'et dukkehjem' Live

'Et Dukkehjem' is up and running and open to the public. Last night was the opening.

Setting up was not plain sailing. We had to improvise and install our own power. So there are more extension cords visible than I am happy with. Also, we fried 2 electrical transformers and ended up using locally bought speakers that don't sound as good as the ones we brought. Anyway, the site is online and you can see updates from Nora and Torvald there: http://www.etdukkehjem.net/

Timesink...

Yesterday, I spent way too much time playing with the Spore Creature Creator. It's fun, it's clever, EA and Will Wright are going to make shedloads of cash... you can read about all that on the rest of the Internet. But more than that a whole bunch of people that wouldn't otherwise have contemplated it are going to have fun while remixing parametric 3D models. I think the implications of this for design are enormous. FluidForms is just the start. As these tools become more pervasive and accessible the ability to remix and remake our surroundings will only increase. Will that make things better? Of course not, like most of the creatures in Spore most of it is bound for an unplayed-with, dusty corner of the digital toy box or maybe the design equivalent of a Darwin Award. But just maybe it also means that some things will see the light of day that otherwise wouldn't get a look in.

The growth in ownership of relatively powerful, cheap, personal computers and the parallel upsurge in use of and access to the Internet (at least in the industrialised world) has transformed the means by which we communicate, carry out work and entertain ourselves. This has also brought about greatly enhanced functionality for traditional design techniques, helping practitioners from many areas to bring their ideas to fruition with increased speed and productivity.

Over the past decade we have witnessed an unprecedented development and increased accessibility of CAD/CAM technologies. With the adoption of 3D modelling software, CNC machines and rapid prototyping and manufacturing technologies makers have unprecedented opportunities to design objects that circumvent traditional haptic, craft-based skill sets. These technologies have brought about the opportunity for practitioners with no background in engineering to make use of these them. Not everyone welcomes this.

The pragmatic aspect of increased speed and productivity in the use of these technologies is important to all users. However, the conceptual realisations and the possibility of making innovative types of object for new forms of audience or market are of equal importance but are perhaps less immediately apparent. With the availability of these computer-based technologies, practitioners are confronted with decreased concerns of 'how' to physically make something and a greater opportunity to engage with 'what' that object is.

The ability to generate construction information directly from design information has fundamentally changed the relationship between conception and production for many practitioners. CAD was initially an assistive technology that enhanced the existing practices of design – an electronic replacement for pencil and paper. This has rapidly evolved beyond what you can do (easily) with pencil and paper (e.g. computer-based visualization processes such as animation and photorealistic rendering). What we see happening currently goes beyond merely designing things to designing the systems that allow things to come into being. Practitioners I have mentioned here recently (and many others) are doing this: Automake, FutureFactories and THEVERYMANY.

Anyway, my point is maybe I wasn't actually goofing off yesterday when I was playing with the Spore Creature Creator. Maybe I just have to redefine what 'work' can be?

More PBB Online

I've been trying out 'Weebly' (fast and easy) as a means of getting the archive for the 'Perimeters, Boundaries and Borders' exhibition online (the Fast-uk site is badly needing a Web 2.0 update). Most of the content that has been posted on this blog previously has been collected there and I've posted some new stuff, too.

Web (rootof) 2.0

I put together a transitional update site for rootoftwo using the online app 'weebly' (sort of a blogging approach to web design). We'll still have to overhaul our .com site at some point but this should do for the time being. There is some previously unseen stuff on there, too.

Gray's School of Art (event)

I will be a visiting lecturer this week at Gray's School of Art. I will be looking at the process of setting up and running personal design blogs and web sites.

Useful links here.

Designed Objects Wiki Updated

There is some new stuff over there >>>>> in the Designed Objects Wiki including some excerpts from my thesis.

