Velociplosion (A Muybridge Influenced Spatial Event) as part of Dlectricity 2012

This exercise intends to reverse engineer a mechanical phenomenon into a set of sculptural ‘frames’ across 100 feet of installation space. By constructing a series of identical objects in linear space, modifying each successive object slightly, and successively illuminating each object with a brief but powerful strobe, we may intimate Muybridge cell-motion with tangible, three dimensional objects. As subject matter a form has been selected that is both easily manipulated and commonplace to the urban vernacular- a street bicycle. This is animated stop motion mechanics in tangible space. Action as depicted in Manga. An over-sized flipbook. The continued re-analogization of digital white noise into spatial events by exploding.

Press Love:

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2012121005083

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20121004/ENT01/210040309

Artifacts of Process (An Interlude)

In the midst of public art installation season we take pause to consider more minute temporary structures- those between production and result and which are unique results of process. These intermediate typologies surface from manufacturing methods based on mechanical tendencies, production workflow, and material optimizations, manifested as clusters, trees, tessellations, stacks, overlaps, negatives, etc. Ultimately these forms are destroyed or shedded to yield the targeted product, and are then recirculated back into the production- Hence, the final objects have both the memory and physical materiality of these intermediate forms which responsive of input, informative of output, but aesthetically unique from both.

  

(Above- "Lost Wax")

DDF-03:The Object

As a strategy for both expanding comprehension of this broad exercise and as a hedge to ensure completion, we first identify existing primary energetic inputs of knowledge, money, suburbanites etc into this area (which are UDM, Casino, and Slows, somewhat respectively). These arcs establish opportunities to build upon, as they literally and figuratively emit concentric radii of influence. Our existing land use patterns are identified, and clusters, in conjunction with the influence of zones as identified above, we may establish a translucent speculative layer of hospitality, education, agriculture, and commerce. Within this we may point out actual edifices to be brought to the foreground, in conjunction new complementary structures and spaces. This may give rise to a finer detail of cluster and potential foci, to which we may connect back to the original energetic area inputs.

 

DDF-02: An Exhibition of Process.

I repeatedly insist that the master plan site model itself is just a premise for a larger exercise- A canvas onto which the actual inquiry may be projected. That inquiry is the demystification of the design process via community participation. By literally opening the studio doors we may expose the lay community to product- as derived through process.

 

Considering the question “Can design change the world” seriously and rigorously, I would hesitate on the assent regarding the actual products of design, but would be much more willing to affirm the incredible transferable value of the method by which designed objects are developed. Consider the process of design- inherent in this workflow is conflict, conflict resolution, teaching, learning, leadership, humbling, progress, creation, implementation, and so on- This is what we as designers can transfer across domains- this is what we must export in parallel to our finalized outputs if our intentions are to reach beyond creation of object and space.

 

DDF-01: An (pre)Emotive Masterplan For the 2012 Detroit Design festival

As an investigation into the intersection of allied creative fields via exhibition of process, members of Corktown Studios will develop, through research and community/ artist input, an artistically expressive yet functionally implicative masterplan model of the North Corktown Community. Production of the edifice will occur at Corktown Studios over a 19 hour period during the festival (This being a reference to the ‘All-nighter’ project delivery workflow ubiquitous in academic art and design studios). During this production window we invite the design community, as well as spectators, to visit, observe, and contribute to the research and production of the model. We will utilize social media to provide updates and insights into the process, as well as to request and obtain materials and recommendations. We intend to deliver the final product, along with documentation of process (photos, sketches, video) to the final DDF gala event at City Airport for exhibition.

 

http://www.detroitdesignfestival.com/list# 

 

http://blog.detroitdesignfestival.com/press-release-north-corktown-re-envisioned-an-exhibition-of-process/ 

Velociplosion Genesis

The iconic photographic explorations of Eadweard Muybridge depict and distill continuous movements, from the mundane to the exceptional, into isolated frames of regard. These exercises, intentionally or otherwise, allow the idiosyncrasies of an object in time to be represented out of context, within a two dimensional medium (the genesis of cinema). This transformation is inherently one of reduction, contraction, minimization; we propose to inverse these operations through ‘Velociplosion’, a spatial event of matter and light.

http://www.dlectricity.com/the-exhibition/artists/jake-chidester-alisyn-malek/
https://www.facebook.com/Dlectricity
https://www.facebook.com/events/460213324023552/
  

More in time.