22:46
The Generator.x 2.0 workshop is now well underway, with participants starting to get to grips with the laser cutter and CNC mill. To give an idea of what we’re working on we’ve set up a project blog as well a Flickr group specifically for the workshop. Expect to see some early results in the next few days.
The first evening of public presentations saw plenty of Berliners turning up in numbers to hear some very interesting talks. Boris Müller gave an introduction to thinking computationally about design issues, exemplified by his series of projects for Poetry on the Road. A high point was his response to criticism of the 2006 edition, which used poems as datasets to create intricate graphs:
“Creating beutiful [sic] images to impress people is relatively easy, while making visualizations to explore, enable profound insights, and see the invisible, is extremely harder and requires a lot more devotion than this.” – Enrico Bertini
Besides the questionable truthfulness of the notion that creating beautiful images is easy, this criticism misses the point. The intention of Boris’ piece was never to “enable profound insights”, but to provide a visual context for the poetry festival. While his beautiful graphs do in fact constitute decodable data, that fact is all but incidental to their real function: To be visual poetry.
Morphosis: Phare Tower / Eno Henze: The Human Factor
Satoru Sugihara presented his computational design work for Morphosis, in particular the Phare Tower in Paris. A 300 meter high skyscraper scheduled to be completed by 2012, Phare Tower will dwarf the nearby Arche de La Défense. Sugihara worked on optimizing the building’s window grid using physical models, taking both cost of construction and energy efficiency into account. The “skin” of the building includes metal plates placed at computed locations and angles, in order to reflect sunshine as well as produce a signature facade pattern.
Last presenter out was Eno Henze [DE], a generative artist whose ambivalence towards the use of computers only serves to give his work a greater depth. While his high-end interaction design for Meso is impressive, his work with spatialized computer drawings like Wirklichkeitsschaum and The Human Factor show a conceptual depth combined with a great attention to formal composition.
The second round of presentations tomorrow Monday should be a worthy followup, featuring Aram Bartholl, Tim Schork, David Dessens and Skylar Tibbits.
04:40
Generator.x 2.0 kicks off this Thursday with an evening of presentations open to the general public. This is the first of two such evenings, bringing the topics of the workshop to a larger audience and providing a discursive track to an otherwise hands-on event.
- Keynote: Marius Watz [NO]
- Boris Müller [DE]
- Satoru Sugihara – Morphosis [JP/US]
- Eno Henze [DE]
If you are in Berlin we hope to see you at the Ballhaus Naunynstrasse!
» Marius Watz [NO] is an artist exploring visual abstraction through generative systems, and has recently started using rapid prototyping to translate his forms into physical space. He is the founder of Generator.x as well as a lecturer at the Oslo School of Architecture and the Oslo National Academy of the Arts (KHiO).
» Boris Müller [DE] is Professor of Interaction Design at FH Potsdam. Educated at the Royal College of Art in London, he is a veteran of computational designer. His series of works for Poetry on the Road has received multiple awards.
» Satoru Sugihara [JP/US] is a computational designer at the renowned architecture studio Morphosis, having previously worked with Greg Lynn Form and DR_D (Dagmar Richter). Possessing Master degrees in both computer Sscience and architecture, he uses parametric systems to investigate adaptive solutions to spatial problems.
» Eno Henze [DE] explores the duality between computational and human processes, often combining manual labor with generative systems. Dissatisfied with the screen as interface, he is constantly experimenting with innovative modes of presentation.
07:06
Generator.x 2.0: Daniel Widrig (MRGD) / Nicholas Bruscia
Generator.x 2.0: Beyond the screen is now only a week away, and we’re busy planning the last details. The call for participants was a definitive success, allowing us the privilege of a strong group of candidates to choose from. Participants were selected for the quality of their work as well as for their diverse approaches to digital fabrication. The result is an interesting mix of artists, architects and designers, united by their use of code-based processes, but showing very different strategies and intentions in their work.
