Renaissance Technologies

youtube screencap.

youtube screencap.

If the public library was the proto-internet, then the book was both a trusty storage device and an early website. This is essentially how MIT’s School of Humanities, Arts & Social Sciences approaches books in the course “Making Books: The Renaissance and Today,” in which students learn about bookmaking technology.

The course, led by MIT historian Anne McCants and Jeffrey Ravel, sees students making paper and building a handset printing press. The idea is to illustrate that people in the distant past were also clever technologists, while also reconnecting students to the notion of making instead of merely consuming.

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This semester past, MIT Hobby Shop director Ken Stone led the students in the building of the printing press. First, students milled a huge reclaimed wooden beam from an old building, then they worked the wood in various ways until they had assembled a screw-type letterpress printer commonly used throughout the early modern period. During the build, students toured a Colonial-style print shop in Boston called Edes & Gill, paying particular attention to an early handset press like the one they were building. There they picked the brains of printmaster Gary Gregory.

The full article is at The Creators Project. Very, very, very cool, this. I’d love to learn how to do this.

Santa Fe: Native Treasures.

Beaded high heel sneakers by Teri Greeves.

Beaded high heel sneakers by Teri Greeves.

In the Hopi creation myth, and most Native American creation myths, we are allowed to be here on this earth but only provided we care for it and treat it with respect.”  – Dan Namingha.

Each year, the Native Treasures Indian Arts Festival brings over 200 Native American artists from 40 tribes and pueblos – each of whom is specially invited by the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture – to Santa Fe, New Mexico to display their artistic pottery, jewelry, paintings, glass, stone, bronze, baskets and textiles.

This year the theme is “Mother Earth” and is oftentimes depicted as a turtle in Native American mythology and art which signifies water, good health, long life, patience, determination and peace.

This year’s featured artist at the 12th annual Native Treasures Indian Arts Festival is Dan Namingha. A prolific painter for over 40 years, Namingha, who has been producing earth-friendly, pro-environmental messages for decades, was also awarded the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture Living Treasure award for his overall body of work as well as for recognition of artistic excellence and community service.

Full Story Here.

Neanderthal Sculpture Garden

A mysterious series of rock formations recently discovered in France have been identified as potentially religious or cultural work of Neanderthals from over 175,000 years ago, over four times older than the oldest cave paintings. Inside Bruniquel Cave in southwest France, researchers have found formations of broken stalagmites that appear to have been arranged intentionally, and are scorched in places with fire. These findings suggest that Neanderthals were not the brainless brutes we think of them as, but similar to us in their capacity for culture.

The study, led by Belgium-based scientist Sophie Verheyden, cites, “The regular geometry of the stalagmite circles, the arrangement of broken stalagmites, and several traces of fire,” as well as their location over 1,000′ into the cave to suggest mastery of the environment, “which can be considered a major step in human modernity.” Uranium dating (more accurate than carbon dating) indicates that these rock circles were made 176,600 years ago makes this feat very impressive. We know that Neanderthals could make markings resembling abstract art and use fire, but they’re not known for exploring caves past the reach of sunlight, much less to create works that could be a prehistoric sculpture garden.

Full Story at The Creators Project. Unfortunately, the study is behind a paywall.

Bookicide 2.

This time, a 1982 writing manual is condemned. I barely had to soak this one. A DirecTV manual is still soaking, it’s remarkably water resistant. You’d think they’d know they would come in for abuse or something. As soon as I recover from Fixatif fumes (kidding!), I’ll have fun with paint, always the best part.

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2Bookicide2

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© C. Ford. All rights reserved.

Cool Stuff Friday: A light bulb, pencil sharpener, and a clock.

FLYTE.

 

Zir2

Zir1

Zirconia Sharpener. For drawings and note taking, we always sharpen our pencils. We believe a pencil sharpener made with beautiful and durable material is functional hence leads to desirability. We love the beauty of simplicity, and the magic of analog. It’s honest and thoughtful. We want to reinterpret the analog pencil sharpener that we’re already familiar with, a product that we trust and use everyday. The blade and body are made from zirconia and fused into a single unibody block. By utilizing zirconia’s material property, the blade doesn’t need to be changed and offers a smooth sharpening experience.
Sign up here if you’re interested in Zirconia Sharpener and we’ll let you know when it’s available. (I’m signed up!)

 

Cosmos Clock by Jay Hyun Kim.

Jay Hyun Kim is a second year graduate student pursuing a MDes in Designed Objects at The School of The Art Institute of Chicago. Jay acquired his BFA in Industrial Design at Rochester Institute of Technology in 2011. Jay has a deep interest in manufacturing and materials, and his work in Venture Studio has focused on developing the Cosmos clock for manufacture in China.

Your Very Own Thundercloud…

Oh man, I want a houseful of these.

Cloud, by Richard Clarkson.

The Cloud is an Arduino-controlled, motion-triggered lightning & thunder performance, as well as a music-activated visualizing speaker. As an interactive lamp and speaker system designed to mimic a thundercloud in appearance, The Cloud employs embedded motion sensors to create unique lightning and thunder shows while providing entertainment value and inspiring awe. This is a kind of magic, not based on illusions and trickery, but on sensors and code. Featuring a powerful speaker system, The Cloud allows its beholder to stream music via any Bluetooth compatible device and can adapt to any desired lighting, color and brightness.

Acting as both an immersive lightning experience and visual feedback integrated speaker, The Cloud introduces innovative physical computing and interaction design hardware by bringing this technology into the home. The Cloud celebrates collaborative code, free-sharing and accessing prototyping information. The code is available to the public to use and improve, to provide blueprints for the next generation of smart objects.

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The Cloud is made by felting hypoallergenic fiberfill to a sponge casing which holds the speakers and componentry within. Users control the functions of The Cloud  through a small, wireless remote.

There’s much more at the site. Via The Creators Project.

Beautiful Salt: Univers’sel

motoi yamamoto's Floating Garden.

Motoi Yamamoto’s Floating Garden. Photos courtesy of the artist.

Inside the medieval castle tower at aigues-mortes, a 13th century walled city in southern france, japanese artist motoi yamamoto has completed two monumental installations made of salt. ‘Floating garden’ and ‘labyrinth’ form part of the exhibition ‘univers’ sel‘ on from now until november 30, 2016, which celebrates creative interpretations of the natural element.

‘Floating garden’ comprises a circular form filled with a lacework of carefully-placed grains of salt. The installation is housed within the castle tower at Aigues-Mortes. In its realization, the artist sits down in a small space where no particles are laid, simultaneously moving a container of salt in a particular rhythm, a subtle movement which creates tiny cells that mimic bubble-like patterns. Each of these thin salt ribbons symbolizes pieces of memories and fragments of time. The swirling, hurricane-like pattern is used as a motif used throughout East Asia to represent life and death, resurrection, rebirth and vitality. The ephemeral artwork was realized in 45 hours over the course of five days.

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The installation ‘labyrinth’ is housed within the castle’s ramparts.

The installation ‘labyrinth’ is housed within the castle’s ramparts.

Via Designboom, where there are many more photos.