join us for a festive cooking extravaganza!

Class Barter Item: An item that is related to Canada or being Canadian.