Archive for the ‘Events’ Category

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Robots, dinosaur noises and 3D printing with chocolate at the V&A

Wednesday, February 15th, 2012

Last night I spent an insightful Valentine’s evening watching a series of talks on Interaction Design & Technology by This Happened at the V&A.

First up was Ruairi Glynn, a London-based artist and lecturer who spoke about ‘Motive Colloquies’– a collective of artists, engineers and performance artists he leads. Their latest project (currently in development) is ‘Sociable Asymmetry,’ a giant responsive robot made from triangles that interact with its audience’s gestures. It was inspired by a piece called ‘The Promise of Touch,’ which was presented at the Pompidou Centre in Paris in June, 2011.

He discussed the extensive process that was involved in building the robot, and touched on the psychology behind what we perceive as ‘human’ movement. The goal was to make the robot’s appearance inanimate while keeping its movements as human as possible so people will spend more time with the installation.

The robot’s personality will slowly develop as Ruairi collects data from the audience on the movements they most relate to. He will then apply these insights to the robot’s actions to make the experience more engaging.

 

Up next was a fascinating talk from Marguerite Humeau,  a French artist who recently graduated from the RCA’s Design Interactions course. Her project was an extensive journey into resuscitating prehistoric creatures by reconstructing their vocal tracts using recent cloning technologies. These included a mammoth, a hominid called Lucy, and a whale with feet! The only slightly disappointing aspect was that we couldn’t listen to the sounds as they are still being crafted, but the sculptures looked beautiful, and the research process that went into their creation was very impressive.

 

Last, but by no means least, was Daniel Soltis from the branding company Moving Brands with an innovative use of 3D printing.

He presented an advent calendar for Christmas 2011 that contained chocolates constructed by a RepRap 3D printer. 24 people from across the studio contributed 3D objects that ‘meant something close to their hearts,’ and the team test-printed plastic versions before moving on to the trickier art of chocolate making. Cadbury’s chocolate turned out to be the best brand for the job because of its consistency, along with a generous topping of freezer spray. The end result was a creative way of telling 24 personal stories which were then displayed in the Moving Brands studio window. Daniel also talked about R&D being an important part of their studio, which we can definitely relate to at Digit.

 

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A visit to the London Art Fair 2012

Tuesday, January 24th, 2012

This weekend I attended the London Art Fair to have a look at some pretty exciting Modern British and Contemporary art.

My hands down favourite piece had to be by artistic duo Rob and Nick Carter called the Paint Pigment Photographs. The piece is composed of 25 photos of different coloured paint pigments thrown up in the air and captured at 1/1000th of a second against a bright blue cloudy sky.

The series is easily understood to be about the expression of colour, but what I also love about it is the different stages the work goes through to reach the end result. Kate Bryan of FAS London explained the complexity of the work  - the idea that the piece starts off with paint references a more traditional medium, but it then transforms into a performance piece as it’s thrown into the air, becomes a sculpture for a brief moment, and ends up as a beautifully captured photograph.

Also noteworthy was the series Tokyo Lights by Marco Bettoni showcasing a collection of photos documenting different Japanese taxi cab lights.

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The Power of Making

Monday, October 17th, 2011

I had the privilege of visiting the V&A’s Power of Making exhibition last week, and I must say I was truly impressed. Being a closet maker myself I was taken aback by the ingenuity, creativity and shear patience of the exhibitors. In an age where seemingly everything can be accomplished on a computer, it was wonderful to see what can be made with the human hand. Some of the outstanding pieces were the Prosthetic Suit for Stephen Hawkins made entirely out of wood by Michael Rea, and the Splinter Bike, another wood creation built to break the wooden bike land speed record. I was also pleased to see first hand Dalton Ghetti’s tiny alphabet carved into pencil tips.

