Visual Arts Briefs

The MFA Interaction Design Department’s On the Verge lecture series, which pairs leading minds from across design disciplines, continues on Thursday, February 9 at 6pm. Dennis Crowley, co-founder of foursquare (a website that combines social networks, location awareness, and game mechanics to encourage people to explore the world around them via smartphone) and Mark Shepard, an architect whose work focuses on the implications of mobile communication and information technologies for architecture and urbanism, will convene to discuss how technology is increasingly shaping our physical surroundings.

On Friday, March 23 at 7pm, Geoff Manaugh, a noted futurist, former senior editor at Dwell magazine, contributing editor at Wired UK and founder of the architecture blog BLDGBLOG, will go head-to-head with New York Times’ Data Artist-in-Residence Jer Thorp. And on Friday, April 6 at 6pm, Zach Frechette, founder of Quarterly Co., co-founder of GOOD magazine and an adviser to Collaborative Fund, sits down for a conversation with Molly Steenson, a digital strategist, design researcher and GirlWonder.com editor emeritus.

“As an interaction design program, we work to encourage broad explorations of design such that fields that seem peripheral take on possibility,” explains MFA Interaction Design Department Chair Liz Danzico. “It is in this way that everything becomes material for making, everything becomes a possibility for exploration. The On the Verge series intends to broaden the edges of our understanding such that the seams where disciplines converge and diverge become more visible.”

All lectures are free and open to the public, but registration is required. For more info and to register, visit interactiondesign.sva.edu/events.

Image: Screenshot of Crowley’s foursquare mobile app.

MFA Interaction Design Department Chair Liz Danzico is featured in the December 2011 issue of .net magazine, where she shares her insights on Web design and explains the work she and her students do together. “Interaction Design is about observing and designing for the relationship between people over time,” she told Tom May in .net. “That could be how it feels to swipe between screens on an iPad or iPhone, or something as simple as the way a door communicates to you that it’s push or pull.” She also points out that she makes sure her students “learn about decision making. And so when they go to actually design for a mobile device or a website, that foundational knowledge they have about how the things work give them a much richer sense in terms of larger system.”

For the full article, visit .net magazine.

MFA Interaction Design Department faculty member John Zapolski was featured in Forbes recently for his innovative humanitarian venture Fonderie 47. “Our vision is an Africa free of fear from assault rifles,” he told Hannah Elliott in Forbes. “We create wearable art from AK-47s that we remove and destroy from Africa—and the pieces that we make are made by some of the world’s most inspired creators.”

Since 2009, Fonderie 47 has funded the destruction of 6,000 assault rifles stockpiled by the United Nations and the Democratic Republic of Congo, using the scrap metal to make jewelry. One key to the organization’s success is the buyers it curates—philanthropists, entrepreneurs, and billionaires. The group’s most recent project is a pair of $35,000 cuff links designed by Swiss mechanics master Roland Iten—each set sold pays for the destruction of 100 rifles in Africa. “We’d like to directly contribute to the removal and destruction of 1 million of them over the next seven years,” Zapolski said.

To read the full article, visit Forbes.

An idea planted in the mind of MFA Interaction Design Department faculty member Robert Faludi has blossomed into an incredible honor for the telecommunication expert: a permanent spot for one of his projects at the Museum of Modern Art. The Botanicalls Kit, which allows household plants to communicate information about their needs via Twitter, was plucked from the MoMA exhibition “Talk to Me: Design and the Communication between People and Objects” to take root in the museum’s permanent collection. Faludi, who collaborated on Botanicalls, spoke with the Briefs via email about this opportunity.

Where did the concept for Botanicalls come from?
Botanicalls originated as a graduate student project at NYU’s [Interactive Telecommunications Program]. The idea was to produce a personal connection between plants in the student lounge and the people who might care for them. We came up with the idea that they could make a phone call to the lounge phone and request water and light, each in their own species-inspired voice.

