In case you've been living in a vacuum (I hope it's a Dyson) for the past couple months you should know about TEDxUofM: an event encouraging CRAZY ideas worth sharing. This one is being organized by students (lots from A&D), faculty, and a couple measly staffers who are bringing the format of the amazing TED talks to the Michigan Theatre on April, 8.  If you can't make the event (which is almost sold out), you can watch the live streaming version at several campus locations and on-line at the website.

My involvement grew out of a heavy addiction to TED injections from the past several years including talks by Ray Kurzweil, Theo Jansen and Mae Jemison.  So, naturally, when A&D undergrad Dylan Box sent out the open call for design team members, I signed up as fabricator for the students' crazy design ideas, including the Michigan-Daily-Frontpage-Stealing Diag Day X-Table which was built by Teshia Treuhaft, Dylan, and myself (with sanding advice from Erika Cross, duh).

This is just one of several custom designs of every dimension which will adorn the Michigan Theatre in just over two weeks.  Watch for updates on the TedXUofM website.  Check out the speaker list and sign up to attend via the link above.

Oh! And quit using facebook to tell your friends when you're dropping a deuce, instead use it to connect to the energy surrounding this event showcasing some of the most wicked-brilliant people who work and play around you every day!

Share your CRAZY ideas!

And one more thing,  START USING THESE BLOGS TO SHAPE THE FUTURE OF A&D!!!  Think blogs are tired, stale, washed up? Tell that to this woman:

Donia, one of your fellow students and TEDxUofM speaker, used a blog to give Egyptian revolutionaries a voice when theirs were cut off.  Maybe you heard how that turned out?  Crazy idea.  Crazy.

Endless from Dirk Vander Kooij on Vimeo.

Intuition?  This program simulates "phonesthesia", converting sounds into images.

The dark night was haunted by tons of candy of course, boogers and dags, Dr Jekyll's mystery punch, a Hollywood quality fog machine, DJ-Auto Darkhorse, Pin-the-Tail-on-the-Trumpey/Banks/Krecic, and the horrificly bastardized A&D Costume Contest Trophy (nice work Steph!) dragged out of the bowels of Hell itself which was taken this year by....SEAN DARBY!!!  Sean, as seen below resurrected the eyeball kid, "Roger", from Paul Ruben's "Pee Wee's Playhouse".  Sean reportedly worked through the night Thursday to pull off one of the best homemade costumes ever!  Rock on Darby.  He will get his name on the trophy and keep it until his eminent MFA graduation in May.  Who want's next?!

Special thanks to the people who helped Steph and I get this thing rollin':  Mary Schmidt, Peter Jansen, Paula Bousley, John Leyland (the elder), Carl Greene, Joann McDaniel, John Luther, Joe St.George, Patrick Young, Chrisstina Hamilton, Kelly & Tony, Sally "The Pirate Queen" Volkmann, Lauren Sopher, Matt Schwartz and entourage, Ian "Marx" Matchett,  Rima Radhakrishnan, and the adorable Penguin: the ever charming, ever kind Witt Visiting Artist Christopher Sperandio.  Cheers to you all!

Here's just a few highlight images.  SAS! Let's take it to the next level.  (Dunk tank!)  360 days to prepare.  Go!  

And thank you all for bringing my lame 30-something Halloweens back from the dead.

Mr Han is famous for being one of the first developers of the multi-touch computer screen now almost made ubiquitous via iPhone and Droid.  Everyone was truly engaged in the presence of the source of their incessant IM-ing and F-booking.  Han definitely put on a show, nearly two hours, of his company's recent innovations on the now-expected interface.  For some of us, the highlight was the development of 3D apps, including texture mapping, which is notoriously tedious stuff.  

Han's hardware is underwritten by a marvelously elegant bevy of mathematics.  If there's one thing I think the visual learners in the crowd took away from the evening it was that, compared to mathematicians, we all have second-order jobs starting...in the recent past!  The beauty of Perceptive Pixel's work is in the invisible algorithmic magic happening behind the scenes.  Something I won't pretend to comprehend.

However!

There remains room for observations from other disciplines such as I.D. (Which Han wholly embraced). I thought it was interesting that he acknowledged a shortcoming in the ability of two hands to articulate certain "natural" movements particularly where one hand could not pass around or through the other.  I thought it was weird that their hardware was presented as EITHER multi-touch, OR employing an external element such as a stylus.  It seemed immediately obvious to me that, like alot of hind-sight solutions, the answer lies in the space between.  Try as I did, I was not chosen to ask my question....s: Is Perceptive Pixel considering a hybrid Touch-Tool approach?  Can we gain value from all of the game controllers that have spun throught the market.  The Rock Star drum kit for example.  Is there a combo meal in the works?  Is there a future for the mouse?   And if not, why did you use one to present your awesome talk, Mr Han?

John and guest star Ringo join us to move "Neo-Pastoral" pieces to Work Detroit gallery, opening March 13.

With two months before graduation, Isaac and Alex move too fast for the camera.  Hot wax, holes in their pants, and open-toed shoes.  All rules are off on Spring Break, you rebels.

