Video Courtesy of Chris Hanson
Last October I was lucky enough to participate in a fantastic event called the Blue Trail Design Jam. Blue Trail is a series of interactive ocean art displays that will be installed along the SF waterfront during the America's Cup sailing event this September. Millions of people will be checking these works out, and needless to say I was extremely excited to participate in the design jam leading up to the event. I asked my good friend and film maker Chris Hanson to come up north from LA county and film the experience.
The design jam itself involved a series of short talks from various ocean sustainability experts, breaking out into speed dating over lunch and brainstorming and ideation throughout the day. We were encouraged to find teammates from alternative disciplines, either Techies, Designers, Artists, Scientists, or What-Have-You's. At the end of the day each team pitched their ideas to the entire group, and we collectively voted for our favorites. The People's Choice went on to have their artwork commissioned for the final event, while the remaining proposals were scrutinized by a committee.
I was lucky enough to meet and form a team with
artist Sven Atema http://svenatema.com
and artist/PhD student Sudhu Tewari. http://www.sudhutewari.com
It was very cool as there were 10 year age gaps between the three of us, and different aesthetic styles, focuses, skills, and experiences to draw upon. We starting kicking ideas around and were all really drawn to Sven's idea of casting a bronze deep sea fish. We decided we could make it more interactive by drawing on Sudhu's epic electronics skills and making it touch-reactive with LED "chromatophores". Last, we threw in some environmental messaging by projecting footage of plastic pollution in the fish's mouth, a nod to the recent study that found deep sea fishes with plastic particulates in their stomaches. And BAM-O that was our proposed piece!
In the end, our proposal was voted to be a runner-up by the committee, and we never received a commission for the work (I suspect the price tag on the cast bronze didn't help!). However, the real reward was to meet so many interesting people from diverse backgrounds and to have really rad, perspective changing conversations about ocean sustainability, public art, and communication. I'm lucky to have a good friends in Chris Hanson, Wesley Walker, and Shara Esbenshade who took the time to film the event and document this unique experience. I hope you enjoy this short video describing the Jam, and be sure to check out the final Blue Trail this September! I know I will!
Learn more about Blue Trail here
http://www.bluetrail.us
The design jam itself involved a series of short talks from various ocean sustainability experts, breaking out into speed dating over lunch and brainstorming and ideation throughout the day. We were encouraged to find teammates from alternative disciplines, either Techies, Designers, Artists, Scientists, or What-Have-You's. At the end of the day each team pitched their ideas to the entire group, and we collectively voted for our favorites. The People's Choice went on to have their artwork commissioned for the final event, while the remaining proposals were scrutinized by a committee.
I was lucky enough to meet and form a team with
artist Sven Atema http://svenatema.com
and artist/PhD student Sudhu Tewari. http://www.sudhutewari.com
It was very cool as there were 10 year age gaps between the three of us, and different aesthetic styles, focuses, skills, and experiences to draw upon. We starting kicking ideas around and were all really drawn to Sven's idea of casting a bronze deep sea fish. We decided we could make it more interactive by drawing on Sudhu's epic electronics skills and making it touch-reactive with LED "chromatophores". Last, we threw in some environmental messaging by projecting footage of plastic pollution in the fish's mouth, a nod to the recent study that found deep sea fishes with plastic particulates in their stomaches. And BAM-O that was our proposed piece!
In the end, our proposal was voted to be a runner-up by the committee, and we never received a commission for the work (I suspect the price tag on the cast bronze didn't help!). However, the real reward was to meet so many interesting people from diverse backgrounds and to have really rad, perspective changing conversations about ocean sustainability, public art, and communication. I'm lucky to have a good friends in Chris Hanson, Wesley Walker, and Shara Esbenshade who took the time to film the event and document this unique experience. I hope you enjoy this short video describing the Jam, and be sure to check out the final Blue Trail this September! I know I will!
Learn more about Blue Trail here
http://www.bluetrail.us
RSS Feed