How does Botanicalls work?
When the plant’s soil gets dry, a moisture sensor triggers a connection to Twitter over the Internet and posts a request for water. When the plant is watered, the same sensor triggers a connection that posts a thank-you message. Too-frequent or insufficient watering are also detected, and reports are made.

What is the significance of Botanicalls for the average person? And what is its significance from a design perspective?
The main intent of the project is to build the relationship between plants and people. So we specifically avoided creating any kind of automated watering system because we wanted humans to notice and attend to the plants directly, as a way of enhancing their experience of other living things.

I think it’s significant from a design perspective because by focusing on that relationship instead of some mechanical problem, we created a compelling engagement that turned out to grab the imagination of so many who heard about it.

What does its inclusion in the MoMA permanent collection mean to you?
It’s a great honor to be included in the MoMA collection, of course. Beyond that though, it was an instant guarantee that this project would turn out to last longer than I do since everything in the collection is intended to be preserved for the ages. Realizing that was a dizzying moment.

What other projects are you currently working on?
I’m always busy with new things. Right now I’m teaching a graduate course that centers around networking a 28-story, 300-unit apartment building on Central Park South. I’ve also been toying with the creation of a networked breathalyzer that tracks tipsiness in various cities around the world. And recently I’ve begun thinking about the possibilities for networking cars.

MFA Design Department Co-chair Lita Talarico was the MC of this year’s Adobe Design Achievement Awards (ADAA) ceremony, which was held in Taipei, Taiwan in collaboration with the International Council of Graphic Design Associations (ICOGRADA). Of the more than 4,600 entries received, only 42 finalists were chosen for the ADAA, which honor the most talented student graphic designers, photographers, illustrators, animators, digital filmmakers, developers, and computer artists from higher education institutions worldwide who have created projects using Adobe software.

Another member of the SVA community, MFA Interaction Design Department Chair Liz Danzico, served as a judge for the ADAA competition. “Over the years, the tools themselves have become so sophisticated that the students are able to realize their ideas in a much more sophisticated way than ever before,” said Danzico. “This competition showcases those great ideas that are expressed with a high level of technical ability.”

Image: Lita Talarico at the Adobe Design Achievement Awards.

Michael Yap, a current student in the MFA Interaction Design Department, was part of a team that won “Most Innovative” at the recent two-day “Reinvent NYC.gov” hackathon. The event, which was sponsored by the city of New York, gathered Web developers and designers from all over the country (and some from Canada) and invited them to come up with ways to improve the city’s Web site, which hasn’t been redesigned in over five years.

Along with the winners of the “Best User Interface,” “Best Use of Social,” “Best Use of Location,” and “Judge’s Choice” categories, Yap’s team took home a trophy and were invited to have breakfast with Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Speaking with The Village Voice, Yap said, “It’s interesting when you lock a bunch of people in a room and see what they do.”

Image: Michael Yap (second from left) and team with Mayor Michael Bloomberg (center) at “Reinvent NYC.gov.” Photo by Mason Du.

Watch video from the “Reinvent NYC.gov” hackathon below.

Museum of Modern Art curator and SVA faculty member Paola Antonelli (MFA Design and MFA Design Criticism Departments) has put together an impressive show at MoMA. “Talk to Me: Design and the Communication between People and Objects” (on view through November 7, 2011) focuses on objects that involve direct interaction and features nearly 200 projects, ranging from video games and robots to cell phone apps and Web sites.

On MoMA’s “Talk to Me” Web site, which was designed specifically for the show, Antonelli writes, “In contrast to the twentieth-century triumph of semiotics, which looked down on communication as nothing but a mechanical transmission of coded meaning, the twenty-first century has begun as one of pancommunication—everything and everybody conveying content and meaning in all possible combinations, from one-on-one to everything-on-everybody. We now expect objects to communicate, a cultural shift made evident when we see children searching for buttons or sensors on a new object, even when the object has no batteries or plug.”

