Rescheduled to June 16 and 17 at Vasquez Rocks Natural Area, the Los Angeles County Arts Committee will have people making “rammed earth time capsules.” The event will be led by Andreas Hessing of Scrubjay Studios and Didier Hess. Get more information after the jump!

The artmaking workshop originally scheduled at Vasquez Rocks Natural Area for June 2 and 3 has been rescheduled to June 16 and 17 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. A new introductory session to the workshop has been scheduled for May 26 from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at Scrubjay Studios in Altadena. Attendance at the introductory session is not required to attend the workshop but it is advisable.

The workshop series invites the public to make rammed earth time capsules and work on the construction of a new public art sculpture for the new interpretive center at Vasquez Rocks. The series is free to the public; no experience is necessary. To register (required) and get location details please contact [email protected] or 323-913-0915.

The series led by rammed earth expert Andreas Hessing of Scrubjay Studios and Didier Hess (Jenna Didier and Oliver Hess), creators of the sculpture, offers hands-on teaching of this ancient sustainable building technology in which earth is combined with a small amount of concrete. Participants will learn what applications are appropriate for rammed earth, how to test soil to see if it is feasible for use in construction, how to amend soil, build forms and tamp soil into load-bearing walls and benches in the production of a permanent public artwork.

Workshop #1: May 26th 9am – 1pm at Scrubjay Studios, Altadena: Introduction to the basics of rammed earth construction. Hessing will cover soil testing, review form construction and how to create test blocks; participants can make their own time capsule blocks to take home with them!

Workshop #2: June 16-17, 9:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. both days at Vasquez Rocks Interpretive Center construction site, Agua Dulce, CA: full-scale construction of rammed earth project, participants can bring objects of their own to place in the rammed earth / time capsule.

Bag lunch Noontime lectures by experts, June 16-17, 12:00 p.m., on local pre-history, ancient rock art and geology. The public is welcome to attend these, bring a bag lunch, see the progress of the sculpture as it is being constructed on-site and bring an artifact to drop into the rammed earth time-capsule!

BRING: sunhats, water, sunblock, notebook, close-toed shoes and artifacts to add to the rammed earth time capsule