Not everything was hand made, however. Riccardo Bovo gave a demonstration of 3D printing. With a wooden box and a couple of dials he was a able to twist and sculpt a lampshade on screen, and print the desired design on a 3D printer. I’ve been following 3D printing technology for a couple of years now, but this was my first chance to see first hand both the printing and its output. After taking part in the Bridging the Digital and Physical Worlds workshop last year and hearing from industry experts on how 3D printing will revolutionise the way we manufacture and access products, it was great to meet and chat with Riccardo about both his work and overall techniques in the field.

The exhibition runs until January 2nd, 2012 and there are loads of events covering every aspect of making from reed coffins to crocheting.

– Mike Naman.

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On Glug and Notworking

Monday, October 3rd, 2011

Digit Designer, Christina Winkless, joined a small group of Digit colleagues, and the larger London creative community, at Glug last Thursday. She’s particularly good at multitasking, Christina. Or she simply has a knack for finding after-work events that expand creative and professional perspectives. Here’s a summary of her night of notworking at Glug, a monthly get-together for designers and creatives, founded by Ian Hambleton and Nick Clemen. 

Last Thursday a few of us Digitees headed down to East London’s Cargo bar for Glug, an after-work notworking event. After a burger and a beer, we listened to talks by the likes of The Viral Factory, Tom Ska, and Joel Veitch.

An ongoing theme throughout the evening was the Internet’s extraordinary ability to facilitate actions that would never have been possible 10 years ago. For instance each speaker took us through a personal journey of how the Internet, and the infectious nature of virals, has opened doors for them, and allowed them to find success in doing what they love to do. I particularly liked The Viral Factory’s take on what factors brought them to where they are now — an engaging and energetic approach, underscored by humour.

The evening ended on a high note with Rob Wakefield from The Viral Factory giving a hilarious run down of how he would solve some of the world’s most pressing problems. Solutions included the use of tiny chainsaw steak knives, cows, dynamite and an app to find out “who’s porridge you’re stirring.”

An event like this isn’t just about notworking. It’s about meeting people and hearing their personal take on the work they do in a way an online skim could never provide. A great way to unwind and engage at the same time.

Glug is a monthly event. Tickets can be purchased here.

 

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FOTB 2011, Day 3

Thursday, September 22nd, 2011

In David Rosser’s final take on Flash on the Beach, he reminds us to build our careers on ideas, not tools. Sound advice coming from an Ideas Man. We can’t wait to see where FOTB takes Digit (and David!) next year.

Jer Thorp – New York, New York


9-11 Memorial

Jer Thorp is mostly known for his beautiful and complex data visualisations. As a Data Artist in Residence at the New York Times, Jer shared some of the most recent projects he’s worked on, one of them being the 9-11 Memorial in New York City. He was asked to produce an algorithm that would allow victims’ names to be placed close to their friends and family rather than in the linear fashion most common in memorial sites. Jer thus produced a tool made with processing  that generated a name structure from a set of pre-defined rules. To read more about this fascinating project, click here.

Joshua Davis – The Unknown Voyage

Josha Davis

Joshua Davis wrapped up theoverall conference with a session titled, “The Unknown Voyage”. He led the crowd through a collection of his print and interactive work, giving us advice each step of the way on how to further ourselves and our careers. An important point he made was to “build our careers on ideas, not tools.” Why limit our work to the constraints of the programs we work in when we could be thinking outside of the box, without limitations? An appropriate and thought-provoking end to one of the highlight events of the year.

Images in this post are © of their respected owners.

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FOTB 2011, Day 2

Tuesday, September 20th, 2011

David Rosser shares more of his experience at this year’s Flash on the Beach conference in Brighton. Stay tuned for his final post tomorrow, where he encourages us (via Joshua Davis) to build our careers on ideas, not tools. 

Seb Lee-Delisle – Pixels for People

It’s not every day you get to be part of an art installation.

Seb’s Day 2 session ‘Pixels for People’ turned the audience’s iPhones and Android devices into pixels. Using a combination of JavaScript websockets, openFrameworks and over 150 mobile devices, Seb created a synchronous light installation along with a game that challenged audience members to capture the Nyan Cat — the fastest click being the winner. Seb tried this again during the JAM session in the dome and successfully synchronised over 200 mobile devices.

