Research News 4, Spring 2003
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CRD Centre for Research Development Faculty of Arts and Architecture Research Newsletter / Spring 2003 / Edition 4 Above: 'Marriage of Materials' exhibition by Nick Gant Right: ‘Embodied Interfaces' exhibition by Mette Ramsgaard Thomsen New Research in the Perspex Brand and the Crafts Council in the case of ‘Marriage of Materials’. Architecture and Design The Marriage of Materials ‘Embodied Interfaces’ and ‘The Marriage of Materials’ opened in the Gallery at Grand The marriage of materials was conceived, Parade on the 6th December 2002. These designed and co-ordinated by Nick Gant and Tanya two shows were the first presentation of Dean, who joined the staff of the school two and a research and development work from the half years ago. Nick and Tanya are both graduates School of Architecture and Design for from the Wood, Metal, Plastics & Ceramics course nearly two years, and represent the diver- (WMC&P) and are now directors of their own very sity of research being explored across the successful design consultancy, BoBo design. This School by staff and also former graduates. year marks the 25th anniversary of the first gradu- ating cohort of this course and their work is exem- It also served to demonstrate the potential oppor- plary of its tradition of developing a language of tunities offered through drawing architecture and design and making through the exploration of interiors into the context of the Faculty of Arts and materials; most notably in their case, in plastics, Architecture, both across and beyond the bound- ‘Perspex’ and its various derivatives. aries of this school. The exhibition was first shown at 100% design in The two shows successfully exhibited positive September 2002 and grew from Nick and contrasts between the materiality, exploration Tanya’s desire to collaborate with other artists and and testing of materials to their limits in design- designers from a wide range of disciplinary back- ing and making of objects and artefacts along- grounds who brought their insight and inventive- side the magical experience of occupying and ness to explore a single material - in this case entering new kinds of spaces and engaging with ‘Perspex’. This generated a series of stimulating the temporal and sensual fuzziness of mixed discussions and produced not only a series of realities. Neither exhibition could have been extraordinary pieces but also the potential for new achieved with out the recognition and support of commercial applications. Their collaborators a number of external bodies, particularly the include sculptors, jewelers, metal and wood AHRB in the case of ‘Embodied Interfaces’ and designers, ceramicists and product designers. CRD Centre for Research Development Embodied Interfaces For this grant-aided “art meets science” one-off in the artists realm of say, drawing in space or pro- Industrial Design/Design Council's relationship with event, which was two years in planning, an unusu- ducing a surface in CAD modelling, with results retailers and consumers. In conjunction with the Mette Ramsgaard Thomsen teaches on the BA ally comprehensive range of practitioners, which could be ‘felt’ rather than seen. It emerged project Lesley will also become a Visiting Research In this issue course in Interior Architecture and joined the researchers, teachers, writers and research stu- that touch is evidently more sophisticated, and with Fellow in the Business History Unit at the London School two years ago. She was educated as an dents were invited to share insights into how we more degrees of freedom, sensitivity and complex- School of Economics. This research project is due New Research in Architecture & Architect and completed her postgraduate studies work with our hands, the language we use to ity than is vision. Since craft practice specialises in to start in February 2003. Design 2 at the Bartlett School of the Built Environment, appreciate the phenomena involved, and the the synthesis of touch and vision, it is easy for University College London. She is currently com- assumptions we tend to make in the process. The artists to overlook the distinction. In exploring this Frank Gray and the South East Film and Video Digital Dialogues; Technology and pleting an inter-disciplinary PhD there, researching four-day event became a developing dialogue issue with the scientists it emerged that such addi- Archive (SEFVA) The Hand 2 the subject of mixed realities, co-supervised by around aesthetics, technology, experience, craft, tional vectors, and especially in combination with professors from the Bartlett and the department of knowledge and expression. Studio work with each other, have only just recently begun to be SEFVA has been awarded £200,520, over three Staff