“Talk to Me,” which The New York Times calls “one of the smartest design shows in years,” also includes work by MFA Interaction Design faculty member Robert Faludi, who collaborated on Botanicalls, which allows household plants to communicate via Twitter when they need watering.

For more information about “Talk to Me,” visit MoMA’s Web site.

Image: Installation view of “Talk to Me” at MoMA, 2011. Photo © Scott Rudd.

Alumnus Russ Maschmeyer (MFA 2011 Interaction Design) was featured in The New York Times recently for his creation of Motiv, an open source computer application that uses a hacked Microsoft Kinect game controller to allow physical gestures to be expressed musically in real time. “Traditional instruments are really, really complex,” he told the Times. “Not only do you need to know how to produce a note, but know how to produce them rapidly in sequence. To be a master musician, you’ve got to be able to pull off all of the micromovements necessary for it to be an expressive performance.”

That’s not the case with Motiv. On Maschmeyer’s device, Kinect’s cameras follow body movement and translate that information into notes, which allow users to direct sequenced music—the timing, note volume, and instrumental layering—with the simple wave of the hand or twirl of the torso. Maschmeyer sees this as the future of digital music, something that lets laptop musicians inject more emotional expression into their work.

Read the full article at The New York Times. Watch a demonstration of Motiv below.

Recent alumni Carmen Dukes (MFA 2011 Interaction Design) and Katie Koch (MFA 2011 Interaction Design) haven’t taken the summer off. They’ve decided to build upon the successful launch and glowing reviews that Project: Interaction, their design education initiative, has received. In partnership with the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, the duo has adapted their 10-week after-school program for high schoolers into an intensive three-day session for local youth.

Each summer, the Cooper-Hewitt offers a series of free design-education programs for New York City high-school students. The goal of the classes is to introduce the students to various career opportunities in design. On July 19, 20, and 21, Dukes and Koch will take 25 students to the High Line to interact with one of Manhattan’s most visually captivating public spaces. Using social media tools, such as Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter, the three-day workshop will help students explore new ways of “checking in” and allow them to share their High Line experiences online.

Image: Carmen Dukes photo by Katie Koch.

On Thursday, May 5, the achievements of the inaugural class in the MFA Interaction Design Department at SVA were celebrated at OPEN IxD, the first MFA Interaction Design Festival. Design enthusiasts gathered at the SVA Theatre along with faculty, family and friends to witness thesis presentations by the 17 students in the Class of 2011.

In her opening remarks, Department Chair Liz Danzico provided the framework for the day: “Open is a practice. It encourages collaboration; it suggests a community. And the open nature of the program brought together not only the bright minds of the individuals you’ll see on stage here today, but the tremendous faculty who guided them for two years, and the extensive network of advisors who led them further still.”

Danzico added, “Open is a methodology. It is a way of framing. A way of making. It allows transparency. Today, you’ll hear insights and outtakes. Personal narratives and public calls to action. Here inside the Beatrice theater, the first class in interaction design will present their experience through story; and just outside these doors, their physical expressions are out in the open for play and exploration.”

Danzico then introduced faculty members Jennifer Bove and Paul Pangaro who served as moderators for the event and introduced the four ‘lenses’ under which the thesis presentations were grouped: discovery, connections, mindfulness and play. Of the projects presented that day, a few highlights included Gene Lu’s mobile app Story Forest, Katie Koch’s online community for educators Cultivate, and Eric St. Onge’s productivity app Obtract, which has recently launched and garnered media attention in New York Observer’s Beta Beat, Fast Company and LifeHaker.

Joining students on stage were respected comics author and historian Scott McCloud, who delivered the opening keynote, and design leader Marc Rettig, who provided the endnote.

To see more images from the event, please visit our Facebook gallery.

Images: (first) MFA Interaction Design class of 2011; (second) Liz Danzico; (third) Clint Beharry and his project Orbit; (fourth) Chi-Wei Liu and his project Secret Mission Me; (fifth) Marc Rettig. Photos by Christopher Cannon.