For now the Club Transmediale site has the most complete list of Generator.x 2.0 events. In addition to the workshop and exhibition, there will also be two evenings of public presentations. A precise schedule with more details will be published here in the coming days.
- Andreas Nicolas Fischer (DE)
- Martin Bauer - Lasern (US)
- Nicholas Bruscia (US)
- David Dessens aka Sanch (FR)
- Fabio Franchino - TODO.IT (IT)
- Martin Fuchs - HyperWerk (CH)
- Eno Henze (DE)
- Leander Herzog - HyperWerk (CH)
- Andreas Krach - HyperWerk (CH)
- Holger Lippmann (DE)
- Giorgio Olivero - TODO.IT (IT)
- Dennis Paul - Art+Com (DE)
- Tim Schork - Mesne (DE/AUS)
- Susanne Stauch (DE)
- Satoru Sugihara – Morphosis (JP/US)
- Alessandro Tellini - HyperWerk (CH)
- Philip Whitfield - HyperWerk (CH)
- Daniel Widrig – MRGD (DE/UK)
02:22
CTM.08 – Unpredictable
Festival for Adventurous Music and Related Visual Arts
Generator.x 2.0: Beyond the Screen
24 Jan - 2 Feb 2008, Ballhaus Naunynstrasse / [DAM] Berlin
Workshop / Exhibition / Performance
Leander Herzog: thePhysicalVertexBuffer
Generator.x in collaboration with Club Transmediale and [DAM] presents Generator.x 2.0: Beyond the screen, a workshop and exhibition about digital fabrication and generative systems.
Digital fabrication (also known as “fabbing”) represents the next step in the digital revolution. After years of virtualization, with machines and atoms being replaced by bits and software, we are coming full circle. Digital technologies like rapid prototyping, laser cutting and CNC milling now produce atoms from bits, eliminating many of the limitations of industrial production processes. Once prohibitively expensive, such technologies are becoming increasingly accessible, pointing to a future where mass customization and manufacturing-on-demand may be real alternatives to mass production.
For artists and designers working with generative systems, digital fabrication opens the door to a range of new expressions beyond the limits of virtual space. Parametric models apply computational strategies to the analysis and synthesis of space, producing structures and surfaces of great complexity. Through fabbing these forms may be rendered tangible, even tactile.
"Beyond the screen" explores these new types of spatial constructs in a hands-on workshop, bringing together artists and designers working with code-based strategies for producing physical form. The workshop will feature public presentations bringing the topics of the workshop to a broader audience, culminating in an exhibition of fabbing works at the [DAM] gallery. In a continuation of the Generator.x concert tour, "Beyond the Screen" will also include an evening of concerts, showing the use of generative systems in audiovisual performance.
Jared Tarbell: Spheroids and cubes
We are looking for 15 artists, designers and architects who have an existing practice based on generative systems and custom software, and who are interested in investigating physical formats through digital fabrication. The workshop will be practical in nature, and will produce a selection of works that will be included in the exhibition at [DAM]. Participants will have access to an on-site laser cutter, and an introduction to this technology will be part of the workshop.
The workshop is free of charge, but we will not be able to provide support for travel or accomodation. Participants are expected to have experience with programming software that will allow them to produce work suitable for production, such as Processing, VVVV or any other system capable of producing vector output. Previous experience with laser cutting or digital fabrication technologies is a bonus, but not a requirement.
Applications must be in PDF format and should including a CV and a short statement of intent, describing why you want to participate in the workshop and how fabbing relates to your existing practice. You should include a maximum of 5 images of relevant work, with a total file size of 2 megabytes. Feel free to provide links to web sites containing documentation such as videos or downloadable software, but please don’t send such content by email.
Please submit applications by email to generatorx [at] clubtransmediale.de. The deadline for application is December 21, 2007, accepted participants will be notified at the beginning of January 2008.
