The Russian Diamond started out as a double-wide wood pallet I found next to a construction site. Around the same time I fished an old bicycle trailer out of the local river. I also discovered that a lot of the new advertisements around town were printed on coroplast, a plastic which is mostly used to build cheap transparent roofing for greenhouses, garden-sheds and other structures. Then the Moskauer Christmas Circus came to town. Weeks after the circus had left a lot of its posters were still hanging all over the place. I went to work and picked them up. In the meantime I found a 100 pack of 8 inch long screws with wing nuts in a local curb alert. I realized I could get to work with my version of a mobile bicycle trailer/camper/structure. I wanted to build something that did not feel like a tent, nor did I want to spend too much time on setting up the structure. I wanted to be able to stand up in it though. The Russian Diamond is intended as a temporary, movable structure to spend a day and perhaps a night in. A chill out island or base camp for an adventure close to home. The diamond shape allows the space to feel bigger than it actually is. The connection between the diamond shape and Moskau/Russia did not appear to me until I was finished with the structure. In the finishing touches of the project the war between Russia and Ukraine broke out. Suddenly a fun, non-political work, a material study of sorts, seemed completely political and out of place. It is interesting how world events change the perception of an object and lead to a different connotation for the viewer.
- Tim Maxeiner

Russian Diamond, 2022
Coroplast plastic, wood pallets, bicycle trailer parts, metal screws
8x6x7 feet (set-up)