Sugimoto ain’t got nothin’ on me

The Highline

Art by JR – Lakota Project

Grand Central Station

New York Public Library: Main Branch (Stephen A. Schwarzman Building)

About to have my portrait taken on a large format camera by Eric Lee Bowman

Waiting for our plane. Adios, New York.

www.gergwerk.com

]]> http://gergwerk.com/blog/?feed=rss2&p=381 0 http://gergwerk.com/blog/?p=331 http://gergwerk.com/blog/?p=331#comments Mon, 27 Jun 2011 02:09:37 +0000 gerg werk http://gergwerk.com/blog/?p=331 Continue reading →]]> I received some exciting news the other day. I just heard word that the new edition of Gestalten’s book, A Touch of Code: Interactive Installations and Experiences, is out. Why is this exciting  you ask? Well class, if you would turn to spread 64 – 65, the wobbly shapes of my multi touch light table project will hit the back of your brains. I am very honored to have been chosen to be a part of this publication. No, not just because this is the first book I am published in, but common, it’s DIE GESTALTEN VERLAG for cryin’ out loud.  Even though you still don’t believe me, here is some documentation.

that’s right…I’ve known about this for months and kept it a secret from you.

Here is a small writeup about the book:

“Thanks to the omnipresence of computers, cell phones, gaming systems, and the internet, a broad audience has traded its past reservations against technology for an almost insatiable curiosity for all things technical. Against this background, unprecedented new tools and possibilities are opening up for the world of design. In addition to sketchbooks and computers, young designers are increasingly using programming languages, soldering irons, sensors, and microprocessors as well as 3D milling or rapid prototyping machines in their work. The innovative use of powerful hardware and software has become affordable and, most of all, much easier to use. Today, the sky is the limit when it comes to ideas for experimental media, unconventional interfaces, and interactive spatial experiences.” -Yatzer.

There are tons of amazing artists in this book. Just to name a few: Atelier Markograph, Moritz, Waldemeyer, Troika, Dan Roosegaarde, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, Random International, United Visual Artists, ART+COM, Sifteo, Carlos J.Gomez de Liarena, Graffiti Research Lab, KMA, Sonice Development, David Bowen, Julius von Bismarck and The Green Eyl.  So if you like digital art, interactive art or just want to be cool, this is a no brainer – check it out!

Luckily for me, my friend brought it with him to sf. Unlike the computer you’re probably reading this on, all content on this machine is held remotely. There isn’t even a desktop background on this thing. The Cr-48 has a 16GB hard drive which is only used as a temporary place to hold your data until you post it to the ‘cloud’. The first thing that I thought of when I heard this was where would I keep all the music I own? (most mp3 players, if not all new ones, hold at least 3x that amount!) “What about the music, man?” I ask. Well, good news. All that music that you have pirated purchased can now be held virtually by Google music beta. Well that’s all fine and dandy, but what happens when one doesn’t have access to the web? According to some guy named Chris who works on the music team at Google, “The songs you’ve recently played will automatically be available offline. You can also select the specific albums, artists and playlists you want to have available when you’re not connected.” (source)

Enough geek talk.

One of the highlights of having a visitor, and quite honestly one of the best places I’ve visited in sf, was taking him to The Exploratorium. Ever heard of it? Since everyone is going coo-coo for information graphics, here is a diagram that I ‘made’ of what the museum is like:

The Exploratorium made me feel like a little kid in a candy store. The first thing we did when we got there was watched the dissection of a cow’s eye. I knew right then and there that THIS PLACE WAS GOING TO ROCK. A small excerpt from their website, “The Exploratorium was the brainchild of Frank Oppenheimer. At various times, Frank was a professor, a high school teacher, a cattle rancher, and an experimental physicist. While teaching at a university, Frank developed a ‘library of experiments’ that enabled his students to explore scientific phenomena at their own pace, following their own curiosity.” It is basically a science museum filled with lots of hands on experiments and activities. There will be something here for everybody. Seriously, if you haven’t visited yet, you are missing out on some cool stuff. Just look at this place:

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If you thought that was cool, wait until you experience the tactile dome. Imagine yourself squeezing and climbing through tunnels, tubes and up ramps with walls that are covered in all kinds of textured surfaces. Here are some images of the inside of the tactile dome:

Oh yeah, did I mention that you experience tactile dome in complete darkness? Whoa.

In conclusion, if you are even remotely close to the bay area, visit this place already. Here are some other pictures from The Exploratorium and the rest of the weekend.

photo by inspired12

I don’t even know what this is, but it’s outside of The Exploratorium.

Remember that trip I took to South Africa for a video shoot? Well now you can see the final video that was produced there. Great job to Sunny&72 and HP for the end result! Watch the video below:

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These designs were for a friend who was working through an exhibition idea for a show that would have existed throughout the Bay Area.
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Wedding invite and response card I did for Sarah Perry’s Russell’s wedding late last year. That’s right, Sarah, I put up the version of the response card that should have been the final.
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Some house party flyers
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Well kids, that’s it for now. keepin’ it short and sweet.

Within the last couple weeks, I have accepted a job offer with one of the most (if not the most) bad ass groups that I’ve met in the SF/Seattle area. *trumpets sound* I am very proud to be named a designer for Stimulant. What will I be doing you ask? Mostly designing stuff, hence the job title designer. For those who don’t know how a company that makes touch screen interactions may work, (or you just don’t know much about design and technology) I will focus on taking the interaction design from the interaction designer and creating a ‘skin’ (or something you see) for people to interact with. I then give the designs to a developer. They then take the designs and use their special sauce to make everything work on touch screen devices by writing code.

