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design

3D Printing: Enter the Void

by Jordan Mattos

enter-the-void-1

As a film student in college, I often viewed my production-oriented classmates as tech-heads and gadget hounds. Tied up by electrical wires, I came up with sportive nicknames for them: the camera buff, the visual FX junkie, the techno-fetishist. To them, content and story were means to an end; it was the rush of copulating with metal that really seemed to agitate their senses.

I preferred theory to being on set. I never managed to obtain that tactile high; the current of electricity that shot through their veins whenever they plugged in a wire or pulled a strip of celluloid through a Steenbeck. With no less fervor, I enjoyed discussing the social implications of the latest film with my friends in the cinema studies department, who eschewed “making stuff” for the loftiness of deconstruction.  The general gist was that detachment from the creative process – not sticking your hands in the primordial goo – offered you true objectivity.

The 3D Printshow, an annual four-day consumer-friendly event at Manhattan’s Metropolitan Pavilion, aims to satisfy the urges and convictions of both doers and deconstructionists. Three floors exhibited the various uses of plastic printing machines that ranged from the ornamental (3D printed jewelry) to the potentially life changing (bionic ears), and showed the advantages of the theoretical and the hands-on, with varying degrees of success.

uncanny valley: 3D-printed face

Three-dimensional printing stands in relation, in theory and in practice, to the Maker movement, which has now become a part of international lexicon. Maker Faire, Make Magazine‘s festival, secured a place in the DIY parthenon back in 2006 with the first event in San Francisco. This 3D Printshow in particular was created in the UK by an intrepid Brit. The event has toured Paris and London. Even my boss, a self-identifying Neo Luddite in his 70s, uses the term in casual conversation.

Looking at the event as a whole, there is a valid tendency among certain circles to praise the potential of the radical elements and dispense with the more fanciful as the whimsy of business-minded Silicon Valley types with a fetish for fun fur. A recent article in The New Yorker pointedly called out the money crowd for overshadowing the innovators and placed Maker culture in a refreshing economic and social context. The event I attended offered an Elite Business Conference to understand how 3D printing could help corporations, as well as an Investor Session with plenty of opportunities to flash witty business card designs. But it also offered a live runway show of fashion designs that highlighted the conceptual over the commercial, green thumb student thesis projects, and a Medical and Planet Earth section, which focused on teams that use the printing process for ecological and medical innovation.

Iris van Herpen’s 3D fashion

Permeating the show is a palpable respect for play. One exhibitor, Extreme Flyers, created a tiny remote-controlled helicopter with a built-in HD camera. I watched it glide through the air and weightlessly alight in the palm of my hand. As it hovered above the crowd I wondered what it would be like to make a film shot exclusively by a toy helicopter. For a moment, I found myself joining the crowd, jointly craning my neck in thrall of the beautiful plastic poetically trapped in mid-air.

In this instance, the event successfully married the techie with the conceptual, the politically and socially minded with the thrill of the hands-on. Makers “make” just for the fun of it, but seem all the better for it. It’s in the exciting stages of experimentation, error, and play that their ideas seemed best suited for refinement and further developments in advocacy. Perhaps that’s something we can all stand to benefit from – Neo Luddites and gadget hounds alike.

Filed Under: ARTS, NEW YORK, REVIEWS, SCIENCE Tagged With: 3d printing, design, DIY, maker, Silicon Valley, tech

100% Sexy: When Pride Becomes a Fashion Statement

by Greg Serebuoh

Power Is Sexy Shot

Tom Middleton

What do I love so much about 100%G?

Ever since I’d first heard about it, I had been trying to find the answer to that question. I met Peruvian photographer César Mansilla Sialer on a photo shoot for a swimwear campaign I was modeling for, and he was, as I like to say, the answer to all questions, so we stayed friends. It was César who first hipped me to 100%G (or OHP), a designer from his hometown of Lima.