Theverymany (Fornes / Tibbits): Tesselated panels
Generator.x is a platform for generative strategies in art and design, founded in 2005 to produce the conference Generator.x: Art from Code at Atelier Nord in Oslo. Other events have included a travelling exhibition as well as a series of audiovisual concerts. The Generator.x blog promotes code-based work of an experimental nature, bringing a critical discourse to the field of generative art.
Club Transmediale 2008 is the 9th edition of this international festival for adventurous music and realted visual arts, and takes place in Berlin under the theme “Unpredictable” concurrently and cooperatively with the transmediale international festival for art and digital culture. It is a prominent festival dedicated to contemporary electronic, digital and experimental music, as well as the diverse range of artistic activities in the context of sound and club culture.
Characterised by the title Unpredictable, the 2008 festival investigates artistic concepts that imply the surprising and unforeseeable, accidents, mistakes and coincidences as a means to alter the dynamics of creative processes and to discover new aesthetic forms.
[DAM] Berlin has since its opening 2003 been a leader in the field of digital art, showing pioneers of new media as well as emerging contemporary artists.
Generator.x 2.0: Beyond the screen is supported by The Office for Contemporary Art Norway. We also thank our partners: Institut HyperWerk HGK FHNW and Lasern. .
19:56
Ebru Kurbak / Mahir M. Yavuz: Newsknitter
While the generative potential of knitting should be obvious (it has pixels, it follows rules), a new project by Turkish artists Ebru Kurbak and Mahir Yavuz shows the full computational potential of the medium: Newsknitter combines computerized knitting technology with live internet feeds to produce the ultimate in customized sweaters. Using the daily news as a data source, a software generates different visualizations which are then finalized as patterns ready for knitting.
Newsknitter will be shown at the Ars Electronica festival this week as part of their Campus 2.0 exhibition at Kunstuniversität Linz. On display will be 10 unique sweaters generated by the Newsknitter software. The sweaters were produced at TETAS Tekstil in Istanbul, using Shima Seiki knitting hardware.
The Newsknitter web site does not indicate whether custom garments will eventually be for sale, even though it would seem an obvious extension of the project. Too bad the daily news typically makes for a grim way to commemorate one’s birthday or other significant date.
For a different take on generative knitting, see this old post: Freddie Robins: How to make a piece of work when you’re too tired to make decisions.
[Link via pöfmagazine]
19:03
Kenji Hirata: Misaho (painting) / Fretless Bass Solo (CNC-milled object)
For the exhibition Project to Surface five artists were invited to translate their visual work into three-dimensional objects through digital fabrication. Collaborating with architects from SHoP and specialists from Associated Fabrication, the works were conceptualized in 2D and modelled in 3D for production using a 3-axis CNC milling machine. The result: Five unique visions of 2D becoming 3D.
David Diao, KAWS and Matzu-MTP all created objects using forms from their visual practice. Diao created a model of a streamlined vintage trailer, while KAWS’ piece is a school chair with a monster mouth and eyes. Matzu-MTP’s giant toy bird was made to look like it has been assembled from a plastic modelling kit.
Leah Raintree: Sketch on paper (detail) / Bloomfield (CNC-milled panel, detail)
Of the five artists, Kenji Hirata and Leah Raintree come closest to their normal 2D work. Hirata’s colorful 2D forms here become a layered bas-relief in stark black and white, reminiscent of forms from Art Deco. His work becomes strangely imposing in this 3D incarnation, an interesting contrast to the friendly dream-like quality of his paintings.
Raintree started out with sketches of intricate flower-like shapes, which were then sliced into 3D layers and extruded into a topological landscape that spreads over four panels. The CNC process was used to draw the lines of the sketch into the surface, recreating the graphic complexity of the sketches as surface detail.