Funding Successes 3 Computer Science. Both installations exhibited in ceramics, metal, paper, wood and fibres was explored in applications to date. Often such appli- years, from the AHRB resource enhancement the gallery were conceived and designed by brought together with digital media such as fibre- cations are very selective in what they use, for scheme. This is the highest level of AHRB funding Staff News 4 Mette together with various collaborators, optics, microcomputers, computer-controlled etch- example the virtual surgical interface was dealing received by the University to date. The project is a Jasminko Novak (for “Drawing Spaces”) and Chris ing, video imaging, motion sensing and virtual with a ‘touch = pressure’ metaphor. This can be digital access project and as part of this research Between the ‘Studio’ and the Parker, Jesper Mortensen and David Swapp (“I control systems. seen to be almost useless if you try to throw a project a case study investigation was conducted in ‘Library’ by Peter Seddon 7 See What you Hear”). ceramic pot, as Mandayam Srinivasan did in fact do the Autumn of 2001 into the views and experiences Unlike a conference format, the symposium was for the first time in his life. of those using public sector film archives. A sample Design Archives at Brighton 8 “Drawing Spaces” and “I See What you Hear” play- creatively organised around a collection of materials of academics in arts and humanities disciplines fully embodied her research in this field by chal- workshop projects, each of which was instigated by The Digital Dialogues and the Hand event is the were interviewed and it was discovered that few of Student News 9 lenging the relationship between the users of these an artist/scientist pairing, each workshop attempt- subject of a monograph (No. 14 in the Haystack the interviewees knew of the work of SEFVA and spaces and computed environments. By proposing ing to create hybrid projects which could draw in series) and the website is at; http://weblogs. few had considered the potential of the archive for Student Successes 10 new intuitive and body-centred interfaces she participants or provide unforeseen examples of col- media.mit.edu/digitaldialogues/about.html. their research. The findings of this case study indi- offered visitors to these spaces a sense of entry, or laborative process. One example of this approach cated that this project - an on-line resource with New Students 12 a presence within a digital dimension through was blacksmith Tom Joyce working with Justine Contact details for Haystack Mountain School of detailed catalogue entries, contextual documents exploring a virtual space, generated through their Cassell from the Gesture and Narrative Language Crafts, Deer Isle, Maine USA 04627-0518 and downloadable video files - would provide the Funding Opportunities 12 interaction with it – hence the exhibition title Group from the Media Lab, who together fabricat- [email protected]. Chris Rose can be academic community with a new and potentially ‘Embodied Interfaces’. The experience of these two ed a forged sculpture that retained and replayed contacted at [email protected]. very valuable gateway to SEFVA. Elaine Shepphard, Conferences & Seminars 13 installations brought the remoteness usually ‘memories’ of the stages of its making process SEFVA's current AHRB research fellow, will be this encountered in relation to virtual spaces, to the through sound and motion sensors linked with new project's manager. The project is due to start Theatre & Gallery Highlights 14 immediacy of physical space through excluding the video. Another example was ceramicist Bill Daley Staff Funding Successes on 1st July 2003. devices such as a screen and mouse and trans- working with Mandayam Srinivasan from the Touch CRD News 16 forming the experience into more fuzzy and fluid Lab, who despite his knowledge with virtual inter- The Centre for Research and Development is sense of presence. face design for remote surgical technology, experi- pleased to inform you that two members of Arts The symposium was creatively organised around enced for the first time the design, and making by and Architecture staff have recently been success- a collection of materials workshop projects, each Alongside this exhibition the Faculty also hosted a hand, a ceramic vessel using Bill’s method of pro- ful with external funding applications. one-day symposium of the same name on totyping forms with heavy tarpaper. These very of which was instigated by an artist/scientist Saturday 7th December which brought together physical arenas gave powerful departure points for Dr Lesley Whitworth, Assistant Curator, practitioners such as architects, fine artists and per- the dialogues, which while being rooted in complex Design History Research Centre pairing, each workshop