Digit Creative Technologists, Alex and David headed down to Brighton on September 2nd for 3 days of inspirational talks on design, art and code at the recently rebranded Reasons to be Creative. Despite the abundance of incredible speakers at the festival, they managed to whittle their insights down to the ones that stood out for them. –NM
Kevin Warwick – The Cyborg Experiments
To some people “cyborgs” are a Science Fiction myth. But to Kevin Warwick, a Professor of Cybernetics at the University of Reading, he was (and is) the world’s first living cyborg.
Warwick’s scientific research on Cybernetics covers artificial intelligence, robotics and biomedical engineering. One of Kevin’s experiments involved planting a glass capsule containing an electromagnetic coil and a silicon chip inside his own arm. With equipment set up in various rooms in his house he was able to map commands based on his movements, such as the lights automatically being switched on and off. Other experiments include a self-thinking micro robot with rat brain neon cells which learned how to navigate around a rectangular box which would try to avoid colliding into the walls. Some would consider this scientific research to be highly abnormal and strange, but surely the time will come when we can decide to have electronic devices embedded in our bodies that would further enhance our interaction with technology.
Memo Atkin – Fuck Clients
httpv://vimeo.com/38017188
Memo Atkin has been at the forefont for most of the shared links we’ve sent around the office over the past year. His self titled talk ‘Fuck Clients’ was based on his inspirations, motivations, processes, problems, solutions and frustrations. Feeling restricted by the work he was producing for clients he branched away to create visual art and sound installations. Memo’s work uses generative art and sound to convey emotion through the user interaction.
Throughout Memo’s talk he emphasised the importance of using creative exploration as a way to sell ideas and concepts to clients. He argued that using R&D streams to generate new innovative products would benefit both the client and the creator, allowing each to explore uncharted territories.
Stefanie Posavec – Hand-crafted Data
Stefanie Posavec is a freelance designer with a passion for beautiful, handcrafted data visualisations. She led the audience through her latest commissioned pieces including the design of the index graphic for the MyFry iPhone application. The one project that stood out from the rest was Writing Without Words. Based on methods of visually representing text and different writing styles, she created a series of data visualizations on patterns she found throughout her data. She explained that her process was long and tedious since she had to visualize the data manually in Adobe Illustrator. However she appreciated it as it gave her an emotional connection with her work.
Mario klingemann – Better Living Through Lasers
Mario’s nothing short of a genius. He’s one of those guys who masters anything he puts his mind to. Inspired by Jared Tarbell’s talk at FOTB in 2010 Mario setup a fabrication lab in Munich called FabLab where he and other laser and 3D printing enthusaists can bring their digital creations to life. During his talk he mentioned the importance of getting involved with hackspaces and user groups in our own cities or cities close by, mentioning BuildBrighton Hackspace and London hackspace. Some of the works Mario presented during the talk were created by various algorithms which would then be realised in a variety of materials such as wood and paper.
Brosmind This is our Momento!
Brosmind’s hilarious talk took the audience on a journey from their childhoods to their current studio in Barcelona. Showing their creative side from a young age, the talk included footage of them battling superimposed post-production effects on a camera lens. Their incredibly detailed and creative illustrations have since made their way onto Product Design and Hotel Wallpaper, to name a few. Brosmind are the guys that remind us all that its important to have a laugh while you work!
Stay tuned for their Reasons Day 2 report tomorrow.
