Interesting Links – Sept08

I’ve been seeing lots of interesting stuff lately. Here are some links. Check it out:

 

http://blog.modernmechanix.com/category/before-their-time/

http://angesleva.iki.fi/projects/dyno/index.html

http://www.MasterNewMedia.org/

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9500E5DF163CF937A25751C1A9659C8B63
http://www.siggraph.org/s2003/conference/etech/food.html

http://www.skinsandwich.com/ku/

http://mixedrealitylab.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=449&Itemid=205

http://www.sms.mavt.ethz.ch/research/projects/braintrain

http://julianoliver.com/levelhead

http://www.lushprojects.com/cyclepong2/index.html

http://www.frontdesign.se/sketchfurniture/

http://mi-lab.org/projects/incretable/

http://www.setpixel.com/content/?ID=waterfall

http://www.dunneandraby.co.uk/designing/placebo/placebo_bottom.html

The Blue Man Show

Yesterday I went to see the Blue Man Group.
I never really seen them performing before so I didn’t know what to expect, except that it was supposed to be very, very good. I have to admit I had a bit higher expectations for this widely acclaimed show but it was good and worth seeing.

I was stunned how simple (but clever) tricks made people laugh… The audience was going crazy seeing actors’ simple moves and gestures. I realized that you don’t need to do much to make people laugh. Simplicity is the key. The only think the actors had to do was to move funny, not to talk and not to smile… Actually not smiling and keeping their face straight made blue men look exotic and like aliens and maybe that’s why people loved it so much.?

However, I was impressed with the great actors-audience interaction. Without spoken words the blue men were able to communicate and capture the audience. They knew how to work and they made audience be part of the whole show.

For me, Blue Men were also good in creating and building anticipation. Many times during  the show I was thinking: “what are they going to do now…, are they really going to do it”…?”

While watching the show I was thinking about Charlie Chaplin and how he too was able to communicate, entertain and tell stories using only movement, gesture and sound.  I realized  that you don’t need many “ingredients” to create a powerful and thrilling show. You just need the right combination…..
It also reminded me that I often forget how important is sound to the whole experience….

Another important element of the show was getting audience to move and awakening their “touch” senses. I don’t want to give away too much and not to ruin it for people who haven’t seen it before, but I have to say that was the high point of the show… (Although it make me think about waste…. I hope they do recycle…)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RamNJn9jXk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QM-mfEMssy8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqinuidaj-E

A Cappella and Improvisation

Last weekend I had a chance to see “Harry Widener and the Prisoner of AZKAJAM” at Sanders Theatre, Harvard University, where two groups were singing: The Callbacks and The Veritones.

I have to say I didn’t have much expectations because I’ve never seen a group perform live, but the show was amazing and the whole atmosphere surprised me.

http://www.harvardcallbacks.com/

The Sanders Theatre is quite old and it might look serious but the atmosphere was not serious at all! There was couple of hundreds of people, young and old and all were very enthusiastic and cheerful. I was surprised because in difference of many performance that I’ve been to, during this one the audience was supposed to scream and yell and make any other loud sounds too… (Off course it was all civil). The singer who gets most yelling and responsive voices ranks high… Few people got standing ovations.

The singers were very responsive and interacted with people. I’ve never seen such interaction between the audience and performers!!! It was really really COOL! At one point the singers had invited some of the alumni and friends from the audience on the stage and then they hugged and sang together. Although part of the show they were dressed in tuxedo and night gowns everyone was relaxed and laid back!

I was also surprised because some of the male singers, who looked very serious and proper in their outfits, and fit the perfect image of “the geek” when came out to sing were awesome! Members of these groups came in different shapes, sizes, height, nationalities and skin colors which made this show more real and authentic.

(When I see some American movies about college kids, proms, etc. I don’t get to see such diversity there … Usually directors hire beautiful and handsome actors and make them look not attractive or “ugly”.. Going to this live performance was 10 times much more worth it than going to whatever movie in the cinema… So if you ever have a chance go see it -it’s open to public:))

The two groups took turn on the stage or performed together. My friends and I liked The Callbacks much better, because they not only they sang great but they improvised in the same time and had interesting choreography. The dynamic of performers interacting on the stage brought another layer of entertainment to their show and intrigued me. They have thanked their “stage manager” who I think did a terrific job.

