Mindful Digital Practice

The World Beyond The Things Tableware – Contemporary positions March 12, 13, 14, 2014 – Nürnberg – München The Silber-Sommer-Galerie 2014 will host a event, which will take place at Neues Museum – State Museum for Art and Design in Nuremberg, as well as in Internationale Handwerksmesse Munich. Six international contemporary silversmiths will take us on a trip through the creative process of their work. Nürnberg March 12, 2014 – 6:00 pm Neues Museum, Staatliches Museum für Kunst und Design in Nürnberg - Klarissenplatz - 90402 Nürnberg Welcome: Dr. Angelika Nollert (Director, Neues Museum) Introduction: Alessandra Pizzini Speaking: Drummond Masterton (UK) - Deborah Werbner (UK) - Isabelle Enders (GER) - Simon Pattison (UK) - Anders Ljungberg (S) - Juliane Schölß (GER) München The same talks will also take place at the Internationale Handwerksmesse München – Messegelände München «Handwerk & Design» Hall B1, Aktionsbühne on: March 13, 2014 – 2:30 pm Welcome: Dr. Silke Claus (Managing Director, bayern design GmbH) Speaking: Isabelle Enders (GER) - Deborah Werbner (UK) - Simon Pattison (UK) March 14, 2014 – 4:00 pm Welcome: Alessandra Pizzini Speaking: Anders Ljungberg (S) - Drummond Masterton (UK) - Juliane Schölß (GER

Making the Future

Digital technologies have transformed the nature and delivery of our media and communication technologies, how will recent advances in Additive Layer Manufacture and 3D software change the way we make thing? This session maps out advances in 3D Printing technologies and considers the opportunities for innovation in this new manufacturing paradigm

Make:Shift, Crafts Council Conference, 2016

A 10min presentation of the authors work in the 'Digital Technolgies in Craft Education' stream. Followed by panel membership and 20 min discussion on the issues raised by the speakers

Innovation across the design curriculum: Embedding sustainable design

Presented at ENVISIONING SUSTAINABLE DESIGN AND ECODESIGN IN WELSH UNIVERSITIES. The event provided Welsh HE design educators with an opportunity to discuss current practice and future prospects for eco and sustainable design. The presentation outlines the strategies used to embed sustainable design practice on the BA(Hons) Sustainable Product Design course at Falmouth University

SCIRIA Openmind seminar series, autonomatic

SCIRIA ‘OpenMind’ was a regular seminar series for University of the Arts London staff, MA and PhD students and the public. The seminars were hosted at Camberwell College of Arts and Chelsea College of Art and Design. The footage, audio and flyers offer an insight into the research processes and activities of SCIRIA members, associates and external speakers

Deconstructing the Digital

This peer reviewed paper was selected for presentation at, and publication in, the proceedings of ‘New Craft-Future Voices’ international craft conference. The paper draws on examples from a practice based research project to articulate how an in-depth study of parameters within the Computer Aided Design and Computer Aided Manufacturing phases of production can allow digital craft practioners new methods for achieving unique visual aesthetics. The author argues that many of the current digitally designed and manufactured objects within the crafts exhibit more about the skill of the programmers behind the software than the users control or skill over the processes. The author calls for a greater engagement with digital tools at a more complex level in an attempt to develop more rigorous design methods and ultimately more unique pieces of digital practice. The author describes through practical examples how new levels of control can be developed through an analysis and deconstruction of existing CAD and CAM software tools. The methods described offer other makers the potential for 'hacking' into code in order to expand the possibilities for control and creative engagement with digital tools and thereby offer more unique opportunities for developing visual vocabularies than using standard tools alone. The paper concludes by building on the concepts of programmer Rocker(2006) who considers the computer as a universal machine and suggests how craft practitioners might start to consider coding as a tool for creative intervention. Taking examples from the field of architecture and from his personal experiences the author illustrates how coding extends the opportunities for craft practitioners to create unique tools for their own particular purposes. This presents a radical new position for craft which shifts the emphasis from being users of digital tools towards being developers