David Lenaerts – Keeping it real

Away3D

David, being an Away3D core developer, was definitely on my Favorites list. As a fellow 3D enthusiast with a background in Maya and Flash, I was excited and intrigued to learn about advanced shading and rendering techniques. One of the key points he highlighted was using realtime physics calculations to counter software limitations. He argued that calculating realtime physics based simulations is expensive on the CPU, while the same effect(s) can be achieved by “faking it.” His presentation covered diffuse lighting, sub surface scattering and normal mapping techniques, which were followed by some jaw-dropping Away3D 4 demos. To read more about the topics David covered click here.

James Victore – Who died and made me boss?

James Victore

All I knew about james before seeing him speak was that he had the most impressive mustouche ever! James headed the Inspiration session on the second night. Apart from running his own business, James Victore Inc., he’s also a professor at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. Throughout James’s talk, he discussed various pieces of work from his new book – “Who Died and Made You Boss?”. His captivating and motivating session eventually had us all rocking out to Back in Black by AC/DC. A great end to a fantastic Day 2.

Images in this post are © of their respected owners.

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FOTB 2011, Day 1

Friday, September 16th, 2011

Digit’s Creative Technologist, David Rosser, attended Flash on the Beach in Brighton this past week. The conference brings together the best minds in design and development to share, educate and inspire, while providing opportunities for hands-on technical training and networking. Digit’s attended FOTB for three years running, a tradition we hope to keep up despite there being doubt about the conference’s future (see David’s blog for more on this).

Here are David’s thoughts on the sessions that really stood out this year, and the importance of good reference libraries.

FOTB Title Sequence

This year’s title sequence was created by Bradley G Munkowitz, aka GMUNK. I’d never seen any of Bradley’s work before, so to experience a beautiful, well-rehearsed live action dance piece was a treat. The piece’s narrative follows a creative soul as he searches for inspiration and fights his inner ghosts — something we’ll all come across at some point in our careers. Click here to learn more about the piece.

Bradley G Munkowitz – Tron GFX

Tron GFX - TRON-Solar-Sailor

One of the first sessions on Monday was GMUNK’s Tron GFX talk, based on the 12 minutes of holographic work he and his team produced for the film, Tron Legacy. Showing an imaculate array of concept and post-production work, the visuals stunned us all.  He also had plenty to say about the roots of inspiration. He couldn’t stress enough the importance of reference libraries throughout his presentation, which I thought was an interesting insight. It’s true; a good reference library will always provide you with a solid collection of inspirational material that can help you on current and future projects.

Click here to see more of the eye candy GMUNK and his team produced.

Jon Burgerman – A short talk about working and not working, and how to waste time efficiently

Jon Burgerman

The first Inspiration session was headed by Jon Burgerman. Jon’s work speaks louder than his personality, which (trust me) is incredibly loud! On a daily basis Jon spends his time drawing and illustrating colourful cartoons while singing about vegetarian food. He’s also in a band called Anxieteam.

Check the Digit blog next week for my thoughts on Day 2. They may or may not involve moustaches and my perspective on the power of Pixels for People.

Images in this post are © of their respected owners.

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The Raindance Saturday Film School

Monday, August 22nd, 2011

The ‘Raindance Saturday Film School’ is a fairly well-known, crash course in the film industry that promises “to explain the basics of screenwriting, directing and shooting a film – in one day.” No mean feat, yet hundreds sign up every week in confidence.

Having finally experienced it, the passion and years of industry knowledge from the speakers was indeed in abundance.  The most useful element being the chance to learn the ‘art of storytelling’: from story strategy to scene sequencing, to setting up and paying off scene patterns, to blending dialogue. It was all there.

By far the most animated talk was on ‘directing’ by British film industry veteran, Patrick Tucker. Prancing across the stage with various props and humour, he demonstrated the principles of directing and how to get actors and crew to actually DO what YOU want!  ‘Why is it that everyone wants to direct, yet few take the time to learn how’ he asked? Indeed, these days so many people consider themselves “Directors” with the introduction of video-enabled mobile phones and cost effective DSLRs, but so few will do it well enough to turn it into a career.