When I was watching the show I was thinking about the workshop we had with Merry Conway and I think that thanks to her I could appreciate and understand what’s going on the stage much better. I wish I had a camera to show you what I’m talking about but the pictures above is all I found on their site.

Anyway, nice atmosphere, people’s interaction, singing +makings sounds and off course the improvisation made this show a huge success. I could tell that other people had fun,were relaxed and just enjoyed themselves.

Massaging Media Conference, Boston’08

Massaging Media 2 Conference, Boston’08

What is next with the technology and design?
How should we prepare our selfs and our students for the future?
What stays what changes?

I think these were the questions hanging above the attendees’ heads.
http://www.massagingmedia.org/

After few hour nap I am able to post some pictures I took at the Massaging Media 2 Conference in Boston. The intensity of program and the weather made me very tired. The nap let my brain and body regain some energy, which I lost at this 3 day event, and finally I’m starting to process all the “data” recorded there…. I’ll be processing that and the “Processing” for some time….

I think the Conference was a success and it was well organized. It was a good chance to meet interesting people and see teachers from various art colleges.

I was very proud of our DMI program, MassArt and our professors!

Meredith Davis from North Carolina State University talked about Masters and Phd Design programs, and about the directions the design educations should go. She gave excellent presentations and it was a pleasure to listen to her.

I did my BFA in Graphic Design at MassArt and now I’m back for MFA. I think that Meredith Davis’s visions of education has been well implemented at MassArt and I was surprised that her ideas seemed revolutionary for some other teachers… It was comforting to know that MassArt is going in the “right direction”.

I also talked to some professors and they were surprised/impressed by the diversity of people/backgrounds/work we do at DMI. That was fun!

However, I was little bit disappointed in the quality of some presentations from the breakout sessions… (Maybe I had a bad luck in choosing ones, there was so many sessions going on in the same time it was hard to be in 2 in the same time.) Also, I had very high expectations for teachers and at the conference and I was wondering how these people teach, if they can’t present their ideas in organized and clear way….???

I was laughing at Jason’s comment, that “if I can’t read the slide  (the viewer) what’s the point of showing it”?
We-designers always try to reinvent things and design according to what we think looks best, but I agree with him, 22pt size is a must for slide presentation!

It also made me think about presentations we – students at DMI program have to do. We all agreed that practice makes us better….

Hopefully everybody learned something new.

Bold and daring MoMA

Whenever I go to New York, I always find many things to see and do over there. Even after being there for just a day, I always came back home with couple hundreds od pictures and few new ideas… That’s why I keep adding things to my blog. I hope you will find it interesting, too. This time I want to concentrate on some provocative and intriguing installations from MoMA. One of them was:

Projects 87: Sigalit Landau
March 19–July 28, 2008

Dead Sea

http://www.moma.org/exhibitions/exhibitions.php?id=7821

Barbed Hula

Day Done

Barbed Salt Lamps

I think this installation is beautiful, not only because I’m fascinated with light and shadows, but also because of its use of the organic materials. These “lamps” were made of barbwire and cristalized salt form the Dead Sea. I did experiments with salt water (with glass of water, salt. etc.) for my science class in grammar school. Before seeing this installation I never thought one could make such large and beautiful objects… I guess you have to have sea of salt water to do so

I also liked video by Cheryl Donegan “Head”, but you have to see it in person to experience it fully:
( I can’t explain it…)

I’ve noticed people had different reactions to it.
I thought it was pretty clever and funny (from artist’s point of view).
You can aslo watch some of it on

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CurVtTusjqU&NR=1

“Dad, this is what I wanted you to see” – a visit to MoMA

Below you can see some of the highlight of the exhibitions at MoMA that I recently had a chance to see. I liked many installations and the special exhibit “Design and the Elastic Mind”, which dealt with new inventions/designs.
One of my most favorites was installation by Philip Worthington “Shadow Monsters”. It was an interactive installation with projection, light, sound and it changed one’s shiluette to a “monster like” shadow projection on the wall. Usually, shadow monsters are done in a simple way with a lamp to entertain kids before bedtime. There was a long line of people who who wanted their kids to experience shadow monsters….

