#i had started by conceptualizing colors for each one and then implemented the ideas on the seer notes

[reading-stains]

Land of Spirits - Case Files

Welp, I don't think they're even poetry prompts anymore (which is what I'd meant them to be), they're more like prompted conceptual writing that is sometimes poetry, sometimes short stories, and sometimes a "creative experience" of sorts.

So anyway, I'm sending it late because I needed to format it, but this is my entry for @nosebleedclub's prompt 12, "Land of spirits" and it's clear I didn't get creative with my own titling.

Hope whoever reads this enjoys!

PREMISE: You're given a set of files on data from veterans that have gone through the Land of Spirits. You hope to learn a little from what you're going to face. Oh, and there's some strange notes from a 'seer' at the bottom, but you don't really get what they mean.

So anyway, there you have it. Hope you stick to the non-combatant ones for today, they seem pretty nice.

[uwmadarchives]

T.J. Braxton and “A Closer Look at UW-Madison’s Campus-Wide Diversity Initiatives”

On Monday, April 19th, please join the UW Archives Student Historians as they reflect on their research projects this year: "Black Artists at the UW-Madison" & “A Closer Look at UW-Madison’s Campus-Wide Diversity Initiatives.” Visit go.wisc.edu/archives for more info. Before the event, our social media assistant, Adrian, caught up with the historians to see how their research is going. Interviews were edited for clarity.

T.J. Braxton

My topic focuses on the three, broadest and most extensive diversity programs at the University of Wisconsin Madison, starting with the first one, which happened in 1988 and was called the Madison Plan. Then, Plan 2008 was started in 1999 and finally, starting in 2015, the university implemented the REEL Change Model.

When I first started doing this project, I wanted to study the African American Studies Department, but I found out pretty quickly that it has been researched to death and I wanted to contribute something new. When I was looking in these old boxes, I kept seeing something about Plan 2008. I didn't know what that was, but from what I could tell it was causing a lot of problems within the African American Studies Department and the other ethnic studies programs. So then I started looking into it and found out what it was and I thought, oh, that could be something interesting to think about. I wanted to compare these diversity initiatives to see how far we've really come and to see whether or not the university is changing its tactics or looking at diversity in a different light as time goes on.

At the beginning of my project, I expected that the university would have tried to paint itself in the most positive way possible. I was surprised by how much they're holding themselves accountable, and how they are willing to publish their shortcomings regarding diversity. But it also surprised me how much they're repeating the same language and tactics but expecting different outcomes. I think they need to be more creative with how they approach the subject of diversity. I also think they need to be a little bit more equitable with who they're targeting because they're always talking about different targeted groups, but it usually only comes down to African Americans, American Indians, and Chicano students. I wish they would look beyond race and talk about sexual orientation and things like that because I feel like we need to be as representative of the world as possible before trying to realize this Wisconsin Idea.

The Madison Plan came out amid a bunch of racist incidents at fraternities. A few months before it came out, there was a big blackface scandal. And then a year after it came out, there was another similar thing where a fraternity had a slave auction or something like that. There was an editorial written by a UW professor that said we cannot punish these students because we cannot violate their right to free speech under the First Amendment. It's interesting for me to see this and think if a professor could come out and say that, how does that make students of color feel? Does it make them feel like they're welcome on this campus and that they're valued?

I think the most interesting things I've looked at are newspaper articles from the Daily Cardinal and the Badger Herald from around the times when each plan was released and when students were collaborating with the administration on how these plans will be implemented. Some of the most interesting newspaper articles I found were editorials from students about how they felt the diversity initiatives were going. Honestly, it was very surprising, when the Madison Plan was coming to an end and when Plan 2008 began, how many students thought that there was reverse racism going on. Some students felt that ethnic studies classes were teaching them that America was anti-white and that if we created these spaces and resources for students of color (like the Multicultural Student Center) then white students were in turn being treated unfairly. I think it was just really interesting to see how many students actually thought that and to see the remnants of that today.

To learn more, I reached out to two people, one of who was a chairperson of the steering committee that published Plan 2008. She's a retired professor. I also reached out to the former Chief Diversity Officer of UW who was in charge when the REEL Model was created. I asked if they would be able to talk to me formally or informally and didn’t get a response. Both of them could be too busy or maybe they don't want to talk about it. But it's interesting that I have gotten no response whatsoever.

I think one of the problems with these initiatives is they're all very vague and massive and you don't really know what exactly they're trying to get at or how they envision diversity. Through my project, I'm looking at things that show that diversity goes deeper than numbers and things that can be seen and counted. It's more about creating an environment where students feel they're welcomed and that they can express their culture and themselves. But the university tends to neglect the campus climate side of diversity in these plans compared to tangible things like the number of instructors, students, or administrators of color on campus.

Campus climate is a much more complex idea and it's a lot harder to measure. We have campus climate surveys and diversity forums, but how much of that is for show and how much is actually being done to change things? Ever since the civil rights movement, a lot of prominent higher education institutions have tried to make it seem like racial justice, diversity, and inclusion are top priorities, when in reality that's just not the case. That's the reason why you see lots of faces of color on admission and recruitment catalogs and things like that, just because they want to make it seem like it's so diverse. It's almost like a superficial goal, rather than a profound one.

One thing I’ve found hopeful in my research is that the student body at Wisconsin has become a lot more progressive at least with the diversity initiatives. In Plan 2008, the students were very much involved in trying to push the UW Faculty Senate to focus more on intangible things and to get more money for the Multicultural Student Center, and add another ethnic studies requirement. So it may have helped make the plan more expansive and actually cater to students of color. It made me happy to see that at least. ASM (the Associated Students of Madison) was involved in that too. ASM was very much pushing for a Plan 2008 that was even more progressive than the one that was published sadly.

What I would hope people would gain from my project is a broader understanding of what it's like to be a person of color on campus from an administrative standpoint. Like, how is the administration trying to deal with me and how do they conceptualize my importance on campus? I also hope that they realized that the students and faculty of color are really the central actors in all of this.

At the end of my project, I am planning on thinking about what my suggestions are for addressing diversity on campus from the perspective of a student of color at a predominantly white University. This is my senior year, so I've been here for a while and I’ll just give my suggestions. I'm very proud to be a student here at UW and in no way is my research trying to disparage the experience I had at UW or to say that it wasn't an inclusive enough environment for me as a Black man because it very much was. I'm just saying there's work to be done. There're ways to make it better for everyone because there are people who don't have good experiences. So let's fix those problems.

[thebandcampdiaries]

Vary Suite is back on the scene with a brand new release: A.I.

February 2021 - Vary Suite is a band with a focus on alternative rock music. Their sound is incredibly broad and diverse, borrowing from genres as diverse as post-hardcore, emo, post-punk, and pretty much everything in between. There is also somewhat of a lush, textural quality to the band’s music, which’s often about balancing aggressive moments with understated and personal soundscapes. The band’s most recent EP release, A.I., is actually a great example of what I am talking about. The EP’s lyrical content is all about going deeper into some personal issues that affect the band members directly but that are also quite easy to relate to, especially in these trying times. We can all connect with the feeling of feeling stuck and go through life without following a direction. Mental health struggles are like open questions that are so often overlooked, and it’s hard to understand whether you’re stuck in your own head or whether other people can actually connect with what you are feeling. This record is particularly meaningful because it is here to remind the listeners that - yes - they’re not alone in feeling anxiety and confusion. These are normal parts of being human, and it’s all about reacting. Speaking of, “reactionary” is really a word that comes to mind when listening to these tracks. These songs aren’t a feeble thump, but a loud roar, a bold statement of self and individuality that defines the sound of the band, and even ties in conceptually with the themes explored in the songwriting.

The track-list features six songs, including the opening number, “Catch-25.” Right off the bat, the production is incredibly clean and impressive, with massive down-tuned guitars, punchy drums, and vocals that are melodic and present but never harsh, cutting through the mix with ease. The second song, “Pretender,” has a lush introduction that leads to one of the best verses on this release. The vocal parts actually make me think of some mid-2000s bands like Funeral For A Friend, Anberlin, or Saosin, but there is a bit of a more modern approach to this release. The following tune, “A Glitch In The System,” reveals the band’s songwriting flexibility and their ability to write music that’s as edgy as much as it is catchy. The idea of starting the song with a catchy vocal hook is awesome, as it keeps the listener’s attention span glued to the music. The vocal melody reprises in the verse, and it eventually leads to a heavier chorus, with some incredible guitar parts, alternating palm muting with some great chords, and synth layers in the background to add more space. The next track, “Full Dive,” is one of the hardest, most aggressive songs on the album. The riffs are like thunders destroying forest trees, while the electronic effects popping in here and there have a flavor that makes me think of some earlier Linkin Park or even Slipknot. “Re: Invent” brings back a more melodic approach, and this song almost makes me think of Pop-Punk in the introduction. However, the verses have a bit of an ambient approach, with electric guitar stabs alternating some dreamy soundscapes for the vocals to unfold perfectly.

