Here it is folks… It’s been a long five months since my last entry, but I’ve got a newly completed project to share with ya’ll internet friends!
The Improvised Foam Device
A critical look at contemporary society’s tendency towards fear and overreaction. Inspired by two recent public art “scares.”
Do yourself a favor, and watch in fullscreen!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Boston_bomb_scare
Remember this? In 2007, hometown Boston had a big scare over an installation of Aqua Teen Hunger Force LED Mooninites. Don’t know about you guys, but I was pretty upset a silly little ‘guerrilla’ marketing scheme could create such panic like that.
Anyway… Of greater relevance to us all, a story I posted not too long ago: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/21/takeshi-miyakawa-arrested-nypd-i-love-new-york-art-williamsburg_n_1532529.html
During the 2012 New York Design Week, Takeshi Miyakawa, a local artist and designer (with work in the permanent collection at MOMA) installed a series of glowing ‘I Love NY’ bags about town. Rather than in celebration of the city, as the artist intended, the bags were mistaken for a terrorist threat, landing Mr. Miyakawa in prison. As all of us creative people, we ought to be outraged by such an outcome.
My project – A couple of years ago, I began a series of black box devices, each piece designed to ‘sabotage’ its user. At the time, I was without the functionality of Arduino, and eventually lost steam – But now, oh yes, now, with the power of Arduino, I can begin again! My concern – Should I? If I present the black box in its intended context, do I risk the unintended consequences? Do I abandon the meaning of my project for something safer? Or perhaps I alter the context…
As always, your thoughts are appreciated.
Lighting Studies. November 2012.
Wool, electronics, wood and steel.
Developed in response to a moire effect created across sheets of mesh, for use as ambient home lighting fixtures. Various fabrics were tested over the lighting element, in an attempt to evenly diffuse the glow. Components may be disassembled for ease of packaging, and reconfigured at different sizes.
Under construction are additional models, at greater sizes and combined arrangements, as well as an ability to hang from ceiling, light directed upwards.
Follow along for additional images and process…
How ’bout this storm? How ’bout another day without studio? How ’bout I’m never gonna get all this work done. Trouble… It’s trouble.
FYI I’ve begun work on a chandelier concept. Had been struggling to mock up anything great, so I went back to google image search for further inspiration.
I decided to revisit some of my favorite sculptors –
Roman Signer for Kvadrat – Roman Signer blows stuff up. It’s beautiful. His project for the textile manufacturer, Kvadrat, involved lengths of fabric. And a few rockets.
An Te Liu’s Style and Epoch. Diggin’ the use of wood through seemingly arbitrary connections.
Here’s where I’m at now, the plan is to create several of the units below, and wrap in a somewhat elastic fiber. Love the white of these LED strips, but am looking for something a bit warmer…
Final plush lighting design concept you see.
Takeshi Miyakawa, a designer and acquaintance, interesting story on public art (lighting, in particular)…
He made this. Not lighting. Nuts.
Yet another plush lighting design concept cant wait.
For your consideration, James Turrell and Dan Flavin. Surprised no one has posted these two just yet (not that I’ve noticed, anyway). Somewhere between Minimalism and Conceptual Art, both artists work closely with light and perception.
Turrell
Turrell
Okay just another plush lighting design concept woo.
Videodrome is a 1983 film by David Cronenberg, and it is the best. Movie. One of the most original, gnarly, engaging films I’ve found, I do highly recommend it. Reason I share it within the context of a plush lighting assignment is a shared fascination with our closeness with technology. Some of my previous work addresses the theme, but there’s something particular creepy about a plush huggable lightbulb.
Another plush lighting design concept ahoy!
Jonah Takagi was mentioned in my previous entry as one of my favorites, here’s why:
Gorgeous, right?
First plush lighting design concept go!
Roll and Hill is a Brooklyn-based design and production house, specializing in a subset of designers that happen to be very popular on Sight Unseen (and I bet we’ll visit most of them). Honestly, though, a lot of this work is really quiet beautiful, with an incredible level of craftsmanship. Particularly love the work of Jonah Takagi, but gtfo with these antler chandeliers already.
If interested in additional wood-bending techniques, or simply another angle on mine, I’ve come across several excellent (well, mostly) tutorial examples out on the world wide web.
–Google lets us steal a few pages from a master
–Looking at the Wright Brothers’ techniques
–Likely the top online guide I’ve found
Thanks friends! <3David
