Suzanne Lee - "What would you choose to grow in the future?"

Suzanne Lee, researcher and associate lecturer at Central Saint Martins College in MA Textile Future, talks about her research on growing materials with green tea, sugar, living bacteria, yeast and micro organisms. We have followed the evolution of her experiments since we were first introduced to her work in 2007 in college, and it is nice to see how colour and pattern were inserted in her work. Inspiring TED talk !

Subtle Technologies 2011

In June, I'll be presenting a talk/demo about Ferrofabric at Subtle Technologies:

"Subtle Technologies is a gathering of artists, scientists, technologists, engineers and the general public. We share cross-disciplinary ideas, explore new technologies, showcase creativity and incubate the next generation of practitioners at the intersection of art, science and technology. 2011 marks the 14th year of our festival and organization."

Subtle Technologies 2011 will be held in Toronto from May 28 - June 5, and tickets are on sale now. The lineup includes so many exciting projects. The Synaesthesia Cultivation Awareness Machine (SCAM) "removes the genetic barriers that may prevent aspiring synaesthetes from smelling colours." Their method is based on "electrical pulses, which harmlessly divert neural signals to different areas of the brain, creating a synthetic synaesthetic experience." I'm also especially looking forward to fellow MATF grad Stephanie Philips' DIY Bioplastics Workshop!

Ferrofabric at Subtle Technologies, Symposium Day 3
When Crafting Leads to Hacking: Magnetism as material
Innis Town Hall
Toronto
June 5, 2011, 2:00 pm
http://www.subtletechnologies.com/festival/schedule/presentation?p_id=9



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Milan Design for Textile Futures invasion :)

We could just about escape from our stand in Ventura Lambrate but we didn't want to miss the stunning work selection the students from MA textile Futures (Central Saint Martins College London) showcased this week in the Lambrate area.


The course (we ourselves graduated from in 2008) is celebrating this year its 10 years.
10 years of challenging perception of textiles and surfaces we live with in our material world.

Go Textile Futures !

Ventura Lambrate collective location
Via Massimiano 6, 20134, Milan
General Opening Hours: Tuesday April 12 – Sunday April 17, 10:00 – 20:00



Amelie and Melissa

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Laerke Hooge Andersen - EDF Energy Exhibition Collaboration

I was posting earlier about Dana Haim, now meet her good friend she and I met on the same MA course in Central Saint Martins, Textile designer Laerke Hooge Anderson. There is something so precise, balanced, yet totally original and mad about Laerke's work, that is quite fascinating.

Her latest commissioned collaborative work, Herbarium Energy Project", is an answer to a brief about re-thinking energy. Totally faithful to her hybrid-obsessed very personal style, these poetic artefacts express their function in the most inspiring and intuitive way.

It was showcased in the Saint Etienne Biennale this year :

'Herbarium energy project' aims to research ways in which to capture energy, embodied in new forms, which are influenced by living forms, and which differentiate between the heat emitted by the sun as radiation, and the constant temperature of fresh soil.

The 'Herbarium energy project' is a research and development collaboration between Laerke Hooge Andersen and Franck Magne. It lists the fragments of the most notable hypothetical technological developments related to the collection of renewable forms of energy. Thermodynamic systems with optimized exchangers, concentric heliotropic photovoltaic cells, millimetric piezoelectric fibres: all these fragments become the language of technical cuttings which fulfill their function as energy collectors in a more sensitive and intuitive way.

Solar Trumpets :

The specific feature of this type of solar collector is that it has been developed partly underground. It is always at a cool temperature, which cools its photovoltaic cells and increases their efficiency. Light-concentrating ‘trumpets’ convey a maximum amount of solar energy to them underground, where they convert it into electricity, sheltered from external heat.

Photovoltaic Efflorescence

Thermal Parasitic Cesi

Spectral evaporators

Electric Rhizhomes

More of Laerke's work here

Squishy Electronics

The IEEE Spectrum profiled a team of scientists who have engineered "squishy electronics" at NC State University. The memristors, made from liquid metal and films of the hydrogel agarose, are being developed as components for the human brain. Brain tissue is soft and wet (squishy), and conventional electronic components are hard. Much like all other regions of the human body, the brain is less likely to reject an electronic implant if it is physically more like itself.

Interesting! But how can it be used in textiles??

Please leave some suggestions, because for now, all I can think of is a light-up meat dress (concept: Katy Parry's dress marries Lady Gaga's dress).

Read full article here: http://spectrum.ieee.org/semiconductors/materials/chemists-construct-squishy-memristors-and-diodes/?utm_source=techalert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=101209

Not Putty - Still Silly

A slight squiggle is the first clue. If you see a rubberband on someone's wrist, and it has kinks in it, you could be looking at SillyBandz. Last time I was in the US, I found out about these trendy rubberbands. Kids are going mad for them. They are collecting them, wearing them all up and down their arms, asking for them for Christmas, even making YouTube videos and rap songs about them.



What differentiates SillyBandz from serious old rubberbands? When these colourful silicone bands are at rest, they are not circular, but rather take on the shape of objects. You can find Silly Bandz forming the silhouette of flowers, birds, chairs, Abraham Lincoln, hamburgers, Christian crosses, words - anything, really.

Kids love them because they are cheap, making them easy to collect and trade. But at the same time, these novel little invetions are becoming an iconic object for a whole generation of children. In the future, SillyBandz will trigger memories of elementary school for these people, much like SillyPutty does for my generation.