Last but certainly not least, the final song is titled “Grey Matter,” and it is a great way to get the audience to scream for more!

Ultimately, this EP is just as varied and kaleidoscopic as the artwork image, and each song has something special to offer!

I love the sound of this EP release, which is so punchy yet incredibly diverse. For this reason, I would definitely recommend listening to this release if you do enjoy the sound of bands such as Pierce The Veil, Circa Survive, Dead Rituals, Anberlin, or Silverstein, only to mention but a few. This EP is something special, and I, for one, can’t wait to hear more from this talented group.

Find out more about Vary Suite, and listen to A.I., which is now available on the web.

twitter.com/VarySuite

instagram.com/VarySuite

facebook.com/VarySuite

https://open.spotify.com/album/67lMuDNZSOE8v5MCAhWrsg?si=iY2KPEE_Srea6AftrvnunQ

We also had the chance to ask the artists a few questions:

I love how you manage to render your tracks so personal and organic. Does the melody come first, or do you focus on the beat the most?

Answer: Melody is definitely important. Sometimes, I start with lyrics and sometimes with a chord progression. I almost always have a concept in mind before anything, and that effects the sounds I choose and how I write the lyrics.

Do you perform live? If so, do you feel more comfortable on a stage or within the walls of the recording studio?

Answer: As of right now Vary Suite is a studio project. I used to play shows in  bands  but I realized I liked writing, recording and producing more than performing. There’s no limit to what you can create in the studio and that becomes even more flexible when you don’t have to worry about recreating it for a live environment.

If you could only pick one song to make a “first impression” on a new listener, which song would you pick and why?

Answer: A Glitch in the System. We chose it for the single because it kind of has a little bit of everything I wanted to implement into A.I. Thick coal harmonies, robotic synths, screaming guitars, screaming vocals and it’s very strong in demonstrating the over arching theme as well.

What does it take to be “innovative” in music?

Answer: I don’t really know. There’s a an endless amount of ways to write a song. The thing I like to do is combine my favorite things from different places and make something that might not necessarily be “new” but I always feel is interesting. I’ve also loved the idea of a song being simple enough at it’s core that you can play it on an acoustic guitar or the piano but at the same time the Studio Version it has all these moving parts that make it special and colorful.

Any upcoming release or tour your way?

Answer: A.I. would be the big release right now. But I’m always working on music. One thing that my favorite artists have in common is they’ll have 2 or 3 small releases in a year rather than 1 big one. So I’m hoping that I’ll have some more music coming out again in 2021.

Anywhere online where curious fans can listen to your music and find out more about you?

Answer: My youtube channel is the best place to check out my music and what I’m up to as I’ve gained most of my following from there doing covers.

If anyone is interested in some extra update I have a news letter where I’ll make announcements and sometimes share behind the scenes stuff. http://eepurl.com/hoZB_9

[theonyxpath]

…all through the Onyx Path house, not a creature is working tho’ lots of games give us wows.

Like W20 Changing Ways, our featured cover this week!

So I mentioned last week that Onyx Path‘s “office” will be closed after today until Jan 2nd. While we could all use the break, and the holidays force a lot of non-work time too, we’re really looking at taking advantage of doing this now because a lot of our publishing partners are taking this time off.

For example, you’ll note in the “At Press” stage below in our weekly Progress Report that we have a fair number of things labeled as “PoD ordered”. That’s because our PoD printing plant is now on vacation. Mid-January and into February is going to be packed with new PoDs for sale!

The truth is, though: we’re really bad at vacationing.

Rollickin’ Rose Bailey says she is taking advantage of the time not spent herding our Onyx cats to work on Cavaliers of Mars, and I’m pretty sure I’ll be using my time to draw up Monarchies of Mau NPCs. Speaking of cats.

Just about every time one of our Onyx Path crew says they are taking time off, they come back with a new idea or something they finished while they were supposed to be relaxing. It is tough when you love what you do to turn off the creative mind.

And also like I mentioned last week, our fantastic freelance creators around the globe will still be working hard on their projects between holiday movie openings and other fun. (At least that’s what I always did as a freelancer).

    C20 Freeholds illustration by Drew Tucker

      The other thing, is that a bunch of us are also prepping for Mid Winter Con in Milwaukee starting Jan 10th (for us), and so we know we’ll basically have a week after we get back and then we’re off to the con. This is above and beyond our usual con efforts, as we’re ending it by staying an extra day and having our Onyx Path yearly summit.

So first, the con itself. Everybody who works on the books from our Onyx Path crew will be there. Impish Ian Watson, Mirthful Mike, Rollickin’ Rose, Mighty Matt McElroy, More Mighty Monica Valentinelli, Fast Eddy Webb, and your humble blog writer myself will be there. Normally, you’d need to go to Gen Con to see all of us, but with the Summit coming we’re all there and it’ll be a great chance to find out just about everything you’ve been wondering about.

Plus a lot of our phenomenal freelancers will be there, we’re doing demos for lots of our games and particularly the Trinity Continuum as that Kickstarter will either be running on close to it, special playtests like for Fetch Quest, the Pugmire card game, and we’re going to be making an extra-special announcement that we think will be a particular interest to the Mid Winter crowd.

    W20 Pentex Employee Handbook art by Steve Ellis

      As for the Onyx Path Summit itself, this is something that we used to do late one night at Gen Con, but frankly, we’ve grown beyond being able to cover what we need to in a few hours after dinner. So we’ll be doing a review of 2017, looking at financials, and generally getting a good feel for where we’ve been in order to move to the fun part of the evening.

That’s planning for how we want to grow and what we’re going to focus on in 2018 and into 2019. And beyond!

Two years ago, the crew surprised me by wanting to focus on shoring up our company processes and we drew up plans for that instead of what cool new game we could create or license. Which is what I had expected them to talk want to about.

This year, we’ll just have to see.

    W20 Changing Ways illustration by Jeff Holt

      We may have some notes about the meeting when the Monday Meeting Notes go up (I expect on Tuesday that week. It happens once in a blue moon.)

But if you want to be involved, please post your thoughts on what you’d like to see us doing, how you’d like to see us do it, whatever – and I’ll bring your comments up for discussion at the Summit.

We will definitely be talking about how to structurally and conceptually continue with our ongoing projects and the stressful necessity of bringing on new game lines and worlds. Because after all:

Many Worlds. One Path.

    BLURBS!

KICKSTARTER:

The Trinity Continuum Kickstarter will go live in January!

  ON SALE NOW:

We’re ringing out 2017 with a bang, giving you some great bundle deals on select Chronicles of Darkness PDFs until the end of the year! Each bundle is on sale for $9.99, which puts them in the 80% off range.

A Chronicle of 2017 includes:

The Chronicles of Darkness 2nd Edition Rulebook

The God-Machine Chronicle Anthology

Chronicles of Darkness: Hurt Locker

Dark Eras: Beneath the Skin (Skinchangers/Demon: The Descent)

A Requiem for 2017 includes:

Vampire: The Requiem 2nd Edition Rulebook

The Strix Chronicle Anthology

Secrets of the Covenants

Dark Eras: Requiem for Regina (Vampire: The Requiem/Changeling: The Lost)

2017 is Forsaken includes:

Werewolf: The Forsaken 2nd Edition Rulebook

The Idigam Chronicle Anthology

The Pack

Dark Eras: The Bowery Dogs (Werewolf: The Forsaken)

The Curse of 2017 includes:

Mummy: The Curse Rulebook

Curse of the Blue Nile Anthology

Book of the Deceived

Dark Eras: Ruins of Empire (Mummy: The Curse)

The Descent of 2017 includes:

Demon: The Descent Rulebook

Demon: Interface Anthology

Flowers of Hell: The Demon Players Guide

Dark Eras: Into the Cold (Demon: The Descent)

      As we try and find ways to enable our community to more easily play our games, the Onyx Dice Rolling App is now live! Our dev team has been doing updates since we launched based on the excellent use-case comments by our community, and this thing is both rolling and rocking! Right now, they’re working on implementing multi-dice and die previews in the store, after adding in a lot of requested upgrades and tweaks, which is going along nicely but is a ton of work. Here are the links for the Apple and Android versions:

http://ift.tt/2zjnD0c

http://ift.tt/2hhT5Fk

Three different screenshots, above.

