Hasta La Ideas

Visitors to a fashion film exhibition in Milan organised by arts website POSTmatter were able to manipulate imagery on giant displays using movement and gestures (+ movie).

Held in a desanctified Renaissance church at the Accademia di Brera, the POST exhibition fused digital technology with imagery in a series of interactive installations.

POSTmatter curated three fashion films that were displayed on giant screens, each of which could be altered by human touch or movement.

“Some of the most exciting and innovative work taking place today uses code rather than paint, screens instead of canvases – reaching multiple senses and interacting with the audience,” said POSTmatter.

In each film, models wearing haute-couture garments by designers including Iris van Herpen move and dance in slow motion.

When stood in front of the screen that showed a film titled Echo, visitors used simple hand movements to warp the colourful movie into a spinning kaleidoscopic swirl.

A fabric pad was pressed and stroked to blend together two films called Ripple in a cloudy haze.

On another large display, the imagery of models from the Gravity film was shattered into digital geometric patterns that distorted as people walked past then reconfigured once they moved out of range.

More of POSTmatter’s films, including a movie showing Maiko Takeda’s spiky headdresses glowing in the dark, were shown on smaller screens.

The exhibition took place from 13 to 16 March and there are plans to take it to other cities globally.

Here’s the information sent to us by POSTmatter:

About the exhibition

Launching in Milan, but with plans to tour globally, the exhibition combines performance, fashion and digital artistry in a series of interactive works.

The term “digital native” has become one of the defining concepts of our time. It refers to the emerging generation for whom the digital world is no longer an abstraction, but the very conditions of existence. To separate out “digital art” here will no longer be possible, as media distinctions dissolve into a fluid continuum between reality and the virtual world. Artists are responding powerfully to this complex and often conflicting state of transition. Some of the most exciting and innovative work taking place today uses code rather than paint, screens instead of canvases – reaching multiple senses and interacting with the audience.

This new exhibition series builds on POSTmatter’s experience in live events, with previous projects being part of major cultural events including the Venice Biennale, Art Basel Miami Beach and the Lisbon Architecture Triennale.

About POSTmatter

In a new series of interactive installations, POSTmatter moves beyond editorial to curate physical exhibitions, using intuitive interfaces that respond to human movement and touch.

Originally launched in 2010 as a series of independently published editions for the iPad, POSTmatter was designed with the interactive potential of tablet devices in mind. This opened up new possibilities for interactive content, responsive fashion editorials and groundbreaking film work. Having been honoured at numerous industry awards – from the Digital Magazine Awards to the Webbys – 2013 has seen POSTmatter expand its web presence as well as move into events.

The POSTmatter exhibition is the next step in rich media – bringing editorial away from the page, website or tablet to become a physically immersive experience.

About the venue

Founded in 1776, the Accademia di Brera has a rich heritage, having educated figures as diverse as Lucio Fontana, Nobel Prize winner Dario Fo and Bruno Munari.

The on-site Brera Art Gallery houses one of Milan’s most significant art collections, including works by Boccioni, Caravaggio, da Vinci, Picasso, Rubens and many more.

Placing these cutting-edge digital performance pieces in the setting of a desanctified Renaissance church, steeped in European history, speaks volumes about the radical human transformations being brought about in the post-digital age.

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respond to movement of gallery visitors appeared first on Dezeen.

Transportation start-up Kolelinia has created a vehicle that uses pedal power to transport riders around town while standing up, like a low-tech version of a Segway (+ movie).

The Halfbike by Kolelinia features pedals like a bicycle that the user balances on while holding on to a single waist-height handlebar in an upright stance.

The pedals are connected to a large front wheel by a chain that drives the Halfbike forward, while two smaller wheels at the back provide a stable base and a brake on the joystick-like handlebar is used to slow down.

The motion of pedalling results in an experience similar to low-impact running, while the upright riding position provides good visibility.

“Its combination of cycling and smooth assisted running provides a remarkably quick and fun way of urban travel,” said the designers. “Its innovative rider position, at the same time both upright and higher, gives you a new perspective on the city.”

The user steers the Halfbike by leaning to either side, which shifts the balance between the front wheel and the rear axle.

Kolelinia said the Halfbike was designed for commuting short distances and provides a compact alternative to a bicycle that is easy to carry or store.

“It is compact enough for an elevator, light enough to carry on stairs, and fits into spaces too small for a normal bicycle,” the designers explained.

A handlebar made from plywood is fixed to the laser-cut aluminium frame, which is currently white but will eventually be available in six additional colours.

“We see the Halfbike as an alternative for people tired of sitting in traffic jams, which at the same time improves their experience of travel,” the designers added.

Prices for the Halfbike start from $799. Kolelinia founders Martin Angelov and Mihail Klenov have launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for the first batch of production.

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stand up while pedalling appeared first on Dezeen.

Fashion designer Maiko Takeda has added glow-in-the-dark designs to her range of spiky masks and body adornments for an exhibition of her work in Paris (+ movie).

Maiko Takeda has extended her Atmospheric Reentry millinery and jewellery collection to include a neckpiece that glows under black light.

The latest design, which wraps around the head and over the shoulders, is presented in a movie by digital art publication POSTmatter.

“When I met Remi Paringaux and his team from POSTmatter last summer to discuss ideas on our collaboration film project, I remembered images of glowing lights in space, such as aerial photographs of northern lights, burning comets and so on in my references,” Takeda told Dezeen.

“I thought this would be a fantastic opportunity to return to this inspiration and see what I can do with it.”

Takeda applied fluorescent pigments to the translucent plastic spikes one by one, combining sprayed gradients of colour with more intense flecks of paint.

The film flicks between light and dark to show the transformation of the piece under UV light. It also shows the delicate translucent bristles ripple in a breeze.