Except for David Diao’s trailer, all the works in the show were produced in Corian, a so-called solid surface material. Corian is well-suited for CNC milling, and gives a solid feel to the objects while also providing a consistency of look and feel. Presumably, there was a conscious decision not to add graphic treatments to the objects after the CNC process. Such treatments could have served to bring the pieces closer in line with the artists’ other work, but in their absence the viewer is forced to consider the objects purely as 3D form.
Interestingly, the material qualities of Corian also reinforce the artificial nature of the works. Not quite plastic and not quite stone, the objects remain other and unapproachable, their smooth whiteness implying that they might be prototypes or scientific reproductions. Rather than making the work feel sterile, this quality adds tension and mystery. This is perhaps the greatest success of the project.
Named after a modelling function in the 3D software Rhinoceros, Project to Surface is the brainchild of architect Ben Krone and curator team Dream So Much. It is currently on display in a temporary gallery at m127, a new development by SHoP Architects.
See the Project to Surface web site for more details. See Flickr for more images.
Update: The erratica blog has another write-up of the show with more pictures.
22:06
Currently on display at the Espeis gallery in Williamsburg, Tropism is a collaboration between New York product design studio Commonwealth and generative artist Joshua Davis. Inspired by the endless variations of form in the plant world, they have worked together to create a series of computer-designed vases imprinted with generative graphics.
For his images, Joshua Davis first created a library of elements by sampling shapes from an old book on floral mechanics. He then recombined these into complex organic compositions using a generative algorithm. A selection of the resulting images were either printed or output digitally as ceramic paint transfers, ready for application to the physical objects.
Influenced by the perforated ceramics of Edmond Lachenal, Commonwealth used Maya to produce a curved and perforated model using surface subdivision. A stereolithographic (SLA) 3D print of the model was then output to create a mould for casting. The finished vases were produced by Boehm Porcelain, with Davis’ images being applied to the the vases during the firing process.
Joshua Davis w/ Zoe Coombes & David Francisco Boira of Commonwealth / Prints
The final result is a series of one-off objects that are at once high-tech and organic. Their smooth curves and unconventional form signal their origin in digital processes, but the tactility of the porcelain counteracts any sense of sterile techno-fetishism. Davis’ organic forms creep and crawl over the surface of the vases, reenforcing the link to natural processes.
The vases are available in a limited run of 21, each featuring a unique motif by Joshua Davis. The large-scale prints on paper shown in the exhibition are also for sale. Contact Maxalot for information about available works.
The "Vs." series is curated by Max Akkerman and Lotje Sodderland of Barcelona gallery Maxalot. The series has so far featured Commonwealth collaborations with Kenzo Minami and Michael C. Place of Build. Upcoming is an exhibiton of Commonwealth vs. Matt Pyke of Universal Everything.
Relevant links
17:15
Refill Seven: Laser cut skateboards
Shown: Alife, Michael C. Place, Vernon Courtland Johnson
Australian skateboard mag Refill has put together an interesting exhibition of laser engraved skateboards under the title Refill Seven. 80 artists were asked to design each their deck, which were then produced in a limited edition of 50 copies each. Price? $500.
Laser cutting is getting a lot of attention recently as one of the first digital fabrication technologies to become truly cheap and accessible. It can easily be used for “printing” images into unusual materials, or for constructing parts for complex forms. Usages include custom signage, jewelry design, models in paper or plastic etc.
In terms of laser cutting used as an image medium, Refill Seven is one of the most interesting examples to date. Skate and surf culture has always been fond of customization, so laser engraving skateboards makes perfect sense. Most of the pieces are in the baroque style popular with skaters, with only a few examples of abstract work. There doesn’t seem to be any computational pieces, so in that sense the uniquely digital nature of the technology has been passed over.
Technically, the project is very advanced. A rotating clamp was used to ensure smooth engraving even in non-flat areas. For obvious reasons laser cutting is oriented towards lines, but here filled areas are smoothly drawn. According to Wired Magazine a resolution of 1200 DPI was achieved, which is far beyond most current laser cutting.