(The Solar Anima special Dice)

    ON AMAZON AND BARNES & NOBLE:

We’re delighted to announce the opening of our ebook stores on Amazon and Barnes & Noble! You can now read our fiction from the comfort and convenience of your Kindle (from Amazon) and Nook (from Barnes & Noble). Our initial selection includes these fiction anthologies:

Vampire: The Masquerade: The Endless Ages Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

Werewolf: The Apocalypse: Rites of Renown: When Will You Rage II (Kindle, Nook)

Mage: The Ascension: Truth Beyond Paradox (Kindle, Nook)

Chronicles of Darkness: The God-Machine Chronicle Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

Mummy: The Curse: Curse of the Blue Nile (Kindle, Nook)

Beast: The Primordial: The Primordial Feast Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

  And here are six more fiction books:

Vampire: The Masquerade: Of Predators and Prey: The Hunters Hunted II Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

Werewolf: The Apocalypse: The Poison Tree (Kindle, Nook)

Werewolf: The Apocalypse: Songs of the Sun and Moon: Tales of the Changing Breeds (Kindle, Nook)

Vampire: The Requiem: The Strix Chronicle Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

Werewolf: The Forsaken: The Idigam Chronicle Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

Mage: The Awakening: The Fallen World Chronicle Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

  Andand six more more:

Vampire: The Masquerade: The Beast Within Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

Werewolf: The Apocalypse: W20 Cookbook (Kindle, Nook)

Exalted: Tales from the Age of Sorrows (Kindle, Nook)

Chronicles of Darkness: Tales of the Dark Eras (Kindle, Nook)

Promethean: The Created: The Firestorm Chronicle Anthology (Kindle, Nook)

Demon: The Descent: Demon: Interface (Kindle, Nook)

  And even more books are now on Amazon and the Nook store!:

Scarred Lands: Death in the Walled Warren (Kindle, Nook)

V20 Dark Ages: Cainite Conspiracies (Kindle, Nook)

Chronicles of Darkness: Strangeness in the Proportion (Kindle, Nook)

Vampire: The Requiem: Silent Knife (Kindle, Nook)

Mummy: The Curse: Dawn of Heresies (Kindle, Nook)

    OUR SALES PARTNERS:

We’re working with Studio2 to get Pugmire out into stores, as well as to individuals through their online store. You can pick up the traditionally printed main book, the Screen, and the official Pugmire dice through our friends there!

http://ift.tt/2w0aaEW

    Looking for our Deluxe or Prestige Edition books? Here’s the link to the press release we put out about how Onyx Path is now selling through Indie Press Revolution: http://ift.tt/1ZlTT6z

You can now order wave 2 of our Deluxe and Prestige print overrun books, including Deluxe Mage 20th Anniversary, and Deluxe V20 Dark Ages! And Screens…so many Screens!

And you can now order Pugmire: the book, the screen, and the dice! http://ift.tt/1pOsnTb

    DRIVETHRURPG.COM:

  With a howl of RAGE, the W20 Changing Ways Advance PDF charges at you this Wednesday on DTRPG.com!

Changing Ways is an in-depth look at what it means to be a werewolf, both on a personal level and as part of a pack. It digs deep into what it feels like to have bones re-knit after breaking, the range of senses available across all forms, and the sudden heady rush of the Gifts and Rites bestowed by spirits. It also provides a look at what life is like for lupus and metis werewolves, characters who have had experiences alien to any person. It shows the many ways that werewolves organize in packs, and how those packs are designed as groups of warriors, rather than aligned to the behavior of wolves.

Changing Ways contains:

• A detailed look at what it means to grow up as a lupus or metis werewolf, and how that colors a character’s perspective.

• More information on what it feels like to be a werewolf, a creature that changes in both body and mind.

• Frameworks and organizations for packs, along with new tactics and systems for forging the pack as part of play.

      Arriving at DTRPG.com this Wednesday, and soon to your tables: The M20 Mage Cookbook!

Food is Life 

We are what we eat. As mages throughout history have realized, the foods that sustain our bodies sustain enlightenment as well. Such foods become extensions of the people and cultures that create them. Now Brother Oliver Lyon, Knight Templar and a humble baker’s son, travels around the world hunting the Fallen and gathering fine recipes along the way.

Enchanting Recipes 

From Mandarin lion’s heads to alchemical booze, Brother Oliver’s collection of delicious recipes spans the cultural realms of Mage’s human world. Among these many culinary concoctions, you’ll find:

Lobster Bisque

Angel Torte

Chicken Nanban

Corn Fufu

Beef Wellingtons

Battenburg Cake

Cannibal Stew, and so much more

Feed Your Body, Feed Your Soul 

The M20 Mage Cookbook is a non-canon but tasty culinary perspective on the world of Mage: The Ascension

        The world of Pugmire comes alive in this full cast audio drama experience “Thank You, Darcy Cat” available now on DTRPG.com! http://ift.tt/2ygOPbl

The police dogs have called Alistair Afghan to discuss the crimes of his valet, Darcy Cat. But this misunderstanding leads to the discovery of a deadly secret deep in the heart of Pugmire society. Will Alistair and Darcy be able to save Pugmire from this threat?

Created by Audioblivious Productions in conjunction with Pugsteady. Check out Audioblivious at http://ift.tt/2jPsQ61!

    We unveil Vampire: The Requiem 2e‘s Half-Damned as an Advance PDF on DTRPG.com!

http://ift.tt/2imeGt5

I love her, she’s family, but I don’t love what she is.

– Antonio Ramírez, dhampir

This book includes: 

• An exploration of what it means to be one of the Half-Damned, dhampir, revenants or ghouls.

• Mechanics for creating Half-Damned characters.

• Information for creating and running chronicles using the various Half-Damned character types, both with vampires and alone.

• Information on Half-Damned antagonists for vampire chronicles.

      Legacy of Lies, the V20 Dark Ages Jumpstart, goes undead in PDF and physical book PoD versions on DTRPG:

http://ift.tt/2k981ql

TWO PRINCES. BITTER RIVALS. AND A COTERIE CAUGHT BETWEEN THEM. 

Marcus Verus, the vampiric Prince of Chester, secretly prepares to go into torpor. Should his plans be made public, the Prince knows the wolves — both real and imagined — would launch an attack, threatening all within his domain.

That’s where you come in.

Legacy of Lies includes:

Basic rules for players and Storytellers

Introduction to the Vampire: The Masquerade Dark Ages setting

Introductory adventure

Characters for players and Storytellers

      Appearing on DriveThruRPG is the Advance PDF for Arms of the Chosen for Exalted 3rd Edition! http://ift.tt/2A0ga4f

Take up the panoply of legendary heroes and lost ages, and awaken the world-shaking might of their Evocations. Before the dawn of time, the Exalted wielded god-metal blades to cast down the makers of the universe. In an ancient epoch of forgotten glories, Creation’s greatest artificers forged unimaginable wonders and miracle-machines.

Now, in the Age of Sorrows, kingdoms go to war over potent artifacts, scavenger princes risk everything to uncover relics of the past, and the Exalted forge great arms and armor on the anvil of legend. These treasures are yours to master.

Discover the mystical power of the five magical materials and the secrets of creating your own Evocations. Wield weapons of fabled might and don the armor of mythic heroes, making their puissance your own. Claim Creation’s wonders: the miraculous tools of the Chosen, living automatons, flying machines, hearthstones, and more. And unleash the mighty warstriders, titanic god-engines of conquest and devastation, to once more shake Creation with their footfalls.

          What dark secrets do the eldest vampires hold? Find out in Thousand Years of Night for Vampire: The Requiem! PDF and physical book PoD versions available on DriveThruRPG.com. http://ift.tt/2sV8lZR

You may think that with a multitude of people coming, going, dying and running away, we’d be tired, done, or ready to give up. Instead, I find myself restless, looking for the next thing.  There’s always a next thing, and I for one am not yet ready to die.

– Elder Kincaid, Daeva Crone

This book includes:

• Detailed instructions on creating elder vampires, including how to base chronicles around them

• A look into the lives of elders, how they spend their nights, who they work with, and why including their roles in both their clans and covenants

• New Devotions, Merits, and Rituals for elder vampires

• The kinds of creatures that pose a threat to elder vampires, including Inamorata, Lamia, Sons of Phobos, a new elder conspiracy, and more!

      Is a life of running and hiding a life worth living? We say yes. There’s always something between the running and the hiding, and those moments of grace make it all worthwhile.

The Huntsmen Chronicle Anthology is a perfect companion piece to Changeling: The Lost, 2nd Edition. These stories spin tales of the Lost, of those abducted and enslaved by fairies. Those who escaped, but whose captors will stop at nothing to find them. These fairies summon forth the Huntsmen, primordial hunters who understand nothing but pursuit and capture. The Huntsmen are unstoppable monsters, and the Lost can only look to each other for respite, rare comfort, and rarer trust.

