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And just like that...it's over. Back to earth. Gravity Free 2008 wrapped up an invigorating three days with the themes of patience, perfection, and participation.
"The Cardstacker", Bryan Berg wowed the audience with feats of card-building prowess. Using repetitive geometry of grids and verticals, Berg holds the world record for the tallest house of cards. He took us through his canon of cardboard-creations, focusing on the engineering and tenacity it took to construct everything from state-fair displays to the recreation of the Chateau de Frontenac. He disclosed his leaf-blower technique for "takin-the-house-down" and humbly admitted that he starred in the Bravery's recent video, "Time Won't Let Me Go". Underneath all the skill, Berg emphasized the foundation of his work: "a simple idea... [that] does so many things."
Jake Barton followed with one of the most inspiring combinations of technology and human experience we've seen here. His firm, Local Projects, focuses on creating specific solutions for different projects and fostering place-based content. He showed examples of designing a process vs a product, explaining his work on Story Corps, a National Oral history project (fyi: it's closing today in Grand Central station. GO!) with soundbites of memories brought the audience to tears. (Note to all you lovebirds - there's nothing more heartfelt than proposing to your significant other in a time capsule!) Similarly, their Memory Map project for the Smithsonian FolkLife Festival used participatory action to tell the history of New York by New Yorkers. The event allowed visitors to share their stories of the city and build a communal vision of New York culture together.
When asked what he thought of the future of storytelling, Barton admitted that the virtual "archiving" of our lives would eventually make media obsolete.
paraphrased
I believe tools like Facebook, MySpace and Flickr will accumulate so much media that eventually we will reach a tipping point...there's just too much out there. People will seek out other ways to tell stories....maybe even going back to shaking hands and sitting down with another real person.
A perfect note to end on; for, after all, isn't that the point of all this? To meet, greet, laugh, taste and smell this big 'ol world we called "designed". Nothing could be more delicious. Or dangerous.
Till next year....
Posted by: elle* | Comments (0)
If ya like the Feist, and ya like the iPod, well then, you might want to cozy up to them both with this sweet iSweat.
Posted by: core jr | Comments (0)
Last day at Gravity Free. Our morning started off with a collection of heavy-hitting experience-gurus.
Tom Hennes, the museum-maker-master, asked us to ponder "How Dangerous an Exhibit Designer can Be?" (chuckles from the audience). He turned philosophical by then discussing the role of a museum in society, citing his work in South Africa: a "museum of storytelling, using the objects and narratives in the [space] as resources where visiting groups [can] use these tools to create new narratives." He envisions this to be a "place to try out dreams," reaching beyond its walls to bring different tribes and cultures together.
Hennes warned designers to be wary of "unexamined assumptions", "fixed meaning" and the "chaos of democracy" when creating work. He emphasized the need to evolve meaning and view work from the broadest possible perspective. Never one to mince words, Hennes stated,
We too easily drink the Kool-Aid of our clients...Choose your work wisely. I think [we] can actually change the world.
With equally heroic aspirations, Auturo Vittori took the stage. Trained in aerospace design, Vittori's ideals are steeped in innovation and exploration (tinged with the sweetest italian accent!). Recently, his work has taken on a humanitarian focus. Projects like the Air Tree (above) use moss filters to bring fresh air to urban environments while simultaneously creating oasis of communal interaction. Vittori emphasized the need to take action and re-invent our environment:
"The world planet is our space ship...we are no longer passengers, we are the crew...we are responsible. As designers everyone can do something...we can use our creativity, our ideas. We have to do it for our childrend, for us, but most especially for our spaceship...which is our planet."
more after the jump...
Posted by: elle* | Comments (0)
photo: Megan Ann Rucker
What happens to all those hopes n' dreams? Carl Alviani's got a call to arms for designers over at Coroflot's Creative Seeds blog. Here's a sneak peek:
...talk to practically any student or recent graduate, and nearly all of them will attest that they want to improve the world, solve problems of waste and poverty through better design, make a positive impact, make a difference. Even kids who want to do nothing more than draw cars and shoes all day will light up when explaining the fuel cell technology that drives their roadster, or the compostable uppers on their high-tops. This was true when I was in school, five years ago, and if you ask someone who studied a creative profession 10 years ago, it was mostly true then.As far as I can tell, the change occurs in the first year or two out of school. The bravado nurtured by professors and studio-mates rapidly withers in the harsh conditions of the job market, leaving the junior no less able to devise green strategies, but deeply doubting his or her right to voice them.
What's the issue here?
...one of clout, or perceived clout, and it results in a double-sided silence: management doesn't ask for more conscientious solutions, and design doesn't tell...[A] degree of license enables discussions that would otherwise never occur. Imagine for a moment you went into every client or management meeting knowing your suggestions would be granted that kind of weight. What would you do with it? Judging by conversations I've had with professional colleagues, I'd suspect that issues of sustainability and social benefit would be broached far more frequently, even if they weren't always enacted.
>> read entire article <<
The Dutch Postcode Lottery and and cross-media event PICNIC present the PICNIC Green Challenge, a call for products and services that contribute to an eco-friendly lifestyle, directly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and score highly on convenience, quality and design.
Just like last year, the entrant with the best idea will win €500,000 ($770,000) to execute the winning plan, and receive expert coaching and a starting list of customers!
Posted by: Mark Vanderbeeken | Comments (0)
There's some inevitability about Michael Bierut taking on this object, a favorite of industrial designers if there ever was one. Here goes:
Charles F. Brannock only invented one thing in his life, and this was it. The son of a Syracuse, New York, shoe magnate, Brannock became interested in improving the primitive wooden measuring sticks that he saw around his father's store. He patented his first prototype in 1926, based on models he had made from Erector Set parts. As the Park-Brannock Shoe Store became legendary for fitting feet with absolute accuracy, the demand for the device grew, and in 1927 Brannock opened a factory to mass produce it. The Brannock Device Co., Inc., is still in business today. Refreshingly, it still only makes this one thing. They have sold over a million, a remarkable number when one considers that each of them lasts up to 15 years, when the numbers wear off.
Read the whole thing.
Posted by: Allan Chochinov | Comments (0)
Hypebeast have pics of the Nike 706 - 100 Innovations temple exhibition that just opened in Beijing, 88 days before the Olympic Games opening ceremony on 08.08.08. Taking the classic museum audio tour experience one step further, visitors are given an iPod Touch preloaded with 100 tracks and the story behind each of the Nike innovations. Also check coolhuniting for more pics.
National Geographic's Man-made has a great segment up called "Tokyo: Living Small in the Big City." In addition to photos of space-tight designs, there's an informative video of architect Yasuhiro Yamashita (photo above), designer of Tokyo's Penguin House, discussing how to use three design tricks--admitting light, manipulating sightlines, and playing with ceiling height--to make a small space seem big. Click here to watch.
Posted by: hipstomp | Comments (0)