Ponoko is Live

http://www.ponoko.com/ is up and running and fully functional. I'm really interested in what they are doing and mentioned them in my thesis in a chapter titled "Ontologies of production: 21st Century transformations in manufacturing." This breaks down into the following sub-categories:

Desktop manufacturing

Personal fabrication

Mass-customised production

Design to order

Individualised production

Democratised production

Open Source and crowd-sourced design

What Ponoko say:

"The post-industrial revolution is changing the way products are created, traded and distributed. Now everyone can engage in the manufacturing process through their PCs - bringing personal manufacturing of individualized products to the masses. Ponoko is the world's first personal manufacturing platform. It's the online space for a community of creators and consumers to use a global network of digital manufacturing hardware to co-create, make and trade individualized product ideas on demand. The ponoko.com marketplace connects creators, consumers, digital manufacturing hardware and service providers to promote, make and trade products on Ponoko and social networking websites."

Atilano González-Pérez describes this development, thus:

• centralised design in the industrial era, with very constrained choices for designers, and limited choices for the consumer
• a decentralised design phase, where the designer no longer designs, but creates the possibility for design for others, thereby also limiting their possibilities, and also localised in corporate sites
• fully distributed design, by the user, who is also able to have the product produced, without leaving her/his desktop.

Treehugger calls this 'Downloadable design'.

These non-standard means of manufacturing and new material processes present an exciting array of opportunities. However, it also raises questions for designers and makers about the kind of objects we are able to make and whether we should do so merely because we can?

PBB Slide Show

I stumbled onto this site by accident and was impressed at how easy it was to embed my existing Flickr photos from the Perimeters, Boundaries and Borders exhibition - even without signing up with them. I guess they do have their advertising doodads on there...

Ponoko (?)

This looks interesting:

http://www.ponoko.com/index.html

Sent to me by MK.

What Do YOU Want To Make?

"TechShop is a fully-equipped open-access workshop and creative environment that lets you drop in any time and work on your own projects at your own pace. It is like a health club with tools and equipment instead of exercise equipment...or a Kinko's for geeks.

TechShop was founded in 2006 by Jim Newton, a lifetime maker, veteran BattleBots builder and former MythBuster. TechShop is located in Menlo Park, California, on the San Francisco peninsula 25 miles south of San Francisco.

Anyone can come in and build and make all kinds of things themselves using the TechShop tools, machines and equipment, and draw on the TechShop instructors and experts to help them with their projects.

TechShop is designed for everyone, regardless of their skill level.
TechShop is perfect for inventors, "makers", hackers, tinkerers, artists, roboteers, families, entrepreneurs, youth groups, FIRST robotic teams, arts and crafts enthusiasts, and anyone else who wants to be able to make things that they dream up but don't have the tools, space or skills.

The TechShop workshop provides a wide variety of machinery and tools for the open and unlimited use of its members, including milling machines and lathes, welding stations and plasma cutters, sheet metal working equipment, drill presses and band saws, industrial sewing machines, hand tools, plastic working equipment, electronics design and fabrication facilities, tubing and metal bending machines, electrical supplies and tools, and pretty much everything you'd ever need to make just about anything all by yourself."

Discovered here.

TechShop site here.

This looks fantastic. We need more FabLabs like this everywhere.

Woman's Hour

You can hear Nana Ruth teaching Granddaughter Lauren to cook what was possibly the most delicious Lemon Meringue Pie ever made on Woman's Hour (BBC Radio 4). Human Beans will be talking about http://www.whatscookinggrandma.net - explaining why they built a website for the Grandmas of the world to share their special recipes and how add a Grandma you know.

[edit]
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/womanshour/04/2007_16_thu.shtml - RealPlayer Needed.

Learning 2016

Over the break I happened to watch the Edward Boyle Memorial Lecture from the Royal Society of Arts on Teachers TV (that probably says a lot about the kind of person I am). Anyway, in this programme Stephen Heppell discussed what he thinks learning might look like in the year 2016. This lecture was interesting to me in that it seems to support the transdisciplinary notion I am exploring in my research. Heppell specifically points at education needing to be "project-based" rather than "discipline-based". He is particularly harsh on Universities and questions the relevance of assigning essays in the age of Google suggesting instead that open and transparent contributions in the form of moderating an online forum or producing a podcast are more relevant. The video is available online and I recommend it to anyone vaguely interested in education and learning.
Creative Archive Licence

[edit] Also, for the US perspective have a look at How to Bring Our Schools Out of the 20th Century by Claudia Wallis & Sonja Steptoe:

"Kids also must learn to think across disciplines, since that's where most new breakthroughs are made. It's interdisciplinary combinations--design and technology, mathematics and art--"that produce YouTube and Google," says Thomas Friedman, the best-selling author of The World Is Flat".