The Hedge has parted and you can get the Advance PDF of The Huntsmen Chronicle Fiction Anthology for Changeling: The Lost 2nd Edition at DTRPG.com! http://ift.tt/2z4uZnU

          A Land Where Legends Walk

Drawing enthusiastically on Greek mythology, the revised and re-imagined Scarred Lands nonetheless retains its place as a modern fantasy RPG setting. This is a world shaped by gods and monsters, and only the greatest of heroes can expect to be counted among them. The most populous continent of Scarn, Ghelspad, plays host to vast unexplored regions, hides unsolved riddles from ancient cultures, and taunts adventures with the promise of undiscovered riches hidden among the ruins of older civilizations.

Yet the myths of the Scarred Lands are relatively recent events. The effects of the Titanswar still ripple through the world, and the heroines and villains of many of these stories are part of living memory, if not still living.

The Award-Winning Fantasy Setting Returns

Scarred Lands has been a favorite fantasy setting since the release of the Creature Collection for the d20 System in 2000. In subsequent years, over 40 titles were published for Scarred Lands, making it one of the most fully supported fantasy RPG settings ever and the premiere product line of Sword & Sorcery Studios.

Available in both 5th Edition and Pathfinder compatible versions! PDF and PoD formats available NOW!

http://ift.tt/2fEO9YJ

http://ift.tt/2fELqyx

      CONVENTIONS!

Midwinter Game Convention in Milwaukee, January 11-14 is going to be on us soooo fast after we get back. It’s where we’re going to be bringing a big crew of many of your favorite Onyx Path designers and we’ll be running demos and making some special announcements at the show!  http://midwintergamingconvention.com

    And now, the new project status updates!

DEVELOPMENT STATUS FROM ROLLICKING ROSE (projects in bold have changed status since last week):

First Draft (The first phase of a project that is about the work being done by writers, not dev prep)

M20 Gods and Monsters (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

M20 Book of the Fallen (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

C20 Novel (Jackie Cassada) (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition)

Deviant: The Renegades (Deviant: The Renegades)

CofD Contagion Chronicle (Chronicles of Darkness)

Guide to the Night (Vampire: The Requiem 2nd Edition)

M20 The Technocracy Reloaded (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

  Redlines

They Came From Beneath the Sea! Rulebook (TCFBtS!)

  Second Draft

WoD Ghost Hunters (World of Darkness)

Tales of Good Dogs – Pugmire Fiction Anthology (Pugmire)

Monarchies of Mau (Monarchies of Mau)

Hunter: the Vigil 2e core (Hunter: the Vigil 2nd Edition)

  Development

Signs of Sorcery (Mage: the Awakening Second Edition)

SL Ring of Spiragos (Pathfinder – Scarred Lands 2nd Edition)

Ring of Spiragos (5e – Scarred Lands 2nd Edition)

Scion: Hero (Scion 2nd Edition)

Trinity Continuum Core Rulebook (The Trinity Continuum)

Trinity Continuum: Aeon Rulebook (The Trinity Continuum)

GtS Geist 2e core (Geist: the Sin-Eaters Second Edition)

Night Horrors: The Tormented (Promethean: The Created 2nd Edition)

  WW Manuscript Approval:

Exalted 3rd Novel by Matt Forbeck (Exalted 3rd Edition)

  Editing:

Ex Novel 2 (Aaron Rosenberg) (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Kithbook Boggans (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition)

The Realm (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Scion: Origin (Scion 2nd Edition)

  Post-Editing Development:

Changeling: the Lost 2nd Edition, featuring the Huntsmen Chronicle (Changeling: the Lost 2nd Edition)

Dragon-Blooded (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Pan’s Guide for New Pioneers (Pugmire)

  Indexing:

    ART DIRECTION FROM MIRTHFUL MIKE:

In Art Direction

Cavaliers of Mars – New art getting assigned.

Ex3 Monthly Stuff

Scion Origins

Ring of Spiragos – Got Rich’s cover in.

Changeling: the Lost 2

Trinity Continuum – Seeing sketches.

Ex3 Dragon Blooded – Sketches are coming in left and right…

Pugmire – Pan’s Explorer’s Guide (or whatever) – Syme is almost done with the splats.

Boggans – Reviewing art notes and figuring out the art buy.

  Marketing Stuff

  In Layout

Pugmire/Scarred Lands Community Content – working on the logo.

Book of Freeholds – With Mark

DtD Enemy Action – With Josh

Pugmire Fetch Quest – Playtesting samples ordered hopefully in time for MidWinter.

Pugmire – Vinsen’s Tomb – Notes are out. Need to input the changes on the first proof

Wraith 20 Screen 

  Proofing

Wraith 20 – Making fixes from WW.

Beast PG

  At Press

Beckett Screen – Shipped to shipper.

Scarred Land PGs & Wise and the Wicked PF & 5e – To fulfillment shipper. PDF and PoD physical book versions on sale at DTRPG.

Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition (Changeling: the Dreaming 20th Anniversary Edition) – Deluxe Edition cover and Screen in the works. Waiting for Deluxe cover and the Screen proofs this week.

Prince’s Gambit – Setting up files for printer.

CtL Huntsmen Chronicle Anthology  – PoD Files uploaded and processing.

V20 Beckett’s Jyhad Diary– PoD proofs ordered.

C20 Ready Made Characters – Errata fixing.

Ex 3 Arms of the Chosen – Errata fixing.

Pugmire Artisan Cards – PoD proofs ordered.

Pugmire Shepherd Cards – PoD proofs ordered.

Pentex Indoctrination Manual – PoD files uploaded and processing.

VtR Half Damned – Out and errata gathering.

W20 Changing Ways – Advance PDF on sale this Wednesday at DTRPG.com.

  TODAY’S REASON TO CELEBRATE: With this being our last full day of work this year, we’re gonna raise a toast to the year that was… talk to ya next year.

[mshai002]

Planning

Data can be seen as points of knowledge that we all have. How we see things is based on past experiences from which we pick up points against which we assess all that comes along. Those points can be seen as data points. The world, in many western countries, is built on a hierarchy of the white-hetero-patriarchy. How would the reverse of it look? Trevor Paglen’s Barbican’s Curve installation featured images of each category like Investor, Pizza, Apple, and so on, from a specific data set, called ImageNet, which was created by professors at Stanford University and Princeton University in the US. These professors created categories using a dictionary called WordNet created at Princeton University and used the definitions there to illustrate what was thought represented the categories.

Figure 1: Trevor Paglen's Curve installation at the Barbican

My project will look at what if intersectionally subordinated groups of people—with subordination by the intersection of racism, classism, ableism, (skin-) colorism, agism…— created the categories instead of middle- and upper-class white-hetero-patriarchal people. (White in terms of traditional structures built by white men.) what if the conception of these subordinated groups defined what shaped the world?

Final product research and plan

I looked extensively into most of Trevor Paglen’s work, elaborated in this blog earlier. His work is in the form of mostly eerie photography of the arcane intelligence outposts of the US. He tracks the places through thousands of censored documents released by his Govt. and finds the locations where they carry out their covert operations; alternatively, through satellite data, the location of other covert operations where the US is the dominant power, like the UK.

Figure 2: NSA GCHQ, Surveillance Base, Cornwall, UK, 2015 by Trevor Paglen

In the above image, we see one of Paglen’s spectacular images of a US surveillance base in the UK.

Figure 3: untitled, Reaper Drone, 2010 by Trevor Paglen

In figure 3, is another work that looks at surveillance drones, but again the image itself does not exclaim what it is about, an evocative photograph that conceptually is based on drones. Paglen’s is one way to present the work visually that I want to make. It can be coded and conceptually presented in a way that is entirely arcane to the viewer. However, I looked at other artists who work with data in their work too.

Figure 4: In The Shadow of Giants, 2013 by Nathalie Miebach

In Figure 4 above, we have the work of Nathalie Miebach. In her work, she uses weather data’s interactions to form sculptures. The sculptures are made out of basket material, but she does not design them; they are dictated by her weather data itself, giving it its bizarre abstract form. So it is more a scientific rendition than purely artistic.

I also found interesting the work of Hal Abelson, who printed out code on sheets of Fax paper as can be seen in figure 5.

