Bubblegum Club

Tag: 3D printing

  • TMRW Gallery // An Encoded Creation Merging Pixels and Paintbrushes

    TMRW Gallery // An Encoded Creation Merging Pixels and Paintbrushes

    In an ever-increasing digital age where modes of technology seep into everyday use, TMRW Gallery operates as a platform at the frontier of innovation. Rooted in the desire to extend knowledge and experience – the objectives of the space are to produce world-class work and promote South Africa as a thought leader. Its core focus is invested is the integration of contemporary art and technology.

    Director Ann Roberts describes the space as, “platform agnostic” emphasizing that TMRW Gallery is open to engaging with artists of all disciplines. The contemporary art space pairs both emerging and established artists with technologists who collaborate in actualizing a creative vision. Based on the premise that art guides and dictates the process by pushing the technology, creating a context in which “innovation is exponential.”

    The gallery provides artists with access to new technologies including virtual reality, 3D printing, performance and augmented reality. This allows them to explore the medium and incorporate it as an extension of their practice – “tech is just another paintbrush”. Ann notes that “the outcomes need to be flexible” in order to allow for the plasticity of the process.

    The not-for-profit space also presents an alternate gallery model, whereby the creation of exceptional work and not salability is the primary focus. However, the space is dependent on sponsorship and brand association. TMRW Gallery also poses an alternative to the ‘White Cube’ space – opting for a far more engaging and immersive environment.

    The space promotes an audience-driven experience in which viewers are captivated and engulfed in an imagined reality. This model operates as an opportunity to develop the visual and digital vocabulary of its audience members – making the work intergenerationally accessible. The gallery’s upcoming show exhibits in September, featuring Lady Skollie and Wayne Barker. In the future, the space will also engage with extensive public programming, residencies, as well as group and solo shows.

  • Delphine Diallo’s ‘Women of New York’ – empowering women

    Delphine Diallo’s ‘Women of New York’ – empowering women

    Delphine Diallo, currently based in Brooklyn, New York, is a French Senegalese photographer and visual artist. Completing her studies at the Académie Charpentier School of Visual Art in Paris she worked in the music industry as a graphic designer, special effect motion artist and video editor before moving to New York to explore her own practice.

    Combining her artistry with activism Delphine momentums various possibilities for the empowerment of women, cultural minorities and youth forward. The mediums in which she practices include both analogue and digital photography, illustration and collage, virtual reality and 3D printing.

    Her arresting imagery acts to challenge societal norms and champion women with mythological, anthropological, sexuality, identity and race explorations.

    Delphine’s project Women of New York makes use of classic portraiture to create visibility. For this project, she photographed women and girls of New York which was compiled into a book format and featured 111 females (a symbol of oneness).

    For this project, the artist used the method of blind casting via Instagram posts and having her assistant handle the model calls in order to rule out discrimination and limiting women and girls who want to participate from forming a part of the project.

    “I feel like if I select women, then I’m discriminating against other women who want to participate. I’m not going to do that. So, my assistant handles the model calls I post on Instagram, and 30 women might reply, and because they’ve expressed interest, they are part of this project.

    I want to give each woman who has felt defeated, unprotected, ignored or degraded, a new light to shine on her brilliance and beauty. And, for the women who have always felt empowered, despite society dismissing her in the workplace, educational institutions, media outlets, and even in her home, I want Women of New York to illuminate her strength in ways she may never have imagined.” she expressed in an interview with 99u.

    Delphine’s images are strong and show these women and girls in a confident, powerful light. Her project has created visibility and a face that speaks to what it means to be a female in New York today. Her work holds power in that it celebrates beauty and is a clear indication that womanhood cannot be seen as an embodiment of one way of being.

  • Alt Reality // Where art and tech meet

    Alt Reality is a technology studio focused primarily on Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality. The studio investigates other technology forms by looking at their ability to move into virtual reality and augmented reality. These technologies include 3D Printing and iOT data to name a few. I had an interview with Alt Reality creative technologist Rick Treweek to tell me more about the workings and history of the tech studio.

