Aeolian Ride - San Francisco
Jessica is on her way now from NY to LA where she will be holding another Aeolian Ride! If you’re around la-la land go check it out.
September 10th, 6:17 pm, @ Santa Monica + Vermont in front of the Red Line Station
I’m getting pretty psyched for this event: Open stitch, at Location One this September in New York City.
Here’s the description:
15 artists will spend seven days at Location One working intensely and in restricted conditions to produce wearable creations with only the tools and materials provided to them. A cross between art and fashion, the project temporarily removes the gallery from the appointed function of “showing” and moves it to the world of artistic production, raising questions about the circumstances, both physical and mental, of the creative process.
“The Unstoppable Hum” by Sabrina Raaf
so rumor has it that this year’s Artbots exhibition was the best ever. well, i can certainly testify to the high caliber of work present. it was an impressive show!
but lately i’ve been thinking about this project presented by Sabrina Raaf during her talk at D.A.T.A. 22.0 (check under events for more info) - “The Unstoppable Hum.”
being a person captivated by the multitude, and the incessant cycling of human-generated patterns and processes, i just loved this piece. sabrina’s grower, at Artbots was pretty rad too, but for some reason “the Unstoppable Hum” keeps wandering into my thoughts. i love how the work is suggestive the indefatigable march of “Progress” (with a capital P) through sourcing various channels of electronic activity, yet at the same time creates an experience which (i imagine) suspends and distills the incessant chattering of background noise into a singular moment, pregnant with possibility.
“Keep East Europe Happy” by Mare Tralle
This installation by Estonian artist Mare Tralle was created in 2001, however, given current events and the still recent expansion of the European Union it caught my eye.
“Keep East Europe Happy” was part of an exhibition titled “Money” at Kulturehuset, Stockholm. The installation was comprised of carpet made out of muscle wire and textile which reacted to both the value of the (now defunct) Deutsche Mark and the movements of people in the gallery. The visitors in the gallery are required to “balance” the movements of the carpet and “keep East Europe happy.”
In 1992 Estonia introduced the Kroon, whose value was tied to the Deutsche Mark. It’s pretty amazing to think that the Deutsche Mark doesn’t even exist anymore, and the Kroon will soon disappear too. And yet, the deeper issues that Mare tackles in her work remain. The reverberations of massive social and economic change continue to resonate deeply in “Eastern Europe,” coupling with shocks from newer and more recent changes. Mare’s work provokes me (in a very personal way)to try to understand this, and that’s why I think her work is so great.
back in dublin. arrived yesterday and had an intense day adjusting to the time change as well as gathering materials for the midi scrapyard challenge. the artbots exhibition is so cool! so many great projects and the artists are even more interesting.
never thought i’d write this here, but i’m loving dublin right now. it is different when you return to a place for a short visit… and there are so many familiar faces, friends very dear to us that we haven’t seen in a long time. tomorrow we start the exhibition and workshop bright and early at 10:30am for a gaggle of kids (normal hours are from 12 - 6.) it’s going to be a long day…
by the way, dublin has been invaded by robots! if you’re in town you’ve already heard about the call to save the robots!
jonah and i will be in dublin next week for artbots. we’re going to do a midi scrapyard challenge. check out the artbots press release.
Been doing some research and came across this poster for Hear Wear, a project by fellow ITP graduates Milena Iossifova and Younghui Kim. It’s flattering to note that they’ve referenced one of my projects in their poster, but I’m baffled by the following:
Inside/Outside displays air pollution with color changes of the bag’s fabric. There have also been numerous projects integrating EL-wire and LED technology in clothing. HearWear stems from this research but is unique as one of the first wearable projects to look at environmental noise pollution, seamlessly and subtly integrating of technology with everyday fashion.
Portable Light
Back from Chicago… At WIRED Nextfest there were a lot of great projects. One of them, titled Portable Light by University of Michigan and KVA MATX is a series of prototypes which integrate flexible solar cells and super bright LEDs into portable and rechargable lighting solutions for developing countries. The long term goal is to integrate the technology directly into the textile, but for now they\’ve done a great job of incorporating off-the-shelf components into architectural and functional designs.
I’m here at WIRED Nextfest 2005 showing Urban Chameleon. The event continues today and tomorrow. Haven’t seen much of Chicago beyond Navy Pier and immediate surroundings. Maybe on Monday when the event is over.