Figure 5: Turtle Geometry, 1969 by Hal Abelson

The works explored above were my most favorite of all the works I looked at, including the ‘non-tech’ art explored further in this blog earlier. Using elements of all the above artworks, I can produce something more pertinent to my idea. My work in previous years has been very straightforward, inspired by the instructionists. However, after speaking to audience members, I am not sure how memorable it was. I realize that I need to have a more enhanced experience to make sure of memorability as I do aim to have a lasting effect on my audience. I am thus planning to have a kind of installation that explores all the above forms of presentation. I will look into photography of the intersectional groups, or the data they produce. I will also print out their data sets as something the audience can interact with within the space. I will most likely have a computer in which the audience can also explore the data digitally. I will have sound as well to give a new sensorial experience.

Figure 6: Untitled, work from Year 2, Mehroz Shaikh

In figure 6 is my previous year’s work, where I explored experiential installation. The audience could wear headphones and hear the voices of Goldsmiths Anti-Racist Action’s Occupation’s women’s frustration with racism, sexism, and ableism at the institution. I will have a table again, which I also had in my year one final piece. A table immediately invites a person to come sit down and see what is presented. The minimalism is similar to Halson’s printed work. I will play the voices of the intersectional groups aloud in the space which will read out their definitions of categories they defined. I will also print out the ideas that are explored by these groups of people, which will mainly be their redefinition of the concepts explored by the white-hetero-patriarchal men in the US. Print, Sound and then a computer screen that will allow them to explore the data on their own. I believe through the visual, tangible, and audible experience, they will remember the definitions that the people in question proposition better.

Figure 7: Sketch of the potential work’s core aspects

Knowledge, skills, and techniques needed

The existing knowledge I have is the concept of intersectionality and the groups of people of interest. The task is to collect data from them and then render them in data sets. For rendering in data sets, I will have to learn the use of python in machine learning and data science, a course I am now taking as my other module of study. I will need to learn how to convert the definitions I get from the intersectional groups of people into numbers that can be computed for predictive output. The predictive output is important, however, the classification is key, which comes before. The former is a potential output, whereas the latter is fundamental to the basic prototype of this piece. I am already learning classifications in data mining, and through my research and talking to various coders I found an online tool called Wekinator, which is a real-time software to convert the classifications into meaningful forms, which is exactly what I will be doing. I am also learning the fundamentals of data sets in machine learning via a Goldsmiths online course called: Machine Learning for Artists and Musicians.

Basic prototype

The basic prototype will have a data set collected from the intersectional groups of people in python. It will be rendered via an interface that people can use, a list of categories that are defined and to be used in various machine learning programs. The data could be visualized in a number of ways, however, my presentation will be minimalistic and straightforward as has always been. The interface will be rendered with p5.js live on the web. 

Figure 8 Potential appearance of the categories found

The basic prototype in terms of code on the computer from figure 7 will look similar to the image above, listing the categories of terms that will predict images based on what the code has learned from my data sets, though I am going to explore towards the end what I can do more with the visual aspect.

Timeline & Milestones

I will divide the timeline into three phases. Since the knowledge I need for the course relies on learning how to apply my existing knowledge in data mining and machine learning:

- The first week from now, I will focus on what can be classified from a data set and what kind of data I need and how I will collect it and from whom. - In the second week, I will start implementing the knowledge of data processing and its application in practice from my Data Mining course with some sample data I will create on my own. - In the third week, I will finalize the kinds of data I will need for this project, the various categories, and how to get them. I will also start approaching various intersectional identity people to participate in my data collection. I will also computationally implement my sample data algorithmically through machine learning once classifiable. - In the fourth week, I will continue to collect data, as it will not happen in a week, by finding more people and getting them to help me out. I will now be able to not only classify data sets but also start to apply machine learning models on it via Wekinator. - In the fifth week, I will continue to collect data and modeling machine learning algorithms on it. - In the sixth week, I will continue to collect data and continue to implement classification on them with more models that I will learn and experiment with. - In the seventh week, I will continue to collect data and not only implement classification but also start algorithmically applying models on them for various purposes. - In the eighth week, I will finalize the collected data and classify all of it, making sure it is running well and then begin to create an interface for the visualization of this data which I will also learn at the machine learning course. I will also see what can be done about the audio as a form of output through it. - In the ninth week, I will assess all the interface and data sets with the teachers and be ready to go off and do the final embellishments over the next month. Depending on the application, the timeframe may vary for the tasks planned at this point

[711bel]

Poster

The inspiration for my poster is the way it makes me feel when i’m in class during this last semester. It makes me reminisce my days in intermediate. It was a time of good laughs and good times. The classes then felt more like “mandatory hang out” sessions rather than actual school because of how engaging and fun each and every day was. Everyone in the class came in with positive attitudes knowing we’d be in a comfortable learning environment with people we were fond of. This is the same feeling I get when i’m in BCT. 

An explanation for what’s actually happening within the poster. The little head in the middle is supposed to represent me within the classroom, and the doors represent the skills that BCT open up for me that I could venture in to at anytime. I tried to make the poster look as intermediate-y’ as possible with the wall clocks, and the typical head over banners that all class rooms seem to have. While I don’t venture in to these skill sets as much as I would like to, I like having the freedom to choose to. 

I went through three other poster conceptualizations not including this one, but I felt that they didn’t convey what I was trying to say with in them. For the first initial idea I wanted it to be playful, because I wanted to integrate some parts of my childhood within it, but the more I did so the more it started to look more and more like a sponge bob episode, which wasn’t what I was trying to communicate. For the second iteration I grabbed the parts I liked which were the bubbles, and then integrated the color white more, which did make it a little more sophisticated and artistic, however I had no idea where to go from there and got stuck. I like to call that iteration the “art hoe” phase. For the third one I completely stripped everything down to the bones, and just played around with “archetictural-esque” drawings, which I felt was very pompous and a bit poseur-y. It didn’t communicate the main idea I wanted to communicate so for the next and final one I started from the main idea, which was my intermediate days, and worked from the top down, which was something that Ricardo as well as the marshmallow exercise taught us [1]. By implementing this lesson into the poster I was able to create a brief that I was sure of and then work down from that, with the brief being; 

“to convey the idea of my intermediate experience in relation to my learning experience in BCT so far through the use of nostalgic motifs associated with intermediate schooling. 

Since I was playing to my sense of nostalgia I wanted that to be communicated within my poster as well so I did some research in to how to better convey it. “ If we are to ‘live in relation to others in the present’, we must be able to ‘organize our past as memory’ in ways that are meaningful to others in our culture” [2] This speaks of in order to relate and feel nostalgia one must be engaged and enveloped in the culture of one’s surroundings. The way I tried to convey this within my poster is the blue prickly rough carpet that all my classes seemed to have, as well as the subtle inclusion of the wall clock as well as that classic blue bucket that seemed to be placed on all tables in intermediate. The shade of yellow walls with the white banners in tandem with the table, I feel convey the true intentions of the poster, and conveys the situation and environment it is being portrayed in. 

In terms of overall art style and stylistic choice, everything within the page except for the carpet ( which I got by google image searching and then multiplied with the layer below), was created by myself. In terms of color theory as well as set in stone ideals in design, I purposely tried to avoid some of those techniques as a way to make it look less ‘technical’ and more playful. I feel that If I were to introduce the inclusion of white more, it would make it look a little less playful, and more forcefully intending to relate to the ‘inner child.’ It wouldn’t look as child-like which was the opposite of what I was trying to convey. 

Link to the scrapped poster ideas. -https://711bel.tumblr.com/post/185145798912/vetod-poster-ideas

REFERENCES 

1) Anthony, S. (2014).  Innovation Leadership Lessons from the Marshmallow Challenge. Retrieved from http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.aut.ac.nz/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=10&sid=c1494593-c185-4396-ac8c-e794d18b26cc%40sessionmgr104.

2) May, V. (2017). Belonging from afar: nostalgia, time and memory. Retrieved from http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.aut.ac.nz/eds/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=9ba04594-0c41-4bf7-b04b-a29a7ee01bd4%40pdc-v-sessmgr02&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU%3d#db=sih&AN=122804094

[caveartfair]

10 Innovative Glass Artists on the Challenges and Joys of Their Medium

Christine Tarkowski, Copper Pour, 2018. Courtesy of the Corning Museum of Glass.

Glass is a volatile material. Working with it as an artistic medium can involve physical and mental strain, great expense, and a high chance of failure. And yet artists and designers who work with glass can shape it into anything from ethereal vessels to dynamic installations that resemble liquid. Glass is unmatched when it comes to the creative potential it offers.

Dutch artist Krista Israel sees working with glass, at times, as an obsession. “For me, it is not just any material I work with—I live, breathe, and think in glass,” she said. “It gave me a voice to tell my narrative and shape concepts.” Arriving at such a stage of mastery requires finely honed skills and trustworthy collaborators, not to mention a keen understanding of the medium.