For another take on skateboard customization, check out Mekanism Skateboard’s new collaboration with Peter Zimmermann, an established German painter. Zimmermann painted 60 blank boards with epoxy resin, giving a three-dimensional textured surface that is spectacularly colorful.
The Zimmermann boards are intended for the art market rather than teenage skaters, and have so far proven very popular with art collectors. A previous Mekanism collab with John Maeda was blogged on Generator.x in 2005.
Related links:
22:23
Ron Resch: Vegreville Pysanka / Origami
Eric Gjerde of Origami Tessellations recently Flickr'ed some wonderful images of Ron Resch, computer graphics pioneer, mathematician and origami innovator. His credits include patents for “self-supporting structural units” using tessellation techniques, as well as “geometric designs” (structures for spaceships) for Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979).
Of the many pioneering projects Resch was involved in, the 1974 Vegreville Pysanka is one of the most spectacular. A pysanka is a Ukrainian Easter Egg, decorated with intricate patterns that are often geometrical in nature. Using computer graphics techniques that were then cutting edge, Resch designed and built a giant pysanka sculpture using tiling techniques to create both structural integrity and geometric visuals. The photo shown above top left shows the sculpture being dedicated by Queen Elisabeth II.
Known also under the moniker “World’s Largest Easter Egg”, the Vegreville Pysanka is a wonder of mathematics. It is also considered the first-ever physical structure to be constructed entirely based on computer-aided geometry. Resch built it using principles he had pioneered in paper-folding experiments, techniques he also intended to be used for constructing larger structures. Buckminster Fuller’s geodesic domes are probably better known, but Resch’s ideas of folding structures open the door for more geometric wonders.
Be sure to read Eric Gjerde’s post about Ron Resch over on Origami Tessellations. Pictures from Ron Resch home page and Flickr.
13:07
Justin Marshall: Penrose Strapping 1 / Corby & Bailey: Cyclone.soc
A new exhibition in Lancaster, UK is highlighting creative uses of digital fabrication techniques. Perimeters, Boundaries and Borders features the work of artists, architects and designers using rapid-prototyping, generative design and other computational strategies for creating new types of objects. The exhibition is significant as practicioners working in this way tend to fall somewhere between art, design and research practices, and hence don’t always have a good venue for showing their projects.
Artist Justin Marshall has collaborated with a manufacturer of architectural ornamental plasterwork to produce a series called Coded Ornament. The series includes the installations Morse, with elements resembling dots and dashes, and Penrose Strapping 1, a plasterwork version of a classic tiling system. His use of decorative elements combined with digital pattern generation makes for beautiful, if unintentionally ironic, objects. More examples of his work combining traditional and digital practices can be seen on justinmarshall.co.uk.
The installation Cyclone.soc by Gavin Baily & Tom Corby presents the viewer with a new take on flamewar-ridden online discussion groups for politics and religion. By mapping texts taken from these forums onto the atmospheric topologies of extreme storms, the artists comment on the volatile nature of debate, while simultaneously highlighting the beautiful forms of cyclonic weather formations.
Lionel Theodore Dean (whose FutureFactories project was also featured in the Generator.x exhibition) is showing Holy Ghost, a baroquely ornamental chair design that is created by a generative model. Two “hard copies” of the chair have been produced for the exhibition using rapid prototyping.
Be sure to look at the exhibition web site for an overview of the other artists. Even better, see this excellent documentation on Flickr. Perimeters, Boundaries and Borders is a co-production between Fast-uk and Folly, for the f.city festival of digital culture in Lancaster. It runs until the end of this week.
Links:
- Exhibition documentation on Flickr (by John Marshall)
- More pictures on Flickr (by Michelle Kasprzak)
- designedobjects.blogspot.com, a blog by John Marshall of Fast-uk
Thanks to Michelle Kasprzak for the link.
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