Dark Matter Machine

Jason was commissioned by Dark Matter Coffee to create this permanent, site-specific installation. Completed Summer 2012

Location
Dark Matter Coffee Roastery & Espresso Bar
738 N Western Ave., Chicago, IL 60612
Open to the public. Get info >

Medium
Acrylic, plaster, antique gears, antique gauges, other antique hardware, tubing, wood, and other mixed media

Details
Dark Matter Coffee asked Jason to transform their roasting room by giving it a psychedelic-steampunk feel, so what else could Jason do but create a machine that produces Dark Matter? The walls and ceilings are painted to look rusted and dripping with age, and the coffee roasting machines were painted and embellished with gears, tubes, and gauges to make them look like antique contraptions. He also painted porthole windows to suggest that you are in a half submerged submarine looking out into an ocean full of tentacled creatures. He integrated antique parts around the room to further enhance the feeling that you are in the heart of the “Dark Matter Machine”.

Photo credit: BJ Pichman.


Dark Matter Machine Video
Jason discusses the origins of the Dark Matter Machine.

Chicago artist Jason Brammer presents his "Dark Matter Machine", which transforms the Dark Matter Coffee roasting facility into a 19th Century Submarine. Filmed By Jude Appleby, Mike Bump, and Jackson Duncan
Edited By Ben Gershman
Music by Winthorp