Inspirational biomimetic artwork

I was so interested recently when I heard about Diana Eng, a fashion designer from New York City. She is a self proclaimed ‘fashion geek’ due to her love of fashion and textiles but also because she loves ‘geeky’ computer programming and technology. I love that she embraces the idea of being a geek and uses her interest in both fields to create some amazing and innovative things.

Diana Eng came to Auckland last month to be a part of AUT’s Colab Summer Workshop Series. The workshops allowed Diana to share her ideas with other creative people and inspire them to use new technology. It seems with her collections that she is interested in biomimicry, as I am with my own project. Biomimicry essentially means the imitation of life. For example, look at Eng’s collapsible structures which mimic the pleat pattern structure of a leaf when it blooms.

Watch this Campbell Live item which looks at Eng’s use of conductive thread in her clothing. The clothing also has sensing capabilities. For example, the electro luminescent wire used in a garment lights up and responds to the sound of talking. A skirt lights up when the wearer is walking.  It is amazing to see clothing that is sensing the environment around it and responding to it.  These garments are an example of smart clothing.  Another innovative item Diana Eng actually sells is a smart scarf, called the Jack Frost Scarf.  The images of snowflakes develop and become larger when the scarf is exposed to cold temperatures.  I remember hyper coloured t shirts from my childhood which seemed to work in reverse.  The fabric changed colour when exposed to heat.  I loved pressing my warm handprints to the fabric and making other patterns with hot breath or by standing in the sun.  They weren't so great though if you had hot underarms!

Eng comments that these items cannot be washed so they fail to meet some requirements we need in our everyday clothing. But that hardly matters. The items are wearable and function to cover the body in a fashionable and innovative way. Are they items of clothing or works of art?

It is inspiring to see another artist/designer collaborating with experts in fields different from their own. We can see what is possible when we come together from different fields and investigate how to combine them.

Right now, my project is really accelerating. I have successfully completed a large artwork (roughly 700 x 700mm). The artwork looks great and I am looking forward to actuating all the elements as soon as possible. I will post some video of the movements once they are working. For now, I have some photos of the static work. I hope you like it.

The artwork viewed from a short distance.  The display box is visible to see how the frames are put together.

Close up of the artwork. The artwork is jigsaw puzzle of different frames put together to create the image.

Testing the sensor!

Just before we stopped for the Christmas break, the team got together to test for the first time the camera and sensor for our interactive artwork. We set up all the necessary stuff in the workshop and we had a good play around with the camera to see how it worked.

So far, so good. The guys have done an amazing job. So far, the camera can see a person approach. It can sense when someone is far away or close. You can see in the video clips that the movement of a person near then far, turns the actuator on and off.

We did our first test on “The Pond”, a previous artwork because we know that it actuates already. We connected only one of the elements to the power, so only the shape on the right hand side is actuating.

Eventually, we will develop this concept so that the artwork is constantly actuating. It will actuate faster or slower depending on where the viewer moves in the room. If the person comes close, we can make the artwork actuate quickly. If they move away, the artwork will actuate more slowly. This is all part of how the audience reacts to the work, and how the work reacts to the audience. This will make the artwork very interesting to interact with. Essentially the artwork is ‘alive’ and responsive to the energy of the people around it.

The Stretching Rig

Hi everyone. Alot has happened since I last wrote for the blog. The year is now 2011 so I guess you’ve been wondering what we’ve been up to?  Well, we've been very busy . . .

A very major part of our project was to attempt to increase the scale of the work as much as possible. So instead of making pieces that are 14x14cm, we want to get to 1x1m or larger. I really think that the size of the artwork will be the first thing that will capture our audience and draw them in. While the small pieces were successful, you had to have a little bit of patience and a good eye to see the movement sometimes.

So that brings me to the creation of the rig. This is a tool or machine that will enable the VHB to be stretched to the size that we want. We had been using a small rig, so logic dictates that in order to make a 1x1m work, we needed a bigger rig! After several months of design, fabrication and construction, we finally have our beautiful rig.

Kit next to the rig while still under construction.

So many people are intrigued in the rig alone purely because it looks so unusual. To begin with, alot of the people at the lab at IRL thought the rig was the artwork! At least that’s what they thought until they saw me use the rig and saw the action and purpose it has.

It is such a great tool and it has already successfully allowed me to create larger work. One of our goals has definitely been achieved already! At the moment, I am encountering issues trying to get the VHB to stretch out past 50cm. I have broken so much VHB eek! Although, I have been experimenting with different sizes, seeing how much I could stretch a very small 7x7cm piece, and then 15x15cm piece. Alot of it comes down to the skill of knowing when to stop, when to adjust certain parts of the VHB or the arms. Now I have some 30x30cm VHB so this will be the type that makes it to 1x1m frame size.

                                         

I am also using different methods to ensure the material sticks to the bolts on the arms. I bought some great magnets to try to hold everything in place so I hope this method works out. I need to do some more experimenting with them now.  In the photo above you can just see them stuck to the bolts on the edge of the arms, holding the edge of the VHB in place.

     

Rig and view of the crank handle on the right side.

 

All in all, the rig has been really successful and even though it looks like I am playing the harp or weaving a tapestry, it is fun to use. The rig has a crank handle so I can turn that with one hand while I have the other hand ready to fix any breakages or tears that occur. How useful.