    Rick has worked in mobile game and app design for the last 15 years as well as 3D printing for the last 5 years and expresses that VR and AR were the next likely steps in his career. Rick tells me that within this space of virtual reality, augmented reality and investigation, a great deal of high-level Proof Of Concepts and Projects is executed. With a love for experimentation and art the tech studio makes time to focus on this sector.

    When asked about the kinds of worlds that Alt Reality creates Rick explains that by utilizing AR, VR as well as Mixed reality in amalgamation with one another, they create projects with digital overlays of real worlds in AR and building environments in VR that imitate the real world with the use of 360 cameras. “We often look at developing projects that showcase potentials of how things in the future will look once the technologies have moved away from devices and into wearables like glasses and contact lenses.”

    When asked how Alt Reality started Rick tells me that their journey began started 2 years ago in the Tshimologong Precinct Makerspace. “The idea initially came when I bumped into another maker called Phathwa Senene. I was busy working on a 3D Printed VR headset and bumped into Phathwa who had also just been making a 3D Printed set. We decided to look at getting into VR specific hardware and having a background in Apps and Games it was natural to then start looking at what could be done on the software side.” Gareth Steele joined the team while they were on an IBM research project. His talents as an illustrator, designer and Creative Director took the tech studio’s software to another level. With a resilient curiosity in VR Gareth became the Creative Director of the company.

    In my interview with Rick he took some time to explain tech terms to me. One of these terms that have become synonymous with tech is disruptive software and, as Rick explains, this refers to technologies that challenge rigid notions of how things should be done. An example of this is 3D Printing that challenges traditional manufacturing methods.

    According to Rick a creative technologist is a person with an interest in exploring new technologies with the aim to look at new methods in which technologies can be used. Another term that circulates in the tech realm is Augmented Reality and this refers to technology that overlaps digital data on to actual reality.

    When asked about their involvement with the National Maker Movement Rick expresses, “We are part of the Collective involving maker related events nationally as well as teaching skills and technologies from what’s called the 4th industrial revolution. Through conferences, talks and teaching we are exposing these technologies to a larger public audience, sharing what we have learnt to grow the sector.”

    The kind of work that the studio produces is based around Research and Development, Proof of Concepts and the exploration of technologies. “We do this mainly within Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality and 3D Printing, along with all the new emerging technologies around this sector.” The work that the studio produces is often showcased and utilized during events.

    “We develop a lot of software within VR and AR and also develop a lot of hardware to go along with our projects, such as our 3D Printed Handle headsets. We do this through collaboration with people such as Phathwa who is an electronics and 3D Printing Ninja.” With their diverse nature the studio also works on many collaborative projects, art related activities and exhibitions.

    Alt Reality has worked with IBM Research Africa, WITS, the Origins Centre, SAP, Jaguar, Accenture and Samsung.  “Our main passion falls within the art sector where we are constantly exploring options in this sector and trying to figure out the monetization of this area of work…Currently one of our most exciting projects is working with William Kentridge and The Centre for the Less Good Idea where we are exploring new technologies and their impact on South African Artists.”

    Rick states that the vision for Alt Reality includes how they can align research and development through the merging of art and technology. “We have a vision of a technology building within the heart of Johannesburg where we can make this happen. Ideally a building with each floor focusing on new sectors within these fields such as Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality, iOT, 3D Printing, Robotics and AI. Using Art as the main driving force behind the research. Using these new discoveries, we can then look at scaling what we have learnt to make social impact projects and initiatives that could change the face of Africa. We want to show the world that South Africa, and Africa can be a technology powerhouse.”

    Alt Reality’s innovation, technical expertise and love for art is pushing the way that art and technology is viewed together. They are no longer regarded as separate entities with the emergence of more and more digital artists, festivals such as Fak’ugesi and Alt Reality the barrier is being knocked down and we are moving into an era of hybridity. Rick’s aspiration to show the world what a powerhouse we are can be accomplished with virtual reality and augmented reality at their fingertips.