Problem Boundaries

I found the following statement of interest because it is a succinct way of explaining what is meant by 'transdisciplinary' without using the phrase "interpenetration of disciplinary epistemologies" (which just makes eyes glaze over):

"Boundaries for transdisciplinary courses are the boundaries of the problem being addressed, not the artificial boundaries of disciplines".

This was made in the context of a discussion of a transdisciplinary model for research and education as applied to engineering on the website of TheATLAS - which (according to its own blurb) is a non-profit organisation providing services to universities around the world.

I also noticed that the new MFA Design curriculum (starting 2007) at the California College of the Arts is using the term 'transdisciplinary':

"As our world and cultures undergo radical transformations, so the role of design is growing and changing. The professional design world increasingly values broad, transdisciplinary design knowledge complemented by virtuosity in specialized fields ... Design continues to grow beyond the traditional notions of designing objects and messages and toward designing change—through transmedia systems and cultural interventions. As the boundaries between traditional disciplines blur, new forms and methods are emerging. Tomorrow's designers must comprehend a much broader realm of practice, and must likewise be ready to embrace greater opportunity and leadership in shaping the future of culture in fundamental ways."

What's Cooking Grandma?

Human Beans have made available videos they’ve made with grandmothers living in Lancaster area via YouTube. In the videos Grandmas show us how to cook their special recipes - including Scones, Blackcurrant Jam and Pea and Ham Soup. In the 'Perimeters, Boundaries and Borders' exhibition these videos are shown with prototype ‘Grandma Players’ - new kitchen appliances based on modified jam jars, designed to record Grandma's instructions and the sound of her cooking so you can play her back in your own kitchen and cook along in real time.
Watch the videos or add your own here

From Rhizome

Link to article - reblogged here

September 29, 2006
Prototyping the Perimeters
Artists, architects, designers, and other practitioners are constantly fashioning new forms and challenging disciplinary boundaries as they employ techniques such as rapid prototyping and generative processes. In the exhibition 'Perimeters, Boundaries, and Borders,' at Lancaster, UK's Citylab, organizers Fast-uk and folly explore the range of objects, buildings, and products being conceptualized with the aid of digital technologies. Aoife Ludlow's 'Remember to Forget?' is a series of jewelry designs that envisioned accessories incorporating RFID tags that allow the wearer to record information and emotions associated with those special items that we put on daily. Tavs Jorgensen uses a data glove in his 'Motion in Form' project. After gesturing around an object, data collected by the glove is given physical shape using CNC (Computer Numerical Control) milling, creating representations of the movements in materials such as glass or ceramics. Addressing traces of a different sort is Cylcone.soc, a data mapping piece by Gavin Bailey and Tom Corby. These works and many more examples from the frontiers of art and design are on view until October 21st. - Michelle Kasprzak
http://www.fastuk.org.uk/

Fast-uk (update)

The Fast-uk website has been updated with information on the 'Perimeters, Boundaries and Borders' exhibition.

This exhibition will bring emerging and existing contemporary practitioners and technologies into the public arena and help to make cutting-edge developments in art and technology more accessible. 'Perimeters, Boundaries and Borders' will be held from 29 September - 21 October 2006 at venues across Lancaster city centre in the North West of England. The main exhibition space will be the new CityLab development in Dalton Square . The exhibition is open from 12 - 5 pm, Mon - Sat.

f.city Festival

f.city digital art festival launches
Lancaster and online at folly.co.uk,
September 29 to October 21, 2006

f.city a new three week festival of exhibitions, events, field trials, workshops, performances, talks, installations, screenings and podcasts will launch in Lancaster and online at folly.co.uk this September.