“The way the spikes waved was also beautiful,” Takeda said. “It almost looked like fluorescent jellyfish in water.”

After the film was made, she decided to create another smaller piece that would illuminate in the dark to accompany the first glowing design.

“I used light-emitting pigments instead, so during the day you can only see translucent spikes but when dark it emits lights and glows by itself,” she explained.

Takeda first designed her Atmospheric Reentry collection while studying at London’s Royal College of Art and presented pieces at the institution’s annual fashion show last year.

Icelandic singer Björk has also performed wearing one of Takeda’s headdresses, after seeing the designs on Dezeen.

She now hopes to create pieces that are more wearable day-to-day. “My interest now is to expand the collection including a series of more wearable fashion items,” said Takeda.

“This is not to say I want to make something compromised, but it would be exciting to challenge how far the idea can be developed and cross over the fields of couture and product design.”

The exhibition of her work at the Joyce Gallery in Paris continues until 22 March. Photography is by Ayako Kichikawa.

The post Prickly headdresses by Maiko Takeda
glow in the dark appeared first on Dezeen.

This raw concrete church by Nameless Architecture presents a cross-shaped elevation to a road junction in Byeollae, a new district under development outside Seoul, South Korea (+ movie).

Nameless Architecture, which has offices in Seoul and New York, used concrete for both the structure and exterior finish of RW Concrete Church, creating an austere building intended to embody religious values.

“Concrete reveals its solidity as a metaphor for religious values that are not easily changed in an era of unpredictability,” said the architects.

The introduction of a bell tower and a cantilevered second-floor lobby give the church its cross-shaped profile. Additional cross motifs can also be spotted at the top of the tower and within the lobby window.

“The cross as a religious symbol substitutes for an enormous bell tower and is integrated with the physical property of the building,” explained the architects. “The minimised symbol implies the internal tension of the space.”

A large sheltered terrace takes up most of the ground floor of the site, creating a space that can be used for various community activities.

An entrance leads into the church via a ground-floor lobby, from which a staircase ascends towards the chapel on the second floor. Visitors have to pass through the cantilevered lobby before entering the space.

“This cantilevered space is a physical as well as spiritual transition that connects daily life with religion,” added the architects.

A gently sloping floor helps to frame the seating around the pulpit, while clerestory windows help to natural light to filter across the entire room.

Photography is by Rohspace.

Here’s more information from Nameless Architecture:

RW Concrete Church

RW Concrete Church is located in Byeollae, a newly developed district near northeast Seoul, Korea. It evokes a feeling, not of a city already completed, but a building on a new landscape somewhere between nature and artificiality, or between creation and extinction. The church, which will be a part of the new urban fabric, is concretised through a flow of consecutive spaces based on simple shape, single physical properties and programs.

The use of simple volumes and a single material adapted to the site collects a range of desires created in the newly developed district. Concrete, which is a structure as well as a basic finishing material for the building, indicates a property that penetrates the entire church, and at the same time, a firm substance that grasps the gravity of the ground it stands on, which is contrary in concept from abstraction.

Concrete reveals its solidity as a metaphor for religious values that are not easily changed in an era of unpredictability. Moreover, the cross as a religious symbol substitutes for an enormous bell tower and is integrated with the physical property of the building through the empty space at the upper part of the staircase. The minimised symbol implies the internal tension of the space.

The first thing encountered upon entering the building is the empty concrete yard on the ground floor. This is a flexible space that acts as a venue for interaction with the community while also accommodating varying religious programs. By the time you become accustomed to the dark as you walk past this empty yard, and climb the three storeys of closed stairs, you come face to face with a space full of light.

This interior space has a cantilever structure protruding 6.9m, and you must pass through this hall before entering the chapel. This cantilevered space is a physical as well as spiritual transition that connects daily life with religion.

The chapel creates a sense of peace with a single space, using a slope that is not so steep, evoking the feeling of attending a worship service on a low hill. The subdued light gleaming through the long and narrow clerestory embraces the entire chapel and lends vigour to the static space.

Project: RW Concrete Church
Architect: NAMELESS Architecture
Architects In Charge: Unchung Na, Sorae Yoo
Location: Byeollae, South Korea
Area: 3,095.5 sqm / 33,319.7sqft

Collaborating Architect: Jplus (Jungtaek Lim, Hwataek Jung)
Structural consultant: Mido Structural Consultants
Mechanical consultant: One Engineering
Client: RockWon Church

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church to growing Korean town appeared first on Dezeen.

Dezeen Music Project: a pair of miniature 3D-printed figures wander around Los Angeles in this stop-motion music video by creative studio PARTY for Australian electronic band Cut Copy’s track We Are Explorers.

“We came up with the idea based on the title and lyric ‘we are explorers’,” PARTY creative director and founder Masashi Kawamura told Dezeen. “We wanted to create a story of explorers but wanted create the journey in a never seen before way, so we decided to create 200 figurines using 3D printing and film them as stop-motion animation.”

The video for Cut Copy follows the tiny characters as they navigate the streets: encountering litter, scaling mail boxes and collecting objects found along their journey.

For the stop-motion sequence, the two hundred figurines were created on a Stratasys 1200es printer with UV reactive filament.

The team used handheld black lights to create the luminosity during the seven days of filming in Los Angeles, then exaggerated the brightness slightly during post production.

“We used UV reactive filament to print the figurines on the 3D printer, so they glowed under the black light,” said Kawamura.

Once they had finished, PARTY made the files used to create the video open source so others could try it out.

“We wanted to create an experience bigger than just the video,” explained Kawamura, “so we decided to release all the 3D data and storyboard for free on Bit Torrent, so the people can actually recreate the whole video if they want to.”

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LA in Cut Copy’s music video appeared first on Dezeen.