Quivering tumors oh so beautiful

A post WAY OVERDUE, I apologise.
To explore the capabilities of the lilypad arduino, this is an experimentation to observe the polarity of the beautiful and the grotesque. Using unconventional materials (water balloons, stockings, pillow), I created a growth of tumor like infestation that quivers when it nears objects or people.

The original plan was to have the tumors visibly quiver and shake when someone comes near it, but my motor was too small, so only when someone touches it can they feel it shake.

I was really inspired by LucyandBart and their collection of whimsical experimentations with materials and the human body (refer to my earlier post on this topic).

Although nowhere near its finished state, I'm really happy with the effect it already has. I'm would like to continue with this project it hopes that it could turn into a larger installation of some sort, (I see carpets).

Christine Meindertsma

Christine Meindertsma

I found Christine Meindertsma in the IDN magazine, she was featured in the "new materials" section crocheting together jumbo over-sized wool carpets with a kind of wool sourced from Idaho. Although I wasn't able to fully understand why that particular kind of wool was worth the search, I did like the idea of extracting inspiration from new material characteristics.

Kvadrat Couds

Kvadrat Clouds

Just something that really makes me happy, and sometimes that's all that matters.

LucyandBart

LucyandBart

The collaboration between Lucy McRea and Bart Hess is described as "an instinctual stalking of fashion, architecture, performance and the body." The LucyandBart project explores genetic manipulation of the organic body that redefines the preconceived requirements of beauty. The collection is ultimately an unrestrained exploration of the possibilities of body manipulation and what it means to the human appearance as we might possibly evolve to adapt changing circumstances. As described in their blog, "they work in a primitive and limitless way creating future human shapes, blindly discovering low-tech prosthetic ways for human enhancement."

The possibilities of human prosthetic in pursuit of the ever-changing notions of beauty are mind-boggling. To think that the human body is always clad in shape-shifting armors, it is this demand for the alteration of appearance that science and technology is driven for innovation. The body as an interactive surface thus brings new meaning to how we perceive ourselves as human beings and where we place ourselves in science, in technology, in the future of evolution.

Mountain Dew Voltage

Its not a new commercial, but within the context of interactive wearables, I kinda appreciate the creativity and the humor.

Its even a little bit inspiring, the possibility.

textrual exploration

At the moment I am still at lost as to what my final project should be. The above pictures are experimentations I am doing for my grad project. Although a different context all together, I am very much inspired by the same textural exploration for all my ideas.
So far I've been doing these experimentations without a definitive project in mind, that is to say, once I've built enough of a textural for myself, I can apply elements from my findings to different aspects of each of my projects.

It is however VERY exciting that I will have the opportunity to take these material explorations a step further, and possibility develop more of a interactive surface. Interactivity has been one of the main reasons for my explorations, so it will be a super bonus to incorporate technological capabilities to my library.