Core77

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...

The second half of the morning was owned by the interaction & film experts. Philip Tiongson of Potion design explained his evolution from MIT to Film school to interactive installations. A designer, filmmaker and tech wizard, Tiongson uses technology as a story-telling tool. In a project for the Eldrige Street Synagogue in New York's Lower East Side, he developed custom-built touch screen maps and exploration tools to educate visitors on the history of the space and neighborhood. Simultaneously, he finished working on Nike's "100 Battles, 100 Victories" exhibit for the Beijing Olympics; herein, he designed and built a clothing-scale and a jump simulator. Amidst all the flash and glitz, there was a true passion for the work and a desire to educate with integrity. Most endearing was Tiongson's over-use of his wife as a model in all his product photos. Now that's love....

The session closed with Karin Fong's eye-candy presentation of her work as a title director. Famous for winning an Emmy for the illustrious Masterpiece Theater intro, Fong's work was powerful and direct. She emphasized the need for pushing the "signature" of a project and looking for unique ways of expression. "The goal is to find what is real in the content," she stated, "and how it resonates in your audience."

Off to lunch!