Eric...uh......well.....Eric lives here.  No surprise to see him.

Erica unwraps bodies in the meat locker for the...

Cannibal Chili cook-off!  (Mine was voted "the worst" by one judge.  Did you hear the new's today?  I suck at making chili!  How can you suck at making chili?) Grand Prize goes to Jason Berryhill.

Jango Roos, bun in the oven, documents work with...

William Dennisuk, whose sculpture is finally coming to life.  For a sneak peak of the proposed project, check out "Parking in the Parks, Art on the River ", from the Ann Arbor Chronicle.

Last word:

On Thursday representatives of IDEO, the venerated design consultancy company gave a presentation to a standing-room-only crowd in the Pierpont Commons, North Campus.  I attended as one interested in the direction of a multi-national design firm specifically addressing what they referred to as sustainable "Social Impact" projects.  What does a think-tank like IDEO do to help humanity?  I left thinking the answer to that question is...work part-time.  

Part of what they showed is genuinely progressive, powerfully humanistic, and what I feel is the real potential of "big D" Design.  The rest was typical, status quo, profit-driven faux-altruism dressed up in a sweatshop t-shirt that say's "I'm Soooo Sustainable, Yo! © "  I'm sorry, I like making money too, but the poster didn't read "Shareholders Meeting", and anyone with any global sensibility could see holes in the "bad project" right away.

THE GOOD PROJECT:  IDEO bids education non-profits in India to redesign elementary schools for low-income families.  They organize an "Open Architecture Network" for would-be and established designers to contribute design solutions to a given project and foster competition where the only payoff is making life better for the target "client".  Need I say more?  In the case of the schools, the winning design team used IDEO's "Open Architecture" to put the pieces together.  They took ramshackle schools in ghetto-like neighborhoods, provided an environment and resources which fostered education, attracted teachers and in turn gave students and their communities something to be proud and take ownership of.  It is classic grass-roots style change á la micro-economics.  Profitable in the short-term?  Not so much.  But a project the wealthiest 10 percent of the world could likely fund 1000's of times over.  Awesome and inspiring design, IDEO.

THE BAD: It is really more fair to call the "bad" project, "half-good", in that it does address a real problem.  It is, however, a half-measure that shouldn't be wasting the time of such talented designers (Like the iPad: the GIANT iPod touch/ GIANT! iPhone-sans-phone.)  What was good about it was that it sought to eliminate the rampant disposal of plastic water bottles.  That's a good goal.  So what do you do about it?  IDEO's solution was to re-design the public water fountain in a way that encouraged people to use reusable containers and take advantage of the fact that, in the US, tap water is generally just as good as bottled water....in the US.  And of course the entire US is loaded with adequate aquifer levels for any population density, no matter how great, right? Sorry, IDEO, you didn't answer in the form of a question, at least not the right one.  The real water problem, is the supply itself.  And water "ownership" is increasingly privatized, i.e. profit driven.  I waited to let the rep explain IDEO's position on this assuming they would have one, and they did.  To paraphrase, 'Concern on the level of "social impact" such as "whether global water supplies may or may not become a problem" are considered "lofty long-term issues" TO BE addressed.'  These concerns simply do not fit into IDEO's viability model (profit driven).  In other words if it doesn't make money, for IDEO, it isn't a first order design issue.  Hmph.  Far cry from non-profit, low-income school building.  Nice try IDEO, but FAIL! on that one.

So....who is IDEO and what are they doing in the realm of "social impact".  The answer to that may be, keeping themselves in business.

If anyone wants to check out why plastic bottles are only the beginning of the problem, read, or watch Blue Gold: World Water Wars

This week was actually TOO BUSY TO DOCUMENT!  So if you're reading this, know you can help by sending in pictures, videos, etc.  Uh...I think that's the point of these bloggy, hopey, changey things.  Send MONEY!  So to speak.

Here are some highlights, with a notable addition: I'm posting images of DRAWINGS!  Why?  Because these particular drawings kick A.  And drawing, as you well know, is the cornerstone of any nutritious Art/Des eductation.

Headline: After Courageous Battle, Penguin Loses Both Wings: Dr Levester's Promise:  "Son, you get me what I need and I'll see to it you get your wings back.  Your real wings!"  Or, Levester works on a multi-piece rubber mold.  You decide.

Oleg finds a creepy new way to skip lecture: "Newleg" The Other Sleeping-at-Lecture Oleg!  This life cast was made with Alginate, and cast in plaster for about $35 and is an excellent hair removal system.  Just in time to hit the beach!

J.D. burns the candle at both ends in the TCAUP Fab Lab.  Working through the night with his assistant, Obi Wan Kenobi, J.D. runs a 3-axis waterjet while Obi cuts wood block prints with the 3-axis router.  Sweeeet!  

Shout out has to go to Joyce Brienza's figure drawing class.  Not sculpture, but well-done, dramatic, finely rendered self-portraits.  Shout out to the students for showing up.  And what's up the blue dude's nose?

Next week: Spring Break with visiting artist William Dennisuk from Finland, and luckily not on the Olympic hockey team.  Ouch!