Its design concept was straightforward. Skillfully cut, limited edition T-shirts made from soft, Peruvian cotton with simple words printed on the front.

G Shirt     Grey Shirt

Its online presence [NSFW] and marketing were equally straightforward. Witty and irreverent posts about boys, sex, and fun, pics of guys around the world sporting their gear, and campaigns that had a raw, DIY quality, like stealthy captures of those genuine, private moments, of modeling a new favorite outfit or dancing with total abandon in front of the mirror before a night out on the town (you know you do it too). Still, there was something more that drew me in.

It certainly helped that the face of its campaign was my old friend Tom Middleton, one of the former stars of Fuerza Bruta and current cast member of Hombre Vertiente. Tom’s devastatingly handsome looks, radiant smile, and tangible kindness made the shots effortlessly steamy.

Tom Middleton Campaign

 Tom Middleton Campaign 4     Tom Middleton Campaign 2

The fact that the shirts framed the male form perfectly didn’t hurt either. And yet, there was more.

I still hadn’t figured it out, but I knew I had to be in on it, so I reached out to 100%G and ordered a couple of shirts from its latest campaign, “Party Animals.”

407520_479180782120261_539570365_n

As I pulled my new shirts out of their packaging, reveling in the feel of the soft, smooth fabric against my fingers, my eye caught the writing on the inner printed tag: “One Hundred Percent Gay. One Hundred Percent Love.” G is for Gay? Apparently I had missed something key.

Pool Shot

I took a look at its website: “Made 100% for the gay community. In Lima, we noticed an absence of trendy, fun, cool clothes made with the gay person in mind. That’s when the idea for 100%G began. We make our shirts using 100% Peruvian gay cotton, some of the best fabric in the world.”

Wish You Were Queer Shirt     Screen shot 2011-12-23 at 7.41.20 PM

First of all, clap clap clap and snap snap snap for the use of the term “gay cotton.”

But seriously, as I got a glimpse into the thinking behind the brand, everything began to come together for me, and I found my answer.

I love 100%G because it is deliciously sexy. If you know me well, you know that I love sex, not only as a physical act in which to partake (often…very often) but also as an idea. Sex or sexiness for me has to do with a lot more than just naked bodies and dim lighting or indeed marriage and heavy promises. It is a basic energy that courses through all of life, and 100%G taps into that fundamental energy in order to encourage a different kind of (gay) pride, more human, more inclusive, more complex, less complicated.

Party Animals Campaign

The irreverence. The unabashed, playful sensuality. The unapologetic attitude, free of rigid definitions and precarious binaries. And the beauty. Real beauty. The kind that comes not just from a pretty face and a hot body, but from an easy smile, a mischievous nature, a relaxed poise. Beauty that isn’t afraid to get messy, silly, or frisky. Beauty that doesn’t take itself too seriously because it knows that it’s here to stay.

100%G says that it is “STRAIGHT FRIENDLY.” Of course it is. Because the sexiness that it ascribes to is the kind that Idris Elba can wear just as easily. Or James Franco. Or Legolas Greenleaf (proud geek here). Or Lupita Nyong’o. Or you. It’s the guys and girls that turn you on, not just with their looks or what they say, but with the titillating ease with which they live in their own space. An uncomplicated confidence that is flexible, free, and universal.

Damian Fox      Loverboy Shirt

At the base of the blog entries, the campaigns, the aesthetic, and the fashion design is this basic principle. I interviewed 100%G to get a bit more insight into their vision.

Tell me how 100%G began.

OHP was born out of a design project created by El Cartel Design Ghetto, out of a need not only to create a product that was commercially viable but also to communicate an idea. We strive to use skillful design to represent a lifestyle. We want to represent the gay lifestyle in a fun and light way.

Party Animals 2     Party Animals 3

Your campaigns and your branding seem to have a very specific intention. What inspires your choices in that regard?