5D- Space Filling Polyhedra

This three year practice-based research project investigates automated methods for dividing digital forms in three dimensional space using Computer Aided Software. The author identified current software tools for dividing space, such as Netfabb’s ‘Space Structures’, provide a limited range of mono geometric methods. The author developed his own innovative software based methods to create complex packing solutions based on honeycomb tessellations using multiple polygon forms. The software tests resulted in a series of physical prototypes which were, due to their complexities, fabricated using Rapid Prototyping. This project was funded by the Scottish Arts Council as part of the major AHRC supported research project, ‘Past, Present & Future Craft Practice’. The author was selected as one of five UK based practitioners who demonstrate the ability to create nationally renowned craft work, articulate their practice and demonstrate innovative methods of practice., The author participated in five research events including three interviews with Dr Louise Valentine, a day workshop, ‘Dialogue in the Making’, at Dundee Contemporary Arts (DCA) facilitated by Professors Tom Inns and Seaton Baxter and a 30 minute public talk and exhibition, ‘Knowledge through Making’, Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design (DJCAD) presenting the author’s project and findings (2010). The research project allowed the author to develop knowledge in relation his creative practice and innovate methods for developing digital craft aesthetics. This significant research phase enabled the author to stringently contextualise his creative processes

KOM

‘KOM’ is a digitally designed and produced craftwork. It is the first demonstration of complex asymmetric four axis CNC milling by the author and is highly innovative due to the complete reciprocity of all aspects of the design and making process. The facilities and access available to the author at Falmouth University have enabled his innovative engagement with digital engineering hardware needed to create a one-off craft practice. The author’s development of 3D and textural patterning techniques is the unique amalgam of precise digital processes and the reactive ‘hacking’ of automated production processes such as CNC milling. This particular method and level of engagement is unique in the UK and possibly internationally as most designers and craft makers either have not recognised the impact of this stage of the creation process or have been forced to subcontract their designs when using complex, foreign or expensive processes. The author’s work is championed by the Crafts Council. ‘ST14’ (2007) and ‘Terraincup’ (2005) were purchased for the permanent collection in 2011 supported by Sir Nicholas Goodison (former Chair of the Crafts Council). The objects have been used as to demonstration the pinnacle of digital craft practice at Crafts Council exhibitions. The author gave a public lecture to communicate his creative approach to digital processes at the Northern Design Festival (2013)., ‘KOM’ was purchased by Shipley Art Gallery with the aid of Northern Rock funding after it was exhibited for the first time at ‘Collect’, 2012. ‘Collect’ is an international showcase of Contemporary Craft from high profile Craft Galleries, selected by the UK Crafts Council and located in the Saatchi Gallery, London. The work is on permanent display at Shipley Art Gallery, Gateshead

Campionissimo

This practice-based research project explores digital input and output technologies to create representations of landscape with historical, cultural and social narratives. The outcome is a series of exemplar digitally-crafted artefacts which have been exhibited nationally and internationally and purchased for national collections., The most significant output of this study is the digitally-designed and manufactured craft work, ‘Campionissimo’ (2009), purchased by the National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh for permanent display in the museum’s metalwork collection (2009). The artefact was exhibited at ‘Silvermaker’, Contemporary Applied Arts, London (2009). The artefact was crafted in response to experiential methods of navigating alpine landscapes by bicycle. ‘Campionissimo’ is a CNC milled aluminium bowl and, as the largest milled object the author has created, highly significant in raising practice-based research opportunities and the attendant scope for innovation. The level of control of digital processes developed by the author in this project has enabled the development of a unique method for engaging with digitally controlled hardware which is reactive rather than passive. This method enables tacit interaction with the object in production, enabling the discovery and exploitation of creative opportunities during the manufacture of one-off pieces

Grand Galibier

‘Grand Galibier’ is a physical outcome of a practice-based research project to explore the creative potential of Computer Numeric Controlled (CNC) milling in software and hardware paradigms. The author explored the boundaries of what is feasible when using these systems and applied a creative approach to designing unconventional processes controlling CNC mills. Following knowledge gained from the project, 'Campionissimo’, which identified the value of a responsive approach to automated processes, the author developed methods for ‘hacking’ CNC cutting code to transmute automated software results. The method allows for direct visual means of editing numeric code using software tools more familiar to the digital craftsperson, such as 3D CAD programs. The author created a range of test pieces to investigate the method and generate a database of visual language that could be applied to more finished artefacts., ‘Grand Galibier’ demonstrates this method and, once the innovation and rigour of the author’s practice was recognised by the highly experienced and influential curator Amanda Game (Director of the Scottish Gallery, Director of Innovative Craft), formed part of the maker/curator series produced by Innovative Craft. The project was developed with funding from The Paul Hamlyn Foundation which enabled the author to work in dialogue with Adam Paxon (Curator and Jerwood-winning jeweller)