Throughout the day my film sat there at the back of my mind, music running through my head, along with some fragmented introductory scenes. How would it end? I wasn’t sure yet, but I now had the tools to work it out.

Will I go on to write my film? Definitely. Will I ever produce it? Who knows. But it doesn’t really matter. Unlike the millions of individuals who attempt to break into the film industry, I am not one of them. But instead one of those quietly curious creatives that will always pick up and put things down throughout my life. I wonder what will be next?

If you have an idea you want to turn into a film, find out how here.

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The art at the heart of WOMAD

Tuesday, August 16th, 2011

Womad is a free spirited, laid-back and unpretentious family affair held in Charlton Park, Wiltshire, which celebrates the ‘World Of Music, Art and Dance’; hence the name WOMAD. It is in no way a festival purely about music and/or dance. Art had a huge presence on site and made it a real delight to photograph. Everybody had a chance to be creative and get involved in artwork around the festival.

There were craft workshops all around the site: in the kids area there were activities encouraging children and parents to get involved creatively, there was the Roots Architecture Project where four stages were built over four days (with the help of festival goers) out of reclaimed materials from the park itself. Sculptures were also placed amongst the trees in the arboretum and seven sea containers showcasing Giving Soul- Film Animations by Six Leading Artists were on display. On the final day a celebratory procession of the creations made over the course of the festival made its way around the site providing some great opportunities to capture the spirit of the festival.

Giving Soul was a fantastic example of the world-art displayed. The title was taken from the translation for the Greek word psyche and the Latin name anima, the “animating principle” – the vital force inside every living creature – close to the Christian concept of soul. So “Animation” would be the technique of giving “soul” to inanimate objects, drawings, etc.

The Six artists who displayed their work were Edwina Ashton, Sebastian Buerkner, Simon Faithfull, Melanie Jackson, William Kentridge and David Shrigley. The work by the South African artist William Kentridge stood out in particular: He uses a stop motion technique of filming charcoal drawings, making erasures and changes, and then filming it again. The palimpsest-like effect creates a fitting atmosphere for what is often fairly dark subject matter.

I would recommend Womad to anyone. As a photographer it was an amazing experience in itself to be able to photograph such a colourful, fun, friendly and diverse festival. It was unlike any festival I have been to and there was always something interesting and creative happening. It is a delight for all the senses, a festival of inspiration and great discovery.

 

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Vivian Maier at the London Street Photography Festival

Tuesday, July 26th, 2011

100,000 negatives were taken by the photographer Vivian Maier over four decades. 20 to 30,000 of them were never developed and in her lifetime she had never shown her work to anyone.

Every one of her photographs remained in storage as Maier got older, until she was no longer able to pay the warehouse holding fee, and subsequently had to put her work up for auction.

90% of her photographs were sold for $400 to a man called John Maloof who was researching the Chicago area for a book on the city’s history.  At the time, Maloof knew little about street photography and had no idea about what he was to discover. Years later, he did try to find her, but unfortunately was too late. Her obituary had been placed just days before he began his search.

Maloof set about developing the films and scanning the negatives, gradually revealing the brilliance of Maier’s work. It wasn’t until he properly took the project on that he realized the magnitude of it all.

I went to see the first UK exhibition of her work at the German Gymnasium last Thursday as part of London’s Street Photography Festival. There were around 40 prints on display, the little boy and the man on the beach were two that caught my eye. I enquired into the price of a print (as if I was a serious buyer!?) and… let’s just say that John Maloof will probably make his auction bid.

If you get a chance to see her work in the flesh it’s certainloy worth a visit. When standing in front of her more everyday snapshots of a bygone era, you cannot help wonder what she would  have thought about her newly acclaimed fame and exposure.

The London Street Photography Festival starts at King’s Cross and will be on until the end of July.

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