We openly celebrate gay lifestyles and the idea of facing everything with a positive attitude. It has been an interesting task since we are based in Peru, which is a really conservative country. Even so, we’ve been noticing an incredible trend in the country, thousands of guys are coming out of the closet, and we obviously wanted to do what we could to make sure they were well represented.

What does it mean to be sexy?

Sexy is being exactly who you are. It’s being true to yourself in words and actions. It’s being part of a multifaceted, global community. Sexy is being proud of who you are.

Red T-Shirt 1      Power Is Sexy Shot

Tell me about your current campaign.

Our current campaign is in dialogue with the issues that face our community today. We’re using it to support 100% Equality.

 One Hundred Percent Summer

 

Filed Under: FASHION, LGBT, LIFESTYLE, STYLE Tagged With: Argentina, Cesar Mansilla Sialer, Coming out, community, cosmopolitan, design, designer, Equality, fashion, Fuerza Bruta, gay, Hombre Vertiente, Idris Elba, james franco, Latin, Latin America, Legolas, lgbt, lifestyle, Lima, lord of the rings, love, Lupita Nyong'o, nightlife, Orlando Bloom, party, Peru, queer, sensuality, sex, sexuality, style, t shirt, tee, Tom Middleton

Standout Urban Trends from the BMW Guggenheim Lab

by Austin Arrington

UrbanTrends_int

From 2011-2013, the mobile BMW Guggenheim Lab studied life in modern cities, offered free programs and workshops, and implemented projects across New York City, Berlin, and Mumbai. 100 Urban Trends emerged from the Lab as a database for the most talked-about trends in city life. Participatory City, a recent exhibit at the Guggenheim, provided an overview for the major trends explored by the project.

The Lab teams were interdisciplinary, and included experts in the fields of urbanism, architecture, art, design, science, technology, education, and sustainability. What follows is a sample of standout trends from the Lab’s work in NYC. 

The East Village Lab.
The East Village Lab.

 

Altruism may be a surprising trend for anyone who thinks of NYC as a hardened, “get yours” type of city. “Altruism” means showing concern for the wellbeing of others in a selfless way (even at cost to oneself). During Love Night, psychologists and neuroeconomics experts attempted to design environments that could inspire even the most wolfish of Wall Street to act decently. The idea is that design combined with citizen action can encourage friendly behavior in daily life.

Bike politics takes a critical look at the debate on bike infrastructure in cities—covering topics such as traffic laws, cyclist fatalities, and the need for more bike lanes. During the Mobility in Cities event, Benoit Jacob, head of BMW’s division on sustainable transportation, met with New York City Department of Transportation chief of staff Margarat Newman. The two brainstormed on the future of urban mobility, exploring new possibilities for public transportation, cars, and bikes.

Evolutionary infrastructure looks at modalities of architecture and city planning that allow for natural and artificial systems to work effectively together. Engineered and natural processes are viewed as reciprocal evolutionary forces. Michael Manfredi and Marion Weiss from Harvard’s Graduate School of Design led a workshop on evolutionary infrastructure, with the aim of discovering renewed potential for mega-utopias.

Hacking the city refers to the capacity of urban inhabitants to transform city systems through informal actions. Sociologist Saskia Sassen came up with the idea, in order to show how open-source, grassroots participation can help make cities more habitable and humane. The idea is to subvert the meaning of hacking from technological to humanist. Perhaps dog-walkers, old ladies on stoops, and other vigilant community members are preferable to the most advanced surveillance technologies.

Resilience is a city’s ability to cope with and recover from hardship. While it can mean different things, often a resilient city is able to adapt to and mitigate the effects of climate change. It goes without saying that NYC’s response to Superstorm Sandy falls under this category. A panel discussion took place on different ways that New Yorkers can actively respond to environmental stress in the coming years.

Urban psychology studies the effects of city life on mental health and wellbeing, looking into areas such as stress, overstimulation, anxiety, relationship to space, and urban fatigue. Journalist and Lab member Charles Montgomery gave a talk (Comfort, Cities, and the Science of Happiness), arguing that similar components go into designing happy, sustainable, and resilient cities.