This is how I would look like if I was a monster:

The interesting fact was that people were not only bringing kids to see it but also THEIR PARTENTS! I overheard a man talking to his dad in his late 70’s: “DAD, THIS IS WHAT I WANTED YOU TO SEE”. It occured to me that, while new-dynamic-media-projects may entertain kids and adoults, they are really a BIG DEAL for older generation, who might not easily imagine what’s possible nowdays! I could picture myself in 40 years….:) (or sooner)
There were many other beautiful installations which you should experience in person:

The only downside of my visit was overcrowding of the museum. Yes, I like people very much, but I hate when because of too many people present I can’t see anything peacefully. Last Friday when I went to MoMA, it was crowded as if they were giving away things for free… I guess there is a hope for us—artists since there are so many people interested in Modern Art  it’s a good news. (Or maybe it was just the begining of the weekend and the Spring Break for some, I don’t know…)

Also, long lines to bathrooms and poorly designed sinks (messy) made me question if this was really  a “modern” museum….

Technology invades churches!

Technology invades churches!?
Just kidding…

St. Patrick Cathedral in New York
I thought it was interesting to see flat panel TVs on many columns of the cathedral. Everyone could see rector’s closeup or could see everything else what was going on at the central altar, it was all televised life. My friend told me that’s becoming a standard in all churches. Could new technology really improve our experience in the church? I was wandering if it improved mine?
I had mixed feeling. On one hand, the close up of the speaker’s facial expression helped me connect to what he was saying, but on the other hand, if that was someone not that interesting to me, I would be very distracted…

I felt as if I was watching the mass on TV (maybe because I’m used to thinking that of TV, as of something distant, another reality?) rather than participating in it in real life…..

Check out these short movies from the St. Patrick Cathedral in NY
http://agatas.com/st_patrick/

I guess you had to be there …..
I stopped by and surprisingly was very satisfied by exerience of being there at that time (Good Friday-Reflection on the Passion of Christ.) I’ve never heard any priest -”presider” speak so nicely, clearly, intelegently and etc…. (I just researched it and it was Prof. Dr. Romanus Cessario O.P.)
I also liked the professional chorus (tenor, baritone, soprano, etc.) which you can hear in the movie.

FREE HUGS in Harvard Sq

Yesterday, in Harvard Square in Cambridge I saw couple of young people walking with signs:
FREE HUGS!

This group of young girls and boys stopped on the street and hugged whoever wanted to be hugged… I thought it was pretty sweet, (although myself don’t like to be hugged/touched by people). I don’t know if this was done for a school project or if it was a spirit of holidays — it was interesting. Seeing strangers embrace each other on the street has brought a smile to my face. Harvard Sq is always full of people, most of them (as I do) rush through to get to their final destination. FREE HUGS stopped some of them for few seconds…

Non-verbal communication in action

This is a picture form somewhere else…

If he can do it — you can do it too!

I think President W. Bush is a cool guy. He probably wouldn’t mind to be take part in one of my jumping games…

http://www.reuters.com/news/video?videoId=77506&videoChannel=1

Mar. 5 – President Bush performs a tap dance while joking with the press corps and waiting for the arrival of Sen. John McCain to the White House.
(Reuters)

Staying on top of things….

I talked to Jason yesterday and he pointed out that I don’t update my blog too often. He is right. I’m busy with school and work (as everybody else is) and I forget how important it is to keep my blog fresh and updated.

So I am making a commitment today that I will try, No I WILL, update my blog couple times a week.

I get stuck sometimes with my projects and I would be helpful to get some feedback from others… which was the main point of starting the blog….

For now just have a look at funny Happening in Rome:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dw7kaPgP9Ok

I will have time this weekend and I will post some of my ideas…