MADE@EU

Made@EU European Residencies Exhibition.

European Community project lead by IAAC |Fab Lab Barcelona in collaboration with Plymouth College of Arts in the UK and ENSCI Design School in Paris. During the last 18 months 15 resident creators have been developing projects that connect traditional crafts and design together with new technologies for advanced manufacturing. The exhibition at Maker Pro will be the culmination of the project which will widen the awareness of the European Commission towards new models and frameworks for creation.

Artist in residency> Anne Marie Maes

Project > Intelligent Guerilla Beehives

An ‘Intelligent Guerilla Beehive’ is a functional sculpture, a shelter that provides a home for swarming bee colonies. The work focuses on the architecture of the beehive as a organic sculptural object.The biomimetic-inspired design (in form and matter) is shaped upon the needs of the bees: it has the the ideal inner volume for a developing colony, it is mobile and easily deployable on different spots in public space : e.g. attached to the wall of a building or secured on the branch of a tree – or the objects can find a place as a stand-alone sculpture on the terrace of a city apartment. The objects are made out of smart organic materials with useful biomimetic properties in reaction to temperature fluctuation, humidity and ventilation. Once the colony decides to leave the hive, the object should fall as a rotten apple from a tree and decompose completely. It has to be a cradle to cradle design.

Artist in residency> Cristian Rizzuti

Project > Elastica

“I dance. I dance and your eyes follow my form. My silhouette creates fluid constellations in the space your eyes navigate. My body is my instrument. I control. I control my feet, my hands, my neck, my spine but it all comes out as one. Can you see ? Can you hear? ”

Elastica is a wearable suit , developed with low cost, DIY embroidered stretch sensors that functions as an interface for the performer, augmenting his body, creating sound and data visualisation. Through the use of E-textile and conductive threads, the body biometrics allow performers to capture data of their behaviour, enhancing how they engage with a external environment. After a study on the anatomy of the body and the expansion of the muscles, the stretch sensors are integrated to a tailored suit that through Wifi communicates with MAXmsp interface to generate audio/visual output. Elastica becomes an interface instrument for the performer, creating real-time dialogue between fashion and dance, wearable technologies and data visualisation.

Artist in residency>Roman Torre

Project > “Liquid series: Melancholia II”

Liquid series rises from an abstract idea of how can an object with a great physical strain can momentarily liquefy and blur its spacial and physical characteristics through a visual game. In this line of research, the geometry of the object takes the form of the truncated polyhedron. This truncated polyhedron enigmatically appears in an engraving of 1514 called Melancholia I, made by the famous German Renaissance artist, Albrecht Dürer.

In Melancholia I, the object consists of the physical sculptural recreation of the truncated polyhedron, where the different states of matter are narratively revealed to the viewer’s senses. This narration is achieved by the object rotating at its axis and augmented by projection mapping. The second part of the series, Melancholia II, the geometry itself breaks into two pieces, deforms and generates new shapes, distorts and comes back to its reconstruction.

Artist in residency> Ludovic Mallegol

Project > The Robot’s secret

The Robot’s secret is a project that seeks to reply to the digital era of mass customisation by blending traditional crafts and technology. Can we create platforms for open design and make them accesible to everybody? Can the creative process be participatory and democratised?

Traditional carving tools and a hot wire cutter are attached on 6 axis industrial robot that follows a path to carve ceramics and give traditional craftsman a new design tool for fabrication.

The Robot’s secret works on the idea of materialising the invisible sound waves into touchable ceramic pieces. The sound input generates the robotic movement, leaving its trace on the ceramic piece.

Artist in residency>Ricardo o Nascimento

Project > Batuque

“Batuque” is a performance inspired by the Afro-Brazilian faith Candomblé. In this belief the entities are represented by people wearing specific clothing as part of a ritual that transposes them into another dimension. The name “Batuque” is used to refer to the religion, especially before the 19th century and is also the Brazilian word associated with percussion instruments and with african roots. In this performance the wearer becomes a sort of creature or entity that has an extra sense. Its skin senses the surround sound and reacts to it accordingly, with movements and vibrations. The garment uses sensor technology and digital prototyping techniques, such as 3d printing and laser engraving, to create a magical and enjoyable experience.

Think it. Make it.