BMW-Guggenheim-Lab-

Some have criticized the BMW Guggenheim Lab for being overly conceptual and having little impact on actual urban existence. During its time in the East Village, some residents complained that the ideas being explored by the Lab where already in effect in the area (such as community gardens, locally owned art galleries, and small businesses). Critics said that the Lab might have done more good in a community lacking the resources of the LES.

While the BMW Guggenheim Lab’s work was highly academic, it’s relevancy can’t be blown off easily. During the Lab’s stint in NYC, it explored and engaged with critical issues for New Yorkers. However, the extent to which city-dwellers will be able to apply what was learned through the Lab in daily life remains to be seen.

 

Filed Under: ARTS, LIFESTYLE, NEW YORK, REVIEWS, SCIENCE, uncategorized Tagged With: Architecture, BMW Guggenheim Lab, design, manhattan digest, NYC, sustainability, Urban trends

Design and Violence—MoMA’s online experiment

by Austin Arrington

boxcutter
boxcutter
Boxcutter—tool or weapon? Photo credit: HomeSpot HQ

We are often accustomed to think about design in light, happy terms. Design is a way to shape the built environment in beautiful and functional ways. However, design can also be viewed as a creative act of destruction. Design and Violence, an online curatorial project at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), is currently exploring this relationship.

In the 1971 book, Design for the Real World,Victor Papanek writes, “There are professions more harmful than industrial design, but only a very few of them.” Papanek was a designer and educator who advocated for social and ecological responsibility in the design of products, tools, and community infrastructures.

Designers, whether architects, fashion gurus, or web developers, create new ways for people to interface with reality. In doing so, they play a major role in reconfiguring society and culture.

There are two main questions posed by Design and Violence. How is violence embedded in design? And how does design impact society’s idea of violence?

Design and Violence is organized by Paolo Antonelli, Senior Curator, Department of Architecture and Design, MoMA; Jamer Hunt, Director, graduate program in Transdisciplinary Design, Parsons The New School for Design; and Kate Carmody, Curatorial Assistant, Department of Architecture and Design, MoMA.

The curators invite experts from a wide range of fields (science, literature, philosophy, journalism, and politics) to comment and theorize on the relationship between design objects and societal violence.

The project defines violence as “a manifestation of the power to alter circumstances, against the will of the other and to their detriment.”

One example of such a manifestation of power is gentrification—in which entire communities are displaced through interdependent socioeconomic and cultural shifts in design.

The curators at Design and Violence have mostly collected objects designed after 2001, to signify the paradigm shift that occurred after the 9/11 attacks. One case study was performed on the box cutter/utility knife, due to its role in the 9/11 plane hijackings.

Other concepts that have been explored by the project include the global shift from symmetrical to asymmetric warfare, as well as the development of cyber-warfare.

There are seven thematic categories through which the curators organize objects—Hack/Infect: disrupting the rules of the system; Constrain: binding, blocking, and distorting; Stun: causing blunt trauma; Penetrate: infiltrate the boundaries, breaching; Manipulate/Control: drawing into the realm of violence with suasion; Intimidate: promising damage and death; and Explode: annihilating visibly and completely.

The most mundane of objects can be the subject of a Design and Violence case study. Take a look at Daan van den Berg’s Merrick Lamp. According to the curators, ‘virus’ is a versatile term that can mean an infecting agent for either biological life or computer files. This fact led van den Berg to hack CAD files, 3-D printing a mutated IKEA lamp named after “Elephant Man” Joseph Carey Merrick.

Elephant man
Joseph Merrick, the inspiration for van den Berg’s Merrick Lamp.

Andrew Blauvelt, Senior Curator of Design, Research, and Publishing at the Walker Art Center, calls the Merrick Lamp an act of “aesthetic terrorism.” It serves as a subversive commentary on the industrial homogeneity perpetuated by corporations like IKEA.  

