Popular Culture

Bertrand Gondouin in a Metro article (Swedish) when he recently presented his electronic jacket at a virtual reality conference in Stockholm. His aim is to explore how computers may be used without the traditional tools – for experimental and artistic purposes. He has used electronic textiles in the jacket (which looks like a perfectly normal jacket) and he controls the computer by waving his arms. With his movements he can navigate through a 3D environment projected on the wall.

Gondouin is a designer in interactive visuals who really exploits the innovative power of intersections of different disciplines. This is how he describes it himself:

“My work combines three disciplines: art direction, software engineering and live performance. This scope of activities enables me to deliver responsive, environmental graphics in real-time, which creates uniquely immersive experiences.”

At this intersection he seems to have a lot of fun and apparently barriers don’t exist to this visionary thinker. Considering what he has achieved it is amazing that he has no background in technology but he certainly brings new perspectives into this field since he is educated in art and has been working with live television. Check this crazy video from his first experiments with the jacket where he controls sound with arm movements or this earlier post which also includes electronic textiles.

/Kristian Ribberström

When I saw Peter Jackson’s The Two Towers back in 2002 I was amazed, like everybody else, by the digitally animated creature Gollum. The filmmakers had achieved something extraordinary and I realized there and then that I would never again be surprised the possibilities of motion-capture technique. But I was wrong. The designers at Front make everybody surprised with their innovative design method. They make freehand sketches in the air and record the strokes with motion-capture technology. The information is then digitized into 3D models.

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One of the main ideas in The Medici Effect is that if you apply existing concepts in fields where they haven’t been used before it dramatically increases your chances of being innovative. The Front design team is a very good example of that. When they placed themselves at the intersection of 3D animation and furniture design and applied motion-capture where it doesn’t “belong” it gave them originality as well as attention. Arguably, it would take some rather advanced technical breakthrough to revolutionize the way motion-capture is used for 3D animation in films or computer games but all they had to do at Front was to use the technique in a new way.

Naturally, this is not their only design method but all their work is characterized by the same open-mindedness that enables them to break down the associative barriers between fields. When I assumed that I would never again be surprised by the possibilities of motion-capture it was because I didn’t see beyond those barriers.

/Kristian Ribberström

H&M continues with their innovative formula for keeping at the forefront of fashion design for the masses – they bring in new perspectives through intersections with haute couture designers. Earlier they have produced collections designed by, for instance, Stella McCartney or Viktor & Rolf that have been loved by customers and, more importantly, the media. A press release yesterday announced that this year’s cooperation will be with Japanese designer Rei Kawakubo, founder and owner of Comme Des Garcons.

It is obvious that H&M has understood the creative and commercial value of tearing down the barriers between different styles and levels of fashion and they have successfully exploited that insight. Kawakubo is a perfect partner since she is a highly original avant-garde designer who is known for her intellectual profile and integrity. But she is also interested in the balance between creation and business and the H&M project will give her a chance to explore that. She also seems to be open-minded when it comes to unexpected connections – she is the designer that Speedo cooperated with in the development of their racer swimsuit that I wrote a post about earlier.

/Kristian Ribberström

Convergence and cross-pollination of cultural fields is probably the most common way of inventing new art forms. Game art is one such intersectional example. Basically it is art inspired and/or expressed by computer games. It has been a field of experimentation for about a decade but apparently it is gaining ground.

The development of the field follows a well established pattern – photography was quickly embraced by artists and so was video technique. The computer game genre also has everything it needs to be used for artistic expression. Not only technically and visually; to many people born in the seventies and later allusions to classic computer games are probably as relevant and meaningful as literary references. Furthermore – the fact that it is a combination of two fields opens up for an explosion of new ideas and unexpected innovation.

Watch this example on Youtube or check this archive.

/Kristian Ribberström