Pop-up books

Pop-up books

This giant pop-up book and the interactive electronic pop-up book were created by Jie Qi, who is a Graduate Student of Media Arts and Sciences at the MIT Media Lab, in the High-Low Tech group.

I was really drawn to her work because of my love of origami and paper crafts. Inside her giant book there are origami flowers that open and close as if they are breathing. It's interesting to see the function of a traditional art form reinvented with electronics. 

She is also re-imagining the way that the pop-up book functions by adding the electrical components, but she kept with such a traditional cover and format for the book. I think that's a missed opportunity for her to really utilize or re-invision the book format. I'd love to see her collaborate with paper artists Andrea Dezsö or Beatrice Coron.

novel architecture from Jie Qi on Vimeo.

Paper flowers blooming from Jie Qi on Vimeo.

Repurposed

Repurposed

Today I presented the Repurposed project to my Into to Metals students. I thought I’d share a few of my favorites with you. Who is your favorite jeweler that is working with repurposed materials?


This brooch is by Christiane Köhne and is made of artificial flowers and 18k gold.

One aspect of the project, that they will be doing, is considering surface treatment. I thought this group of rings by Marlene True was a great example. By using the same format for each ring she is riveting on tin that she has affected the surface in different ways. 

A necklace by Thea Tolsma using a bicycle inner tube.

And this ring by Maria Cristina Belluci made of resin, silver and colored pencils.

Metal Mining

Metal Mining

As I am gathering images for my Intro to Metals class’s next project – Repurposed, I am reminded of one of the reasons for having them do this project. One aspect is to raise the students’ awareness of the impact of metal and diamond mining. The students in my class are all non-art majors who may or may not continue to make jewelry after taking this class, but most of them will go on to be jewelry consumers. So, as I arrange my presentation for the next project, I am slipping in bits of information on the impact of metal and diamond mining, and encouraging them to buy jewelry with recycled metal and conflict-free diamonds. Hopefully in the future they will consider these things when buying jewelry or describing their ideal engagement ring to their future spouse.

For my own work, I try to buy my metal from Hoover and Strong as much as possible since all of their metal is recycled. I also reconstitute old silverware and jewelry into sheet silver. 

Here is some information on metal mining from Ethical Metalsmiths:

-Metal mining is the most toxic polluter in the United States. It is responsible for 96 percent of arsenic emissions and 76 percent of lead emissions.

-Each year in the United States, mines generate an amount of waste equivalent in weight to nearly nine times the trash produced by all its cities and towns combined.
A single gold ring leaves in its wake at least 20 tons of mine waste.

-Accidents throughout the world involving cyanide-laced mine wastes have caused fish kills, severe water pollution, and soil contamination.

-Large-scale mining operations often devastate local economies, cause illnesses, destroy streams and water supplies, and lead to human rights abuses.

-Metal mining employs only .09 percent of the global workforce but consumes as much as 10 percent of world energy.

-Approximately half the gold produced worldwide has or will come from indigenous peoples' lands.

NEA Budget Cuts

NEA Budget Cuts

Right now Congress is meeting to discus budget cuts, and the proposal is calling for a $22.5 million cut in National Endowment for the Arts, as well as cuts to the National Endowment for the Humanities. There is also the possibility that the Republican Study Committee will call to completely eliminate the NEA. Please contact you Senators and Representatives immediately. Let them know that the NEA and the NEH are important to you. It only takes ten mins to let the government know that you care about the arts.

These websites have tools that you can use to generate an email to your congress people:
Advocate for the Arts
National Humanities Alliance

The Awesome Foundation and Fab Lab

The Awesome Foundation and Fab Lab

I heard about these organizations – The Awesome Foundation and the MIT Fab Lab – last week on WAMU's Metro Connection. The Awesome Foundation is a "worldwide network of people devoted to forwarding the interest of awesomeness in the universe." How it works is that a group of ten people come together and contribute $100 each a month. Each month by consensus they choose one applicant, who is planning something "awesome", and grant them $1,000. The Awesome Foundation does not claim any stake in the the grant winner's project and their are no strings attached to the grant. The foundation is geared mostly towards art and science projects that have a community outcome, but it's pretty open and anyone can apply for a grant.

This episode of Metro Connection talked about the new DC chapter of The Awesome Foundation and their first grant that they gave to Phyllis Klein who is currently operating the mobile DC Fab Lab.

A Fab Lab is "a low-cost lab that lets people build things they need using digital and analog tools." It started as an outreach program for MIT's Center for Bits and Atoms. A Fab Lab cost roughly $50,000 to start and they are located all over the world. All Fab Labs contain a lasercutter, a larger milling machine for making furniture sized parts, a sign-cutter, and a precision milling machine. The DC one is currently mobile, but plans are in the works for a brick and mortar location.

There is an interesting Ted Talk with MIT professor Neil Gershenfeld about the Fab Labs. He says that, "we are now in the PDP (Programmed Data Processor) era of digital fabrication." What he means is that PDP's were the transition from mainframe computers to the mini computer. When the technology started to transition from large organizations into the general public's hands and were popular amongst the early hacker culture.

More and more we are seeing a new group of makers. Mass production is being brought down to an individual scale. Within ten years we'll probably start seeing personal laser cutters in people's homes. It is interesting, because both of these organization are empowering ordinary people to be creators and makers. Trying to remove some of the boundaries that prevent people from realizing their ideas.   

How To Be Alone

How To Be Alone

A lovely little video and poem about becoming comfortable with being alone. Poet by poet/singer/songwriter, Tanya Davis and film by filmmaker, Andrea Dorfman.

VAIN Loves VERA 2011 Calendar

VAIN Loves VERA 2011 Calendar

When I worked at VAIN salon in Seattle, we would periodically have classes in session styling by Felicity (head stylist for Kevin Murphy). The result of these classes would be some amazing pictures. A peak at some photos from previous classes can be found on the VAIN blog.

Most recently, I teamed up with co-worker, Scott Tomlinson, for a photo shoot project. Each group was to pick a music genre that we would re-create. Scott and I picked Psychedelic Rock. My client and clothing designer, Malia, was my fantastic model.

The end result is a 2011 calendar with each month representing a different genre. All the proceeds from the sales of the calendar will go to the Vera Project, which is an all-ages music and arts venue. "Vera strives to fulfill its mission to foster a participatory creative culture through popular music concerts, arts programs, experiential learning and volunteer opportunities for all ages, especially young people."

The calendar has hip hop, punk rock, glitter rock, classical, hair metal and more, so be sure to order one and help support this amazing organization.  If you are in Seattle you can pick one up at: VAIN, The Vera Project, Sonic Boom Records, Easy Street Records, Pretty Parlor, and Georgetown eatery Smarty Pants, or you can order it online at the Vera website.