The Design and Violence website also acts as a forum for design experts to critique each other’s ideas. For example, the Republic of Salivation by Michael Burton and Michiko Nitta is a project that imagines a dystopian future of food shortages, rationing, and synthetic feeding devices. Philosopher and sustainability advocate John Thackara recently critiqued the Republic of Salivation, on the basis that the global food crisis can be solved in more holistic, environmentally conscious ways.     

Design and Violence is an ongoing experiment, with no definite end scheduled. The second phase of the project, currently under development, is its Google Earth extension. This phase will enable users to locate the physical location of each object within the collection, allowing for more traditional viewing of the artifacts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: ARTS, BREAKING NEWS, ENTERTAINMENT, LIFESTYLE, NEW YORK Tagged With: design, experimental, manhattan digest, MOMA, NewYorkCity, violence

Green Roofs and the Science of Sustainable Design

by Austin Arrington

Green roof
Green Roof
An Alive Structures green roof combining sedum mats with native plants.

Perfecting urban green roofs for their environmental and social benefits is a good example of where science and design meet.

The benefits of green roofs include insulation, reduced energy use, the removal of air pollutants and green house gases, increased roof lifespan, reduced heat stress, stormwater runoff management, beautification, and improved health.

There are two types of green roofs—extensive and intensive. Extensive green roofs have a soil depth of 1”- 5,” and are planted with sedums and short grasses. Intensive green roofs need at least one foot of soil and can be vegetated with trees, shrubs, and perennials.

Biology PhD candidate at York University in Toronto Scott McIvor has questioned the performance of sedum to absorb water and promote biodiversity, claiming that plants adapted to local conditions work better.

Sedum doesn’t absorb water as efficiently as some native species, while it is useful for lowering the building energy requirements of air-conditioning and heating.

Determining which green roofs plants best support biodiversity requires finding the right soil composition for microorganisms to live in. This is an ongoing question scientists are exploring.

Figuring out how to best integrate sedum with other plants, to maximize the potential benefits of a green roof, is where design comes in. Producing a green roof for rainwater run-off and climate management requires creative and efficient design.   

Alive Structures is a company of landscape designers and environmentalists based out of Brooklyn. They do residential, community, and educational green roof and garden projects across the five boroughs. Their green roofs often integrate locally grown sedum mats with native plants.

Part of what makes a particular landscape architecture piece interact well with its environment is its artistic quality—a design for beauty as well as function.

I learned this from a friend and gardener, who taught me that working with plants is an art, as much as working with musical notes, letters, or pictures.

The shape and placement of plants produces a wide array of feelings in us, and can contribute dynamically to how we interpret the city’s architecture.

Of course, as a green roof is a part of a whole building, it must also function in support of the people that work or live within that building. One of the most present benefits of green roofs to urban dwellers is the chance to interact outdoors with plants.  

Being outdoors and spending time around plants have both been shown to correlate with increased wellbeing, health, and social functioning. This makes sense, as the design function of humans is to actively interact with our environment. 

Rooftops play an important role in New York City’s culture and architecture. The conscious Manhattanite is aware of the city on multiple levels—horizontal, vertical, urbane and environmental. Plants are the city’s symbiotic allies—an extra set of lungs to help us breath and continue growing.

Imagine if at the office you could take five minutes to walk outside onto a small field basking in the sun. A space to think and develop a relationship with some part of nature.

The good news is that Bloomberg’s PlaNYC initiative offers a tax abatement to green roof property owners for up to $150,000.

Green roofs can contribute to LEED certification as well—by protecting or restoring habitats, maximizing open space, storm-water quality control, reducing the heat island effect, and increasing water efficiency.

Green roofs support biodiversity by providing a habitat for native plants, invertebrates, birds and other animals.

Green roof
A close-up of the plant diversity at a roof in the East Village.

Small-scale, local food production is also possible with green roofs—creating opportunities for urban communities to partake in healthy, in-season produce.

