william kentridge makes animation using a single sheet of paper, by erasing and re-drawing in charcoal with ghostly effects. these are the only videos of his work i found on line: http://www.northallegheny.org/academics/art/multimedia/animation/kentridgeMov/Complaint.MOV http://www.dvblog.org/movies/11_05/kentridge.mov
Author Archives: leo
design evolution
an old story, but a weird antenna: this little thing was designed to communicate between 5 television-sized satellites orbiting the earth. the only problem is, it’s almost impossible to design (by humans). instead, nasa used genetic algorithms capable of selecting between millions of options and refining the fittest – all within 10 hours. http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=14394
Posted in product design
Comments closed
zoetrope stroboscope
since its invention in the 19th century the zoetrope has served as a self-contained animation player that works by rapidly rotating images viewed through a slit or with a strobe so that they replace each other in space. artist gregory barsamian utilizes this principle with sculptures, so that a rapidly rotating array of 3-D figures […]
Posted in animation
Comments closed
touch = love ?
psychologist harry harlow did some amazing experiments in the 50s where infant monkeys were allowed to choose between surrogate lactating mothers made of soft or hard materials (pictured) and they inevitably chose the softer cloth mothers, even though both surrogates produced milk. monkeys who could see their real mothers, but not touch them, developed social […]
Posted in livingbreathing, perception
Comments closed
virtual pain
for those human-computer researchers who wonder what good it all is, some old but good news: virtual reality can significantly reduce the need for anesthesia during burn treatment – patients who played the immersive game SnowWorld while their wounds were dressed felt half as much pain (and needed half the morphine). similar techniques can also […]
Posted in human2.0, perception
Comments closed
sexy burka
my vote for best-in-show at last night’s seamless fashion show is arabiia by the medialab’s ayah bdeir: a belly dancer transforming into a fully veiled woman on the runway (performed stunningly by meiver)
Posted in product design, soft/glowing
Comments closed
affection matters
holding the hand of a loved one immediately soothes you – one possible reason that married people live longer than singles. even more interesting, touching a stranger doesn’t have such an effect – and the study was blind. can you recognize your loved one’s hands by touch alone?
Posted in conviviality, human2.0, livingbreathing, perception, soft/glowing, tangible
Comments closed