I don’t really need any more proof that the Dutch can out-design us all. But if I did, I could refer to Engaging Spaces: Exhibition Design Explored, a new monograph by Amsterdam “exhibition architects” Kossman.dejong. The book is big, and so are the ideas in it. Highly recommended.
Published by the rather indispensable Frame.
Spotted recently at My Modern Met: Artist Lise Bjorne Linnert’s powerful installation “Desconocida Unknown Ukjenthas” uses more than 5,500 unique hand-embroidered (yes, embroidered) names on pink gallery surfaces to represent female victims of violence.
Long live the humble recycled paper tube as a design element. The latest addition to the … trend? … is the display wall of a bike shop in Hong Kong by architects Eureka. 5,412 tubes can be slid in and out of the wall to hold literature, display products, spell words, you name it. Brilliant.
Via Dezeen.
The images I’ve seen of this Design Miami installation by London-based rAndom International are hard to put out of my mind. The video speaks for itself. It’s lovely. (Note to self: hire modern dancer for next portfolio shoot.) And apparently all it took was:
1064 warm white Philips Lumiblade OLEDs, black custom circuit board back plane, aluminium suspension, custom driver software, camera based motion tracking system, custom motion tracking software by Chris O’Shea, computer, iPod touch remote control
Via Core77.
I was recently in Germany and picked up “Scenography / Szenografie”, a compendium of work by the formidable Prof. Uwe Brueckner and colleagues at Atelier Brueckner in Stuttgart. In US stores in February, available for preorder now.
The book is rather spectacular, further evidence of the remarkable progress of exhibition designers around the world over the past generation, particularly in Europe, where Stuttgart is a veritable hive of brilliant firms. US designers would do well to get a copy of this book and others.
Image above via Atelier Brueckner.
Made me look: this new exhibit featured in Designboom, by Thai design studio Apostrophy’s (sic), is an inflatable, LED-powered spatial game.
DJ Light (DJ Luz), Lima 2010 from Cinimod Studio on Vimeo.
Roughly translated excerpt from Fubiz:
Designed by English designer Dominic Harris from the studio Cinimod, here is the project “DJ Light”. It is an outdoor installation that allows the public to participate through movement: they conduct a light and sound space made of 85 balloons.
Brilliant.
From the TU Delft architecture library, apparently. Via Recyclart.org. (Caution: only look at Recyclart if you have a few spare hours to gawk.)
I am dumbstruck. From Cool Hunting:
Japanese artist Iori Tomita takes a colorful approach to highlighting the complex compositions of marine life creatures with his collection entitled “New World Transparent Specimens.” Tomita was first introduced to the creation of transparent specimens for the scientific purpose of examining minuscule bone structure as an undergraduate student majoring in fisheries. The specimens’ flesh is made translucent by a method that dissolves the creatures’ natural proteins. The artistry of nature and man-made design converge when vibrant dyes are introduced to the delicate skeletal system. Selectively injecting red dye into the hard bones and blue into the softer bones, Tomita underscores the other worldliness of aquatic life.
Most popular tweets of the past 30 days:
- “With new website, devices, (Boston’s) MFA seeks visitors’ touch” http://ow.ly/37Aoz
- Museum Without Walls. http://ow.ly/39GaI
- Gamification: good. http://ow.ly/36xP0 < > Gamification: bad. http://ow.ly/36xMA
- The MoMA iPad app. http://ow.ly/3e2Ra
- Exhibit as participatory infographic: visitors mark their heights in dense line around gallery. http://ow.ly/37edU
- Wait. Do location games like SCVNGR … work? http://ow.ly/37xNx via @mia_out
The rather fab Turner Prize in the UK just went to Susan Philipsz, the “first person in the history of the award to have created nothing you can see or touch” (The Guardian). Philipsz is known for sound art, the “so-called fine art in which audio is the core if not sole constituent element” (BoingBoing).
This YouTube video of an echoing vocal work of her voice singing under a bridge is making the rounds. As both a recovering musician and a designer, this should be right up my alley. But I’m not sure what I think yet. In any case, it seems to have the art world in the UK a bit riled up. What do you think?
Via BoingBoing, seen first via my favorite news reader app, Pulse.
Currently under construction: the new Zayed National Museum, just outside Abu Dhabi, by architects Foster & Partners.
Why wings? Pick one and post your answer below:
(a) The eponymous Sheikh Zayed, who is the original founder of the whole UAE, loves falconry. The wings are meant to honor his pastime.
(b) They are innovative ventilation scoops that cool the building in an arid, unforgiving climate.
(c) Both (a) and (b) above.
(d) Why not?
Here, on the other hand, is a Foster museum with just one new wing.
Via Gizmodo.
Best. Thing. Ever. When was the last time that crochet made you cry?
Via Science Gallery and the National Museum of Natural History.
Mesmerizing: CERN’s new interactive exhibition center on YouTube. (Run it full screen for full effect.) Do you know the designers? Please comment below. Design by the excellent folks at Atelier Brückner. (Thanks, Phillip Teufel!)
After years of quietly enjoying my ever-growing collection of books on exhibit design, museum planning and interactive spaces, I have finally come up with a way to share my bookshelf with everyone. I hereby announce the Exhibit Designer’s Bookshelf (beta), courtesy of Shelfari.
Click the link at the very top of this page, or here, and enjoy. More fancy features to come, this is just a start.
Many thanks to Jessica Griscti, bibliographer extraordinaire, for helping to make this happen.
Suggestions? Missing books? Useful? Not useful? Comments open below.
My Shelfari bookshelf: the latest on exhibit design, museum planning, and interactive space.
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