Green roofs do require maintenance, especially if you expect to grow food on them. But that’s sort of the point—taking time to slow down. If “getting lost” in nature sounds like a waste of time, you can look it as a chance to recharge your battery.  

Much of the health benefits of green roofs are rooted in aesthetics. Green roofs give us something beautiful to look at and meditate on. They also reduce noise pollution, which is a major contributor of urban stress.

Evidence shows that simply being around plants leads to lower blood pressure, increased attentiveness, productivity and job satisfaction, lower anxiety, and improved wellbeing. Green roofs can serve as collective spaces for individuals to cooperate and work in, while enjoying the beauty of nature together. 

The mental state induced by working with plants has deep evolutionary roots. Tending plants can help the mind form a conscious relationship of stewardship to the environment.

At some level, green roofs might be viewed as a built-in escape mechanism. For me, they are a welcome refuge from the stress, anxiety, and noise of the city.

There is no single or obvious solution to designing sustainable cities. Green roofs may work well in some places, but they are certainly not a fix-all for the environmental shift that we are now experiencing.

However, if designed well, green roofs can support biodiversity, reduce the energy use of buildings, and help mitigate the effects of climate change. Their design and implementation can positively influence how city dwellers interact with and are conscious of their environment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: ARTS, BREAKING NEWS, SCIENCE, STYLE, TECHNOLOGY, uncategorized Tagged With: design, green roof, manhattan digest, science, sustainability

DJ DIRTY SOUTH ALBUM RELEASE; Art Design Contest

by Ryan Shea

Dirty South Contest
Dirty South Contest
Dirty South Design Contest

 

Talenthouse recording artist Dirty South just announced he will be releasing his first full-length studio album, Speed of Life.  This Serbian-Australian DJ/Producer has been on the house music circuit for a few years now and has racked up plenty of positive recognition and attention.  In 2008, he was nominated for a Grammy, in the Best Remixed Recording category for his  recording of, fellow Tech-House DJ, Kaskade’s Sorry, and then again, in the same category in 2011 for his collaboration with Axwell for the Temper Trap’s Sweet Disposition.

Since his recording career began, Dirty South has been racking up merits from a number of respected house music sources.  He is well known in the acclaimed InTheMix 50 DJ Poll’s, voted “Most Popular Producer Nationally” in 2007 as well as ranking 2nd in the 2007 InTheMix 50 DJ Poll.  Let’s not forget that in the DJ Mag Top 100 DJ poll every year since 2007.

 

So now that you know a little bit about this insanely talented DJ/Producer (just in case you) let me get to my point…In honor of his album release Dirty South is inviting artists to compete to design artwork for a limited edition tee-shirt that will be sold through his online store.  Having a design on an internationally sold clothing item is a great accomplishment for even the most seasoned artists, but even if you are just an aspiring artist or just have a talent for design and art this could be your open doorway!  Not only will the winner’s design be printed and sold, they will also receive a trip to VEGAS, a two night stay at The Wynn Las Vegas & Encore Resort, and a meet and greet with Dirty South himself.

To enter view Talenthouse‘s website at:

www.talenthouse.com/design-for-dirty-south

Winners will be announced March 5th and the deadline to submit is Tuesday February 26th!

I’m very honored to be the one to let you all know about this exciting opportunity and, as an art lover myself, look forward to voting and seeing the winning design!  And don’t forget the winner will be announced the same day as Dirty South’s album release!!

Filed Under: ARTS, BREAKING NEWS, ENTERTAINMENT, LIFESTYLE, MUSIC, NEW YORK, U.S., uncategorized Tagged With: 2013, album release, art, art contest, Australia, best dj, contest, design, design contest, dirty south, dj mag, fashion, free trip, grammy nominee, house music, international, kaskade, las vegas, phazing, recording, recording artist, talenthouse, techno, tee shirt, the wynn las vegas, thomas gold, tiesto, vegas, winner

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