“Glass is often used by artists, designers, and makers who don’t have much background in it,” explained Irish artist Karen Donnelan. “I think understanding some of the properties of glass and its history is a good starting point to making great work with the material.” A lack of this understanding, she added, can lead to derivative work.

Ayako Tani, Ghost 3, 2010 . Courtesy of the artist.

But glass artists who focus solely on the medium have often been overlooked in the past. As American artist Deborah Czeresko noted, glass has “been pigeonholed as a craft material.” Only recently, she added, it has caught the attention of the larger art market.

Glass institutions like the Corning Museum of Glass and UrbanGlass have helped make the material accessible to more artists, Czeresko said. The Corning Museum’s show “New Glass Now,” which runs from May 12, 2019, to January 5, 2020, features 100 works by artists working in more than 25 countries who are taking fresh, innovative approaches to the medium. Below, we share the insights of 10 of the participating artists on the greatest challenges and rewards of working with glass, and what it takes to excel with it. (Editor’s note: The artists’ responses have been edited for length and clarity.)

Rui Sasaki

B. 1984, Japan. Lives and works in Kanazawa, Japan.

Rui Sasaki, Liquid Sunshine/I am a Pluviophile, 2018. Courtesy of Yasushi Ichikawa and the Corning Museum of Glass.

Can you tell us a bit about your work?

Liquid/Sunshine/I am a Pluviophile (2018) is inspired by unstable weather in the Hokuriku region, where I live in Japan. There are more than 200 raindrop-shaped glass pieces with phosphorescent material hanging from the ceiling in a darkened room with a motion detector.

What does it take to excel with glass?

I need a lot of practice and have to experiment often to get skills and learn knowledge to know glass enough to fully explore it in my work. There are so many failures in the process. However, I believe that failures and experiments are the only way to break through and to let me achieve what I am most interested in with glass.

What is something you can do with glass that you can’t do with other mediums?

Glass has so many characteristics and phenomena as a material—such as reflection, transparency, fragility, strength, and so on—to work with to make a project. What other mediums have these unique characteristics to work with?

Stine Bidstrup

B. 1982, Denmark. Lives and works in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Stine Bidstrup, Bifurcation, 2017. Courtesy of Corning Museum of Glass.

ARCHITECTURAL GLASS FANTASIES SERIES - OBJECT NO. 9, . STINE BIDSTRUP Heller Gallery

Can you tell us a bit about your work?

My work exists at the cross section of sculpture, craft, and installation art; it’s inspired and informed by the history of architecture and design.

My work in “New Glass Now” is based on an interest in patterns of people, infrastructure, architecture, and systems that have grown so large and out of proportion to their original purpose that they lose touch with human reason and understanding.

What is the greatest challenge you face in working with glass?

Glass is far from an easy material to work with, generally speaking, and I tend to make a hard thing harder by developing several complex ways of creating form and pattern and combining them into one work. I use a spectrum of techniques—glassblowing, glass-casting, fusing and stretching, cold-working, gluing, painting, etc.—in my pieces to create dense layers of information and meaning.

What does it take to excel with glass?

In order to be able to develop your own voice with glass, I believe it is important, early on, to be in a learning environment where you are led to question established notions and potential clichés of what glass is in an art and design context.

It takes a very determined willpower to continue working with it for years and stick with for a lifetime. For me, it has to make sense in a conceptual way to keep working with glass, because there are many other materials and mediums that are more approachable. I do it because glass triggers curiosity and an engaged and complex viewing relationship between the objects and the audience.

Krista Israel

B. 1975, the Netherlands. Lives and works in Amersfoort, the Netherlands.

Krista Israel, Ayako Tani, and Hans de Kruijk, Lapi Boli Project, Netherlands, 2018. Photo by Krista Israel. Courtesy of the artist.

Can you tell us a bit about your work?

My use of multiple techniques to arrive at complex works is based on the complexity of society. I try to capture its ambiguity in layered, ambiguous works that touch both personal and universal feelings. No ready-made solutions, but moments of reflection.

What is the greatest challenge you face in working with glass?

Reinventing myself as an artist over and over again and developing skills are my greatest challenges in working with glass.

What does it mean to excel in working with glass?

Eighteen months ago, I found myself influenced by something I had no control over—a new work environment in the porcelain capital of the world, Jingdezhen, China. The environment led me to develop the experimental project “Lapi Boli”—lapi is the Chinese word for the ceramic throwing technique; boli is glass. It was so exciting, but also so very far out of my comfort zone. Aside from the technical challenge, for me, it is also an emotional challenge to experiment and to give myself the space to walk this new path of becoming an artist/researcher.

I strive to grow by continuing to improve my skills and being open to learning. I brainstorm a lot with “glassie friends” and, if possible, take a course to deepen my skills during a summer academy. Growing my ability to control the material brings me self-confidence, so I can technically implement more complex ideas. It is nice to experience that control, but there must be a balance, so I remain emotionally resilient. It is easy to lose yourself in the pursuit of perfectionism. The strength to keep yourself in balance, and being honest with yourself and the work, is of most importance.

Ayako Tani

B. 1981, Japan. Lives and works in Sunderland, United Kingdom.

Ayako Tani, Ghost 3, 2010. Courtesy of the artist.

Can you tell us a bit about your work?

I developed the genre of calligraphic lampworking, where glass is used as “ink” to draw spontaneous marks in three-dimensional space. The work is often inspired by my own personal recollections and those of others. Recently, I have been investigating the history of glass ships in bottles made by former Pyrex lampworkers in Sunderland, and applying the skills I have acquired to my new work.

What is the greatest challenge you face in working with glass?

Stretching and bending a rod into a large and perfect circle of a uniform line thickness.

What does it take to excel with glass?

Love of the material and an abiding fascination with its possibilities.

What is something you can do with glass that you can’t do with other mediums?

Freezing the moment when the piece is created in hot glass and preserving this moment for thousands of years.

Fredrik Nielsen

B. 1977, Sweden. Lives and works in Stockholm.

Fredrik Nielsen, I was here, 2017. Courtesy of Dunkers Kulturhus and the Corning Museum of Glass.

Can you tell us a bit about your work?

The work[s] I make are the largest shapes I can manage; I go until I can’t go anymore. The pitcher shape has become a kind of canvas for me. Sometimes I look at the pitchers as a trash can with a handle—the handle, or the grip, makes it into something else. When the piece competes with my own body, I reach a place where I want to be. Glassblowing is my race car, my amplifier, my main material.

What is the greatest challenge you face in working with glass?

It’s just about hitting that right energy level of creation. It’s such hard work, and it’s a lot of technical stuff that’s easily interfering with the connection between the artist and the potential art being made. I guess the challenge is to get rid of that interference and to just be connected. When glass is just technical, you lose all art, but you might win the competition within the field of the craft. I mean where the rulebook is about how stuff is supposed to be made. We all need that, but then turn our back on it if we now want to be artists. My hand holds a language, and if I can get that out there, it becomes something. Lately, I have been thinking a lot about the intelligence of the hand, the silent knowledge, and so on. I think the language of each artists’ hand takes quite a while to become interesting, it’s almost like ideas and choice of color [don’t] matter if you don’t speak your own language really well.

What does it take to excel with glass?

I think it takes so much, especially with glassblowing; the labor is hard to compare with other materials. It’s not for no reason that they call glassblowers “the truck drivers of the art world.” For my own sake, it’s that understanding, that flow, that puts me into motion. When I gather glass, I look at it as a really good glue, the best glue in the world. Thinking about it like that opens up new possibilities. And when I’m able to make stuff that I couldn’t make up beforehand, it makes me understand what glass is. Glass is, for me, the fastest sculptural material there is, and when and if you are ready to connect to that, you’ve got everything going for you. It’s like the best fairytale material there is.

Christine Tarkowski

B. 1967,United States. Lives and works in Chicago.

Works from The Chthonic Void, 2015. Christine Tarkowski devening projects

Can you tell us a bit about your work?

I’m an artist who works in a variety of mediums, including textiles and architecture, so this glass sculpture I’m showing at Corning is an extension of my creative practice. The work is a sculpture that relies on drawing with molten materials; hot glass and liquid copper that get alternately poured onto a vague steel armature that “catches” the material as it cools. I approached the sculpture as if it were a three-dimensional drawing, constructed from iterative parts.

What is the greatest challenge you face in working with glass?

Surely the ability to access facilities and collaborating with skilled glass makers. This challenge, however, is one of the unique conditions surrounding glass, which is the social aspect of the making of glass. The process of production is often communal, which in turn allows for a more emergent and collaborative environment.

What is something you can do or achieve with glass that you can’t do with other mediums?