Reflecting on the effect of digital culture on our lives, this major cultural festival across multiple sites in Lancaster will showcase both art & technology and is presented by folly in collaboration with a network of partners drawn from Lancaster's vibrant arts sector.

f.city will feature the first major field trials of Frameburst, a new collective photographic technology developed for mobile phones by Daniel Harris; and Steve Symons’ GPS virtual sound environment, Aura; the launch of two online works from Boredom Research and Adele Prince; a collective dance performance developed in partnership with Ludus Dance; Jaygo Bloom’s sound installation BUMP; a 3D films night; podcasts; music events; Open Source workshops; a touchscreen network and rare online treats.

Working with project partner Fast-uk (an artist led organisation dedicated to the exploration of art, science and technology), f.city will feature the exhibition Perimeters, Boundaries and Borders at Lancaster City Council's new CityLab development in Dalton Square. Perimeters, Boundaries and Borders will present the very latest examples of work that blur the conventional boundaries of art and design practice through the use of technology.

Over 20 practitioners including Human Beans; Adam Somlai-Fischer, Bengt Sjölén and Usman Haque; Tavs Jørgensen; Justin Marshall; Aoife Ludlow; Simon Husslein; Masaru Tabei & Yasuno Miyauchi; Simon Blackmore; NIO architecten; Brit Bunkley; Geoffrey Mann; Ben Woodeson; Lionel T. Dean; and Gavin Baily & Tom Corby will show work that, through the creative use of digital design and manufacturing technologies exists at a point of convergence between the disciplines of art, architecture and design.

Device Art (article)

Michelle Kasprzak pointed me to this paper by Machiko Kusahara. Some points of interest:

"Device Art is a concept for re-examining art-science-technology relationships both from a contemporary and historical perspective in order to foreground a new aspect of media art. The term "Device Art" may sound obscure, or even self-contradictory, but it is a conscious choice. The concept is a logical extension of a change in the notion of art that already started in the early 20th century with art movements such as Dada and Surrealism. More recently, interactive art has redefined forms of art and the role of artists. What we call device art is a form of media art that integrates art and technology as well as design, entertainment, and popular culture. Instead of regarding technology as a mere tool serving the art, as it is commonly seen, we propose a model in which technology is at the core of artworks."

"While theoretical analysis is an important part of the Device Art project, producing artworks according to its concept is the key element. The project launched in the fall of 2004 and has been pursued by nine artists and researchers, with a five-year grant from the Japan Science and Technology Agency, since the fall of 2005.[1] The aim of the project is not only to create "device art" but also to develop a working model for producing, exhibiting, and distributing these works, and theoretically frame them. Making these artworks accessible to a wider audience and users outside of the museums and galleries is part of our agenda. Development of hardware and software modules to support the art practice is also planned."

[1] The project members are Hiroo Iwata (Tsukuba University, researcher in engineering), Kazuhiko Hachiya(artist), Masahiko Inami (University of Electro-Communication, researcher in engineering), Sachiko Kodama (University of Electro-Communication, artist), Ryota Kuwakubo (artist), Taro Maeda (NTT Research Laboratories, researcher in engineering), Nobunichi Tosa (Maywa Denki, artist), Hiroaki Yano (Tsukuba University, researcher in engineering), Machiko Kusahara (Waseda University, media art researcher).

Device Art Website (in Japanese).

What's Cooking Grandma? (project)

No one can match the magic of a Grandma in the kitchen. Human Beans want to document the recipes of the Grandmothers across the world. Fast-uk and folly have invited them to start in Lancaster. Human Beans are encouraging people to create home videos of their Grandmas cooking the family's favourites in their own kitchen and share their wisdom and stories. Anyone who can get their hands on a camera and a computer can participate - you can even make a video on your mobile phone if you want. All videos should be uploaded to http://www.WhatsCookingGrandma.net

And if that's all too much don't worry - Human Beans are also offering film your grandma for you, for free (in Lancaster) - they'll even buy the ingredients. Filming will take place during August and the videos will be shown throughout the exhibition Perimeters Boundaries & Borders September 29 - October 21 in Lancaster. Everyone they film will get a copy of the video to share with the family. At the show Human Beans will launch a new product: The Grandma Player. A container for those special recipes that will record and playback the sound of your grandma cooking whilst you cook along.

Vanity

Designed Objects just broke into the top 100,000 of 48.1 million sites currently being tracked on Technorati - you've got to take your thrills where you can get them!