S.03 – Studio
AUGMENTED SENSES
Faculty: Luis Fraguada, Jonathan Minchin
Studio Assistant: Irene Ródenas
Enhancing human capacity for empathetic exchange with nature.
We progress towards technological advances which aim to make our lives better, and our experience on this planet more meaningful. Still, the further we advance, the more it seems we lose touch with our place in this ecosystem. Can these same self serving technological advances be used to enhance our understanding of the environmental dynamics around us? Pioneering advances in science, engineering, and art have created technology that can reveal how the things in the world around us feel, giving us a gateway to interact in novel ways with nature.
This brief seeks proposals for systems and their related consequences which augment our senses or give us new senses by which we can experience reality. Such systems could also be considered to give senses to otherwise inanimate objects or beings.
The work developed during this term will be a contribution to the already expanding examples of humans seeking to augment themselves through merging with technology. Artists such as Stelarc.
Jonathan Minchin
Having studied Fine Arts and Design Craftsmanship, Jonathan attained a masters degree MSC in ‘International Cooperation, Sustainable Emergency Architecture’ in 2010. In this field he has worked on housing and development projects alongside ‘Habitat for Humanity’ in Costa Rica, ‘UNESCO’ in Cuba and with ‘Basic Initiative’ in Tunisia. He has worked in conjunction with ‘UN Habitat’ in Barcelona and holds a particular interest in appropriate technology and local manufacturing. His professional career has focused on architectural and urban development projects with Architects Offices in both England and Spain and his writing on “Geographic referencing for Technology Transfer” was published in the book “Reflections on Development and Cooperation” in 2011. He took part in the Fab Academy at the Fab Lab Barcelona in 2013. Jonathan is currently the coordinator of the Green Fab Lab at Valldaura Labs, IAAC Campus in Barcelona.
SW.3A – Studio Workshop
FINDING SENSE (Valldaura)
Faculty: Transpecies Society (Neil Harbisson, Moon Ribas, Manel Muñoz), Elizabeth Bigger
Project Concept
The first phase of work will be the development of the concept in the context of Valldaura. The Transpecies Society will join the team for two sessions to start finding your sense. From there, the project work will go on with studio faculty and wearable technology expert, Elizabeth Bigger to start working on how your sense is incorporated onto your body. The finalization of this concept will be presented to the Transpecies Society.
WORKSHOP – DEVELOPMENT – PRODUCTION – INSTALLATION – EXHIBITION
Transpecies Society
The Transpecies Society is an association that gives voice to non-human identities; raises awareness of the challenges transpecies face; advocates for the freedom of self-design and offers the development of new senses and organs. The association is a social project by the Cyborg Foundation and it was founded in 2017 by cyborg artists Manel Muñoz, Moon Ribas and Neil Harbisson.
Elizabeth Bigger
Elizabeth Bigger is best known for the way she seamlessly integrates computational elements into garment design and construction. After spending 15 years in tailoring and costume design for opera and theatre, she began experimenting with computational tools. In 2010, she founded her studio in an effort to utilize these computational resources to upgrade the process of garment design, creation and production. Elizabeth combines historically relevant garment construction and patterning techniques with modern day CAD, CAE, electronics and digital fabrication. Elizabeth also has experience in marketing and communications having led the project management and production for various advertising campaigns for global brands such as Unilever and General Mills / Nestle.