As my background in glass involves training, but is for the most part technically limited, I feel I’m more able to create experimental yet informed works than I would be able to with another medium. Glass can yield unimaginable results if one approaches the material with an ethos toward observation and discovery.

Qin Wang

B. 1978, China. Lives and works in Shanghai.

Qin Wang, Four Treasures, 2016. Courtesy of the Corning Museum of Glass.

Can you tell us a bit about your work?

By using the character of glass, I try to show the space between the spirit and the object. In the spirit of the zen narrative, I want to express a unique Asian perspective. My work Four Treasures takes inspiration from the silence of nature. The aesthetic focus of this artwork is opacity, immateriality, and silence. I constantly try to push beyond the boundaries of light and glass material by studying their properties.

What is the greatest challenge you face in working with glass?

Serendipity fascinates me. It is beyond our control and understanding; unpredictable and unexpected. In my artwork, glass melting in the kiln is a zen moment. This method of creation is like an exploration, providing a world of possibilities. It decreases the acts and traces of human intention. The pursuit requires keen intuition and a rich experience. Magic can happen.

I respect glass as a material, and don’t want to control it. I try to talk to the glass and understand it; merge with it to achieve an utterly harmonious connection between my heart and the material.

Deborah Czeresko

B. 1961, United States. Lives and works in New York.

Deborah Czeresko, Meat Chandelier, 2018. Photo by Jess Julius. Courtesy of the Corning Museum of Glass.

Can you tell us a bit about your work?

The work I create in glass addresses the hand and making as subject matter. Specifically, my thematic approach addresses the gendering of occupation and object through the lens of a mythical Renaissance Venetian glass maestro who is female. The work fuses the history and tradition of chandelier- and glass-manufacturing with the relationships of gender and mastery through the skill-laden culture of the glass studio.

The most recent piece in the series is included in “New Glass Now.” This elaborate light fixture, called Meat Chandelier, references traditional Italian chandeliers, typically depicting complex floral arrangements. I subvert these visual markers and render accurate pieces of meat out of glass in place of the frilly floral motifs. Hot dogs are tethered together; logs of salami, as well as prosciutto, dangle; and a pork chop flaps at the center.

What does it take to excel with glass?

Becoming proficient at hand-formed hot glass is a painstaking process, which is deceptively simple. It takes a huge investment of time and thousands of mistakes to get to a level where execution is fluid and natural. Weather conditions matter; temperature and humidity place strain on the body. It helps to condition oneself physically so the body is not a limiting factor to making in the demanding hot shop.

Glass requires complete mental focus to merge with the material technically. Once a piece starts, you must drive the process forward with no breaks; you cannot put it down and come back later. It’s an extended state of focus or meditation on the process that is very demanding and dynamic, mentally and physically. There is a bizarre disconcerting psychological element to glassmaking.…I fall in love with pieces that are still on the blowpipe that I have invested a lot of time and energy into, then force myself to subdue this passion because the material is so complicated and fragile that it can break or be lost at any step in the process.

What is something you can do or achieve with glass that you can’t do with other mediums?

Glass is a phenomenological material rich with mineable metaphorical qualities. It transforms from one state to the next in a viscous primordial ooze. Its scientific state is considered a supercooled liquid or an amorphous solid. This transmutational nature makes me think of glass as genderless or gender-malleable; this aspect informs the narrative of my work and is not present in many other materials.

Obviously, glass has transparency and delicacy going for it, and associations to spirituality, science, and futuristic aspects, as well, that can be harvested for content. You can freeze the fluid ooze in motion or capture organic matter in a glass bubble and watch it incinerate. Glass breaks in interesting ways that can turn a seemingly docile and soft form into a razor-sharp weapon. It is capable of reflection through mirroring. It can glow under UV light by adding inert Uranium. Huge masses of it can appear weightless and ghostly, such as the work of Roni Horn.

Karen Donnellan

B. 1986, Ireland. Lives and works in Alfred, NewYork.

Suzanne Peck and Karen Connellan, Blow Harder: Alternative Lexicons for the Hotshop, 2018. Courtesy of the Corning Museum of Glass.

Can you tell us a bit about your work?

I make sculptural works, video, sound, and performance. Some works use glass, some don’t, but my training in glass and my love of the material does inform my material choices.

The work I’ll be showing as part of “New Glass Now” is based on a collaboration with Suzanne Peck. It began as a research paper titled “Blow Harder: Language, Gender, and Sexuality in the Glass Blowing Studio.” The work is a poster with alternative lexicons for the usually gendered—and sometimes problematic—glassblowing terms. Our poster offers “neutral,” “feminist,” and some ridiculous “highbrow” alternatives—e.g., the usual term “glory hole” could be “reheating chamber” (neutral); “g-spot” (feminist); or “chamber of life-affirming heat” (highbrow).

What is the greatest challenge you face in working with glass?

That I am seen as a “glass artist” or craftsperson, and as such, the research and ideas in my work are dismissed or not seen. I also work with a lot of other media, and I don’t always fabricate the work myself, so the term “glass artist” is not very accurate anyway.

What is something you can do with glass that you can’t do with other mediums?

It’s not one specific thing, but other materials that are glass-like—e.g., plastic/resin, wax, cellophane, quartz, ice, water—can only replicate certain qualities of glass. None have the archivability, transparency, weight, optics, magnification, and clarity, or can be manipulated using the wide range of ways that glass can (casting, fusing, blowing, cutting, polishing, flameworking, stained glass, etc.). They also don’t have a history like glass does, and few are at the bleeding edge of technology like glass is!

Jahday Ford

B. 1994, Bermuda. Lives and works in Manchester, United Kingdom.

Jahday Ford and Joseph Hillary, Breathe, 2017. Photo by Ester Segarra. Courtesy of the Corning Museum of Glass.

Can you tell us a bit about your work?

Many of my creations involve the manipulation of glass materiality beyond its decorative normality. Experimenting with mixed materials and digital processes allows the state of the semi-fluid material to manifest in peculiar intricacies and formats you’d never be able to predict. This curiosity keeps me constantly testing for more discoveries.

What is the greatest challenge you face in working with glass?

The modern-day life of glassmaking, realistically, has proven to be shockingly challenging outside of university, as a postgrad. Hot-shop hires, equipment fees, travel, shipping, assistants, studio fees, packaging, cold-working, glass color—the list goes on. All the while, you’re making sure your bills are covered and you’ve got a nice plate of risotto at the end of the day. Amid all of these hardships and high expenses as a freelance maker in glass, I’ve never lost the eagerness to pursue professional making. It gives me a feeling of chasing something special and discovering more with the material, even though it costs me an arm and a leg.

What does it take to excel with glass?

Working in hot glass, specifically, requires the utmost respect for the material. It’s actually alive, with a very short lifespan, if you think about it. You can’t just put it down, have a break, and take your time with it. If you don’t respect or connect to the material first, the work you make won’t come out as you’d like, and you can seriously injure yourself and others in a staggering amount of ways. Once you control these elements within your making, you can push your work to such a higher level.

Often, you may not want to focus on massive pieces or master-level techniques—this spurs exciting room for collaboration or working with more experienced makers in other mediums. If I didn’t jump to investigate my practice, or challenge my knowledge, by working with other like-minded creatives, I never would have discovered the areas of glass I work in, designing molds, creating digital methods, and using unusual techniques.

from Artsy News

[greekstreetart-talks]

Apset

Fine artist - street artist from Thessaloniki, responsible for large-scale visual artworks and co-organizer on the best festival for the street art scene in Greece. SAF kicks off in a few days and this month Greek street art will “host” Apset.. What’s the story behind your name? When and where did you created your first graffiti? It began with an anagram of my name (Ste-Set), and it turned into something else with obvious conceptual significance which characterized me a lot. I did my first graffiti in the middle of 98’ on bridges in Basilica, just outside of Thessaloniki where I grew up, with some paint colors of ironmongery, the line was pure. Time by time I went through different styles, styles, 3d, characters… My first style was ’Set’, with ’Nes’ from AGB … It didn’t take long until I joined the crew. AGB was one of the many teams that were integrated into one, 2G, with outstanding artists from all over Thessaloniki, but mainly from the center dealing with all the elements, writers, bboys, mc’s, dj’s and others for the hell of it. Back then we began as friends and then we became crew. Somehow that was the beginning…

What have you studied and how do you introduce yourself to those who do not know about you and your work? I studied graphic design at IEK in Thessaloniki and practiced in Poland. I worked for three years, based in Athens, on a project concerning the creation of theme parks for the Pacific Décor, in some of the largest municipalities in Greece, I have been involved with painting, sculpture, graphic design and constructions at that time, that was a kind of study too. Searching for my style from time to time, I’ve studied sculpture painting, hagiography, engraving, linear drawing, video and comics. For the last 5 years I’m a student in the Thessaloniki School of Fine Arts in the sector of painting. I’m not doing well with the titles, an ‘artist’ is enough, I think.

