Continuing on our tour of things to do, MAKE and see for Makers in the NYC is the MoMA (Museum of Modern art). Specifically MoMA’s – Design and the Elastic Mind. The exhibit is an almost “physical” version of the MAKE blog, another indicator the DIY world is gaining more appeal, even in the art circles. 3D printed objects, POV devices, OLPC “pull chargers”, EL wire, origami, data visualizers, laser and robot graffiti, PainStation, Design noir and more. I went on a Friday, and each Friday is “free Friday” by Target, it’s a little crowded but worth it if you’re looking to save a few bucks – the other floors have some of the best collections of fine art in the world, so it’s worth getting there 530pm to line up for the free pass. If you are in NYC and reading this today, you can go tonight.
In the past few decades, individuals have experienced dramatic changes in some of the most established dimensions of human life: time, space, matter, and individuality. Working across several time zones, traveling with relative ease between satellite maps and nanoscale images, gleefully drowning in information, acting fast in order to preserve some slow downtime, people cope daily with dozens of changes in scale. Minds adapt and acquire enough elasticity to be able to synthesize such abundance. One of design’s most fundamental tasks is to stand between revolutions and life, and to help people deal with change. Designers have coped with these displacements by contributing thoughtful concepts that can provide guidance and ease as science and technology evolve. Several of them—the Mosaic graphic user’s interface for the Internet, for instance—have truly changed the world. Design and the Elastic Mind is a survey of the latest developments in the field. It focuses on designers’ ability to grasp momentous changes in technology, science, and social mores, changes that will demand or reflect major adjustments in human behavior, and convert them into objects and systems that people understand and use.
The exhibition will highlight examples of successful translation of disruptive innovation, examples based on ongoing research, as well as reflections on the future responsibilities of design. Of particular interest will be the exploration of the relationship between design and science and the approach to scale. The exhibition will include objects, projects, and concepts offered by teams of designers, scientists, and engineers from all over the world, ranging from the nanoscale to the cosmological scale. The objects range from nanodevices to vehicles, from appliances to interfaces, and from pragmatic solutions for everyday use to provocative ideas meant to influence our future choices.
The exhibit (6th floor) runs through May 12, 2008.
Editor’s note: This is part of the “mobile post” series which will appear on MAKE – sponsored by Windows Mobile. Only the links and voice that appear in the mobile post box (below) are part of the campaign on MAKE – pt.
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