Archive for 're-blog'

tangible sound lab’s “skintimacy”

tangible sound lab’s “skintimacy”

From the Tangible Sound Lab: “Skintimacy“: “…a skin-based interface for a collaborative musical performance. It is intended to be both an evocative tool for interpersonal interaction and touch, as well as an alternative digital musical instrument. By integrating the human skin and touch into the musician-computer interface, we propose a bodily-close haptic and emotional experience.” [...]

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alison lapper pregnant

alison lapper pregnant

As part of the Fourth Plinth series of rotating public sculpture in Trafalgar Square, London, Marc Quinn mounted this large-scale work in 2005: The piece is Alison Lapper Pregnant, modeled on the artist Alison Lapper—then at eight months’ gestation—who also has a medical condition called phocomelia. The “fourth plinth” is a platform in the square [...]

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a little to the left…

a little to the left…

Dana Gordon and Alejandro Zamudio Sánchez’s “Itch” chair connects your hand’s movements—on a surface under the seat—to the direction and intensity of a small scratcher, perfectly positioned for the sitter’s back: Scratch underneath this four-legged friend and feel how the motion is mapped and scaled up to your own back. This futuristic contraption comes equipped [...]

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urban camouflage

urban camouflage

Urban Camouflage is a record of Sabina Keric and Yvonne Bayer’s attempts to hide in commercial space. via Anthropomorphe. Thanks, Andrew.

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Hanna Ernsting’s couch for all situations

Hanna Ernsting’s couch for all situations

This “Moody Couch” from Hanna Ernsting comes with 10 feet of extra fabric, so you can alter it to address your emotional state. Reminds me of these therapeutic “body socks,” used for sensory integration, orienting oneself in space (common challenges in autism conditions, among others). [CENTsory body sock.] In each, you can be part of [...]

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morse code jewelry

morse code jewelry

Portland designer COATT has necklaces in Morse code. Words like “fine” and “dandy,” or choose your own:

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olafur eliasson: your blind passenger

olafur eliasson: your blind passenger

It’s hard not to love Eliasson’s work. Deceptively simple, immersive environments are where he shines. Currently up at the Arken Museum is Your Blind Passenger, a 90-meter tunnel, densely fogged. So visibility is minimal, and participants must use other instincts to find their way. Eliasson says the project “constitutes a possibility that is actualized and [...]

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“Letter on the Blind, for the Use of Those Who See.”

“Letter on the Blind, for the Use of Those Who See.”

Javier Téllez’s film recreates the Indian parable where six blind people encounter an elephant and provide six different stories about what they perceive. In the film, we see and hear what these six modern-day participants understand, both in the actual meeting and afterward, recounting what happened. In this contemporary version, the elephant is likened to [...]

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Jessica Field’s Maladjusted Ecosystem

Jessica Field’s Maladjusted Ecosystem

Jessica Field creates robotic social systems that play out like opera. This one, Maladjusted Ecosystem, has four doomed players: One robot, the light-seeker, is completely absorbed in finding the highest concentration of light possible. It announces its finding of a light source by a sound; that announcement cues a line-drawing robot to make its marks. [...]

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The Masticator: confront your repulsion

The Masticator: confront your repulsion

Takehito Etani’s Masticator anatomizes the physical laboriousness of chewing. This video shows it in action—counting out each movement. Made of pig skin, human bones, and electronics, it’s like an exoskeletal medical lesson. Like a physical system, unzipped and turned inside-out. I like this analog-digital hybrid form for a bunch of reasons, but I really like [...]

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