Design and the Elastic Mind @ MoMA, New York
Posted May 13th, 2008 by Ian
I was lucky enough to visit this exhibition while in New York a couple of weeks ago. I took a few stills and videos of interactive works that particularly caught my eye. Most of this is documented on the Design and the Elastic Mind website, but here are a couple of extra views…
Below is a talk given by the MOMA design curator Paola Antonelli, who gives an overview of the main themes of the exhibition and a closer look at some of the works it encompasses.
Source: http://www.ted.org/index.php/talks/paola_antonelli_previews_design_and_the_elastic_mind.html
The accompanying website is one of the best things I’ve seen online and sets a new standard in online interactivity. The website itself should have been part of the exhibition but was strangely absent. It delivers where so many others have failed; it deploys an experimental interface that actually works!; the interface significantly enhances the content and opens up a myriad of ways to explore (but not randomly); the logic of the thing does not require a PhD to understand - you need a couple of minutes to orient yourself before you go ‘ah-ha OK I get it’; it looks great. Try searching for something.
Shadow Monsters - Phillip Worthington 2004-ongoing
This installation is a lot of fun and really comes to life when there more than one person is involved, creating new hybrid monsters with your combined body shapes and movements. Apologies for the shaky camera work, I got too excited playing with the installation. http://moma.org/exhibitions/2008/elasticmind/#/229
I want you to want me - Jonathan Harris of Number 27
This isn’t documented very well on the MoMA website so here’s a short video of it in action. Each balloon represents a single person’s dating profile collected from the web. http://moma.org/exhibitions/2008/elasticmind/#/116
Hektor spray-paint output device - Jurg Lehni and Uli Franke 2002
Hektor uses an Illustrator plugin written by Lenhi to print text using a spray can on vertical surfaces. I really liked the simplicity of the idea and the combination of old and new school technology. For those whose graffiti deciphering is as poor as mine, it’s writing out the title of the exhibition. http://moma.org/exhibitions/2008/elasticmind/#/105/