SillyPutty and SillyBandz have something else in common - they are weird materials! SillyPutty could provide hours of entertainment thanks to its bizarre behaviour, sometimes acting like a solid and sometimes as a liquid. We loved it, and we'll never forget it. It was so unlike the materials we were used to. SillyBandz has the same magic of novelty. It demonstrates principles of elasticity, so when these kids get to physics class, they will have a concrete example from the real world to think of.

Putty or Bandz, simple Silly materials can be commercially successful in the toy market.

Magnetic Cosmetic

Thanks to Martin Bauer for the link to an evilmadscientist piece about the shape of magnetic fields. The article, a thorough tour of the various ways to visualise magnetic fields, mentions a strange kind of nail varnish. Behold Le Magnetique, from Lancome: 

The nail varnish contains ferromagnetic particles that orient in a magnetic field. That little plastic hood on the bottle has a magnet inside, and when the nail varnish is still wet, it shifts it into the starbust formation. When dried, the particles stay in that formation. 

There's something about this product that reminds me of the glow-in-the-dark toilet paper. It's the same formula: novel material effect + ordinary thing = gadgety object of questionable safety.  

The paint pigments used in this varnish are the result of some serious research. I've been reading through US Patent applications related to magnetic field patterns. Paint particles such as these are engineered to have optimum length, drying time, flake shape, etc. 

All of those characteristics have been evolved by materials scientists competing for the best...nail varnish???

Unfortunately not. Although the paint has interesting decorative properties, as demonstrated here, it was originally developed for printing anti-counterfeiting elements on security documents. The scientists were backed by major companies in Japan, Switzerland and the US. 

The Lancome nail polish was released in several colours as part of their Mystery Game collection (Fall 2007), but was never re-realeased. There's a growing online demand for Lancome to bring it out again - you can join the e-mail campaign!! Think of all the crystal ball readers who would benefit from owning a bottle!

Puff and Flock mid Summer crit

Because we try to be serious and because we often get stuck on our own stuff, there is nothing like meeting and use fresh eyes. Man, we really needed that one !
Thank you Kathy for hosting (and feeding, or that wouldn't be a proper Puff & Flock meeting)

Elisabeth and I with our Godzilla looking inflatable test... no comment

Jenny's fascinating magnetic mutations

Melissa's metal lace WIP (warrior princess style)

Kathy is going UV and EVIL (apparently)

Natural Science

Snow Day in London! Melissa's Urban Upholstery being subjected to the full spectrum of environmental conditions

Melissa's woven metal uphostery is covered in an increasingly thick layer of snow. How will this affect the fabric? Will she find some mutant rust on the fabric when the snow melts off? We can only hope to find out soon!

Along the lines of yesterday's post, this is yet another example of materials being put to the test in extreme environments.

What NOT to wear in Outer Space

A specimen tray of LDEF shown pre-orbit (left) and post-orbit (right)

NASA is preparing to launch the Materials Science Research Rack (MSRR)into space. This refrigerator-sized laboratory will depart Earth in July 2009 in order to hitch a ride on the International Space Station. It will carry sample cartridges of materials such as space polymers, semiconductor crystals, and ceramics, which will then be subjected to various experiments.

The MSRR mission is preceded by two earlier generations of space materials experiments. In 1984, the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) was sent into orbit by the space shuttle Challenger. Its 57 experiment trays, attached to a heavy cylindrical strucutre, exposed materials to the synergistic effects of space for the first time. Testing had previously been conducted in Earth-based labs, but only one or two environmental effects could be simulated at any one time. The LDEF remained in orbit for 5 years longer than originally planned, after the Challenger tragedy caused NASA to suspend space missions for some time.

The LDEF continued to orbit until it started to drift back towards Earth's atmosphere. NASA sent the space shuttle Columbia to pick up this threatening mobile materials lab in 1990. Upon its return, the samples were sent back to over 200 sources. From universities to private corporations, many labs were eager to learn about the space environment through its effects on materials.

The next step in advancing materials for use in space was the Materials International Space Station Experiment (MISSE) Grand Opening. A briefcase-like container was filled with samples and deployed on the International Space Station. The exposure lasted for one year, after which a new briefcase would be installed. There were 6 MISSE experiments in total. One of the more interesting investigations was from Siemens, who wanted to find better inks for marking spacecrafts. Because such printing inks have been developed for Earth's conditions, they aren't designed to endure the UV levels of space. Siemens is hoping to change that so that parts of spacecraft can be identified in orbit and upon return, with barcode-like markings.

...what bark is made out of...

While watching the movie Zoolander, an affinity between one of the characters and puff&flock appeared unexpectedly. Early on in the film, Hansel (Owen Wilson) is nominated for the title of Male Model of the Year at VH1's Fashion Awards. The show's producers have made a short video profile of each nominee to broadcast before the award is announced...

Hansel:

"I hear a lot of words
like "beauty"and "handsomeness"...
and "incredibly chiseled features"
To me, that's like a vanity,
a self-absorption that I try to steer clear of...

"I dig the bungee... For me,
it's just the way I live my life...
I live it on the edge,
where I gotta be."

"I wasn 't like every other kid,
who dreams about being an astronaut...            
I was always more interested in what bark was
made out of on a tree..."

Right on, Hansel. We're not alone in wondering about random things like that.

Tree bark research was a big part of the Sustainable Wallpaper
brief from Graham and Brown.
If you want to know more about this material, see:
http://forestry.about.com/library/tree/blpart_bark.htm