Smart Arts

Just a few weeks ago I found an old Canvas magazine from the New Zealand Herald and the cover story was called, ‘Where Science Meets Art’. Of course this grabbed my attention so I pored over the article. In Auckland a month or so ago, there was an exhibition showcasing artworks that were the result of a collaboration between artists and scientists. 15 artists were paired with 15 neuroscientists and were instructed to create artworks based on their interpretations of various kinds of brain research. The exhibition was called, ‘Do You Mind?’ and you can view the organiser’s blog here.

It is very exciting to me that while I continue with my interaction and collaboration, there are similar efforts out there in Auckland to bring together the two industries. The goals of our two projects are the same. Both efforts want to bring artwork to the public to raise the profile of the area of scientific research. We have been allowed into a world that the ordinary person has no access to and would most likely never gain access to. We can toil and struggle in the lab. We can discover these new things and report back to the public with our findings in a way that the scientific community doesn’t.

A major difference in our projects is that the artists from, ‘Do You Mind?’ only witnessed the research and interacted with the neuroscientists. In my project I am actively using the very same technology, materials and processes that the scientists use. The technology is my artwork. I am making the science a part of the final visual experience, rather than doing a drawing or a painting of my interpretation of the research. However, the end result is still the same. Our audience has become aware of another part of our world that we had not entered before.

The artists in the neuroscience project describe the separation of the art world and the science world. For most artists this is a fact. Art and science do not collide. Visual artists generally gravitate towards a way of expression like painting, sculpture, performance art or video art. These types of artistic expression are not experimented with in a lab. Scientists usually do not express their ideas in a visual interpretation. They may map out 2D and 3D imagery to see how something could work or take measurements of weight and force etc but their efforts are geared towards answers and fact based on experimentation, not subjective expression.

I am drawn to the obvious example of Leonardo da Vinci who had many skills and was talented in a number of fields. He was not only a master painter but an inventor, engineer, geologist and anatomist. Da Vinci is merely one man of many of his time who were more than capable of artistic pursuits as well as scientific ones. Not only was he a thinker in both fields, but he could combine his talents for one goal. For example, all of his knowledge of the anatomy, space and perspective combined to create perfect paintings.

Since Leonardo’s time until recently, the gap between art and science has widened. People have become masters of only one field, not many. With my project, and the recent project with the brain research, this gap is becoming smaller. It’s an exciting time.

Farewell Tocky!

From Left: Emilio, Tocky, KatyPie and Kit.

Since almost the beginning of our project, Tocky has been a major part of our team. Recently Tocky was given an opportunity to pursue his creative dreams in London. So from Emilio, Kit and I, congratulations Tocky and thank you for all of your contributions to the project. We have all greatly enjoyed working with you.

Tocky is a part of the bio engineering lab at the University of Auckland. He was very helpful to me and I am super thankful for all the lessons in learning to use the technology and materials.

Tocky you will be missed by all of us and we hope to make you proud with our final results next year. Good luck with all of your endeavours and we hope to see your amazing work on the world stage soon.

-KatyPie

A visit from Maori TV

Kia ora friends.
In January we had visitors from the production company, Adrenalin Group, come to see us at the bio-lab. They had heard on the grapevine about our project and wanted to interview the team to see exactly what we're up to. Last Friday on Maori TV, the show aired. Click here to see the episode:

Our item is 16 minutes into the show. Enjoy.

Also click here to check out the bio-engineering team who were also interviewed and were featured on the show some months earlier.
Both episodes are a good watch and very interesting.

As an update on the project, I am drawing away and we're having some tools designed and built so we can create the magic. So nothing too artistic to show as yet but it's not too far away.

Happy watching. Yay for Maori TV.

-KatyPie

We're Back!

Wow it has been a loooooong time since the last blog post. A very long time! What have we been doing since February 25th? Well, let me tell you . . .

Kit, Emilio, Tocky and I were very busy for a month or so trying to secure funding for the next stage of our project. After lots of report writing and a video presentation we were able to secure the funding from CNZ and MoRST to ensure we could keep creating and experimenting. So thank you very much to those funding bodies for making this all happen. And congratulations to the other teams that made it through to this next stage. Please follow the links on this blog so you can see what each funding body is all about.

So now the hard part is over (the report), another hard part is still to come. We have big ideas and I mean big. We want to create an artwork that is large in scale. Right now we are planning and designing brand new rigs and tools so that we can make each working element of the artwork hopefully about 1metre squared. That's big as far as I'm concerned. We've enlisted the help of an IRL intern, Eric, to design the rig. I'm very excited that we can solve some of our manual and time consuming fabrication problems. Thanks Eric!

Before I forget, some of the team from the Biomimetics Lab at The University of Auckland went to the annual EAP conference in San Diego in March of this year. Along with all of their important discoveries and experiments, they took some of my EAP paintings with them to show the crowd. I am pleased to say that one of the paintings did survive the long journey and they were able to actuate it for the audience. We were all happy with how well the small artworks were received and I hope this will inspire some of the visiting scientists to take the idea back to their own countries and start something similar with their local artists. Artists can definately offer a new perspective and new ideas to this kind of technology.

Until next time . . . !