That been said, I am very excited to start this new position with such a great group! Stay tuned for great things to come!

Over the last couple weeks, I have been talking with a representative from Google about a possible job opportunity. What I didn’t immediately realize is the amount of resumes these guys get on a daily basis. I’m talking around 1,300 a day. I heard somewhere they end up declining 97% of applicants per year. So for them to email me out of the blue and start talking about meeting for interviews is something I am very excited about. Lets just say that after a phone interview or two, things went better than expected. They called me up for an on-site interview. Here are some shots I took while on the Google campus!

Well I must be ‘here’.

Parking wasn’t too easy… Until I found this.

“What’s up?” “Oh, not much. Just munching on this pink flamingo.”

And if you’re wondering if I got to experience Google’s fine dining… no, but I did take this picture.

Sweet Google wheels.

“What kinds of questions did they ask? Did they ask you the weird questions? What about the one, ‘how many golf balls it takes to fill a school bus?’” No, no and no. I’ve been hearing a lot of horror stories about the kinds of questions Google asks to their interviewees. Unlike the unfortunate souls that had to answer those questions, luckily they asked me very practical ones. I could tell you what they asked, but then I’d also have to kill you.

Remember that what I said about all of the people they turned down? Well I got this in the mail a couple weeks later.

Although I did not end up taking the position at Google, the whole process was a great experience. I had an exciting time at Google, and met some really amazing people. I am very thankful for the opportunity I had with them. Thank you Google for a great time on your campus!

Lets face it, the closest thing to I’ve ever been to first class is watching George Clooney in Up In the Air. Little did I know after boarding the plane that I wasn’t just in first class, I was on the upper deck of a British Airways Boeing 747. An interesting story about this plane is that I have met the industrial designer for the famous seats I would be sliding my butt into. It may be described as having 72 inches of legroom with audio video on demand, inflight entertainment and AC power outlets.

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Oh yeah, did I mention that the seat also slides down into a FREAKING BED?

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As soon as I entered the plane, I was pampered like a fancy baby. As I sat down, an in flight stewardesses offered me a hot towel. Never being offered a hot towel before, I sat and observed the other passengers smother their faces and hands with this steamy delight. I started getting odd stares when they started noticing some punk ass kid staring blankly at them like a complete creeper. Next we were served our meals (what, we actually had a choice of what to eat?) My first meal was one of the best meals I’ve had in months. Something like… Steak tartar with mashed potatoes and greens. Soon everyone was off to sleep after indulging themselves with fine dining and drinks. Sitting there in the dark, on my fancy flat bed, the cabin was something reminiscent of a shuttle ticking it’s way into space. Before I knew it, we had landed in London where I would await my next flight to Cape Town. Here is my documentation of the stop in London:

At the conference, the setting was very intimate, so intimate in fact, that I ended up sitting next to Mattais Hanson, the CEO of a digital media training and immersion programme in Sweden called Hyper Island. He mentioned there were no ‘teachers’, no ‘grades’ and instead of working on one big assignment, the students attending do work with real clients for real life exposure. It made me reflect on my experiences at the KCAI and note the similarities and differences between the two programs. It’s interesting to hear how other students go through different school curriculums.
Hyper Island in a Nutshell from Martin Bergén on Vimeo.

Dustin Callif and Jason Zada of Tool of North America gave an interesting talk about how they are thinking about interactive video for the iPad. They have recently come out with a bitchin’ iPad application (from what I’ve seen). ”By touching, shaking and turning your iPad, you can navigate, unlock and reveal unexpected variations in each of these four “Touching Stories.” Shot by five different directors—and contained in one single app—these interactive, live-action, short stories evolve storytelling in ways that have never been done before on the iPad.” – source Not to mention the app IS FREE (search “Touching Stories”). So if you find yourself with time and an ipad laying around, swing your sweet butt down to the apple store and download this app!  Here is a little behind the scenes video to get your interests peaked.



I was also able to hear Stephen Clements of AKQA talk about their solution to head up the new Halo Reach “Remember Reach” Campaign (which is super caliente right now). They built an interactive space that “will let gamers manipulate a Kuka industrial robot to create a virtual monument to Spartan warriors in the run-up to Halo: Reach.” I’ll just leave this here.

“Halo: Remember Reach” Behind the Scenes from Ashley Rodholm on Vimeo.

Another really nice guy I met was Vincent Morisset of AATOAA. He has done some really amazing things for Arcade Fire. His newest project with them, Synchronized Artwork, explores new ways to create and present visuals with digital albums. He also did the be oNline B interactive music video that won Gold Pencil award at the One Show. 


I was able to listen and meet lots of other speakers such as Iain Tate of Wieden and Kennedy, Daniel Rhatigan of Monotype Imaging as well as some other great speakers on a panel that answered various questions.

These talks were great, but I was very excited by one in particular. Brett Wickens of the Ammunition Group included my work in his presentation. He didn’t just mention my work. He didn’t just show a slide of the final video. He played the ENTIRE THING. My heart was practically exploding out of my chest when the final credits ran. I am very grateful that Brett liked my project enough to share it with other people.