37
#1
Fall 2008
H+ Lab
tic design. e fields are distinct because of
their intention. e intention of industrial
design is to serve a client's or potential cli-
ent's needs; the field of artistic design is to
realize a concept conjured up in one's mind
— a creative process. ese fields overlap
and are allied, to be sure, but they are none-
theless distinct. Here are some examples:
Immersivity
You can find a great example of an
industrial-type interface at Tronic Studio
-- a company I am fond of. Working in the
context of commercial design, they provide
a collection of experience designs for their
clients.
Digital Water Pavillion is an example of
an artistic experience design that is exhib-
ited for audience viewing and participation.
It premieres at the World Expo in Spain,
and offers a sensorial experience — archi-
tecture as experience.
Another architectural experience – one
that spins – is planned for Dubai.
Wearables
"FrogConcept" is a wearable industrial
design that allows for a full-sensory
experience by reshaping the world into a
soothing spa-like escape. While it gives
a robot appearance around the eyes, nose,
and mouth, its streamline mask is, in itself,
a pleasant design that can't help but make
for an aesthetic experience.
"Seven Mile Boots" is a clever artistic
design — a stunning contemporary piece of
red footwear that enables the person wear-
ing the boots to be a flaneur in the real and
virtual worlds simultaneously.
Alternative Reality Gaming
is genre is both industrially and artistically
based and might be appropriate for engaging
with other people in a narrative, real-world
experience. Alternative reality gaming
could provide a potential inducement for
imagining together the actual experience of
living longer. Unfortunately, at the Cannes
Lions Award, the winner game was Trent
Reznor's devastating narrative of the year
zero. Instead, it might be worth looking
into the designers at 42 Entertainment,
providers of immersive experiences.
Bioart
What can I say about bioart? It is a
fabulously new genre that has a particular
set of ideological viewpoints that are not
terribly H+, but are in close proximity to
NBIC works that some of us designers have
been engaging in. Bioart doesn't include
experience design yet, but there is potential,
particularly as the nano-bio-info-cogno
revolution begins to explores new media.
Upcoming exhibitions that are a precursor
to a nano-bio-info-cogno rad-life-ex will
be appearing at the Moscow International
Film Festival and also at the "Evolution
Haute Couture: Art and Science in the
Post-Biological Age."
My video, "Bone Density," will be ex-
hibiting. Returning to my paper, I stumble
across a famous 1954 quote from Nor-
bert Weiner, the founder of cybernetics:
"e human species is strong only insofar
as it takes advantage of the innate, adap-
tive, learning faculties that its physiologi-
cal structure makes possible." In H+ Lab, I
will be encouraging all of us to do just that
through media and art.
Tronic Studio
www.tronicstudio.com
www.42entertainment.com/see.html
Digital Water Pavilion
www.core77.com/blog/object_culture/mit_
digital_water_pavilion_makes_a_splash_in_
spain_10171.asp
Spinning Architecture
www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/
la-fg-buildingmotion26-2008jun26,0,312971.
story?track=rss
FrogConcept
www.frogdesign.com/news/frogconcept-a-digital-
escape-05162008.html
Seven Mile Boots
randomseed.org/sevenmileboots
www.artifacial.org/evolution_haute_couture
Additional Resources
Year Zero
www.alternaterealitybranding.com/
cannes2008yearzero/
42 Entertainment
www.42entertainment.com/see.html
Moscow International Film Festival
mediaforum.mediaartlab.ru
Evolution Haute Couture: Art and Science in the
Post-Biological Age
www.artifacial.org/evolution_haute_couture
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