What’s it that draws an artist to create in public spaces, random walls and construction sights apart from the feeling that the streets are his home? Generally, we were street children who never found peace, street was a home for many people, we simply got familiar with it. It’s the feeling, this familiar sentiment, it was the adrenaline, the change and the evolution of the environment around us. It’s the tomorrow and our way of changing it like a sign turned on the other direction, on what we are waiting for… it is just a necessity.

You live in Thessaloniki but you work throughout Greece with very important collaborations like same84, urban act… Can Greek street art become an important exportable product? Most of the times is really hard to pursue to bring in 'today’ the minds and the situations that are stuck in 'yesterday’. It’s hard to fight yesterday looking at tomorrow with today stuck somewhere in between. It’s messed up situation… You are experiencing situations in many countries where things are for some reason easier to roll, or better organized or perhaps with more infrastructure to work as an artist, there is probably a little more education on the subject, not always and not everywhere though. It’s also not also easy to be absorbed in a country where artists are too many and the level too high. What we call art is also a kind of luxury in today’s Greece, when a person doesn’t have enough money to take care of himself how could he ever turn to art? However culture isn’t a luxury, in these times it’s a necessity. And of course it can become an exportable product, Greek writers have nothing to be jealous of from other foreign artists, we already have several notable artists, graffiti writers, street artists and street bombers who travel too much and are well known abroad.

For several years now I’ve been working with the Urban Act team which gives me the pushing force and opportunities to operate on large surfaces that I wouldn’t have had without it, at least on this amount. It’s essential to have good friends and partners you can share the same concerns and thoughts. For many years, Live2 was the one to share everything. In recent years, my main friend and collaborator in large murals is Same84, with whom we have shared several buildings throughout this time.

You create murals on huge surfaces. How difficult is that, how much time does that requires and which are the production stages of such a work in visual? It’s not easy, but the large size gives you another kind of boost and visual. Typically, I complete a mural within 3  to 5 days. Generally, in the large murals I try to work practically and methodically so that I don’t get tired, making sure to have as much fun as possible. I study enough before I begin my work to make the implementation easier. I have tried many ways of sketching , I don’t have a specific method or style in the design, each surface, location and theme’s different, so I can only say it comes out empirically.

The world’s increasingly beginning to realize that street art is very important when it comes to Greek reality, especially in those years of crisis that we need more joy and color but  less gray. In which way do you believe that art affects the public space but also the souls of people? Listen, ‘’happy themes’’ aren’t the exclusive reason of our creation, nor are we here to make the world around us ‘’better’’, It’s our own way to express ourselves and yes, to spread color and joy, but also to concern about things. It’s not enough for me to watch the world run around me, see a mural and laugh, It’s an equal success to stop and observe it… If even a little feeling comes up, whatever that is, then I’m ok, at least I have caused even for a short time a thought that flew away. It’s neither easy but nor the purpose too. Entering in someone else’s  space and neighborhood though without bothering to ask them it’s also an issue, but we need to communicate somehow, and that’s our way.

Co-organizer of street art festival (SAF) in Thessaloniki. How did it start, how often does it happen, what’s about, who will we see this year and what’s the goal? It began at Kodra camp in Kalamaria, 5 years ago when a friend-organizer asked me to paint there supporting their act. They did It just for fun. Energy, romance and extroversion were the elements that won me over. In the second year, I joined them. Now we are a group of young people, artists, musicians, designers, painters, creators.

SAF is held every year around mid-June at Thessaloniki International Fair and this year it’ll be the 5th anniversary event on 9-10-11 June. It is now the greatest encounter of artists in street culture. This year, as every year, we have an open call to young artists with more than 50 street artists from Greece and abroad, musicians, dancers, concerts, live graffiti, live dance shows, special dance shows, visual interventions, seminars, exhibitions and so much more.

From musicians and bands this year we have the honor to host : GENTLEMAN / EVIDENCE (dilated peoples) / DUB FX / LEAF DOG & BVA / ZENON / HATEMOST / TAF LATHOS and many others…

The objective, purpose and dream of Street Art Festival Thessaloniki is to bring together young people, creative individuals from Greece and all over the world. We give them the opportunity to express themselves, present their activities and have fun. Communicate their art with the general public in the way they know better.

Is there a plan for this festival to move to different spaces and places during the year? Creating something like a “show” with a beginning, middle and end? There are several shots we discuss and plan. The festival has an extrovert character and hosts more than 150 international artists each year. There are discussions about collaborations with companies and collectives from abroad but we can’t say anything until it’s announced. The key to us is to promote intercultural exchange of culture among young people without worrying about borders. We want young, creative people to co-create and exchange ideas and perspectives.

What’s that you miss the most from the ‘’innocent’’ years, when you just went out on the streets and painted without knowing that in the future this would be one of your main sources of livelihood? The good old days of carefree and careless friend groups and the freedom of not caring what I’m going to paint and where, the only thing that mattered was to finish the painting. I never imagined it could end up like this, but I feel very lucky for that.

10. In then years from now? I hope to be strong and to continue what I do. What we are living now doesn’t help us to look long-term, it has just made us ready to fight and be fast in our actions. Dreams are to be hunted, opportunities to fought for and failures to convince us not to give up. So I say, and let the time show..

Follow Apset: Fb Page \ Instagram \ SAF

_

Fine artist - street artist από την Θεσσαλονίκη, υπεύθυνος για εικαστικά έργα μεγάλης κλίμακας και συνδιοργανωτής τους καλύτερου φεστιβάλ για την street art σκηνή στην Ελλάδα. Το SAF ξεκινάει σε λίγες μέρες και το Greek street art “φιλοξενεί” αυτόν τον μήνα τον Apset

Ποια είναι η ιστορία πίσω από το όνομά σου; Πότε και πού έκανες το πρώτο σου graffiti? Ξεκίνησε με αναγραμματισμό του ονόματός μου (Ste-Set), και εξελίχθηκε σε κάτι άλλο με προφανή εννοιολογική σημασία όπου με χαρακτήριζε αρκετά. Το πρώτο μου graffiti το έκανα κάπου στα μέσα του 98’ σε κάτι γέφυρες στα Βασιλικά, λίγο έξω από τη Θεσσαλονίκη όπου και μεγάλωσα, με κάτι χρώματα βαφής σιδηρικών, ήταν pure η γραμμή Στην πορεία πέρασα από διάφορα στυλ, styles, 3d, characters… Το πρώτο μου style ήταν ’Set’, με τον ‘Νes’ από AGB… δεν άργησα να μπω και εγώ στο crew. Οι AGB ήταν μια από τις πολλές ομάδες οι οποίες ήταν ενταγμένες σε μια, τους 2G, με τσακάλια από όλη τη Θεσσαλονίκη αλλά κυρίως το κέντρο που ασχολούνταν με όλα τα στοιχεία, writers, bboys, mc’s, dj’s και άλλοι για το άραγμα και την αλητεία. Τότε πρώτα ήμασταν παρέα και μετά γινόμασταν crew. Κάπως έτσι έγινε η αρχή… Τι έχεις σπουδάσει και πώς συστήνεσαι σε εκείνους που δεν ξέρουν για σένα και για τη δουλειά σου; Έχω σπουδάσει γραφιστική σε ΙΕΚ στη Θεσσαλονίκη με πρακτική στην Πολωνία. Δούλεψα για 3 χρόνια, με έδρα την Αθήνα, πάνω στη δημιουργία θεματικών πάρκων για την Pacific Décor, σε μερικούς από τους μεγαλύτερους δήμους στην Ελλάδα, ασχολήθηκα με τη ζωγραφική, γλυπτική, γραφιστική και κατασκευές. Εκείνη την περίοδο, ήταν μια σπουδή και αυτό. Αναζητώντας ανά καιρούς το στυλ μου, έχω παρακολουθήσει μαθήματα γλυπτικής ζωγραφικής, αγ��ογραφίας, χαρακτικής, γραμμικού σχεδίου, video και comics. Τα τελευταία 5 χρόνια είμαι φοιτητής στη Σχολή Καλών Τεχνών Θεσσαλονίκης, στον τομέα της ζωγραφικής. Δεν τα πάω καλά με τους τίτλους, ένα ‘artist’ είναι αρκετό νομίζω.

Τι είναι αυτό που τραβάει έναν καλλιτέχνη να δημιουργεί σε δημόσιους χώρους, σε ξένους τοίχους και σε κοινόχρηστα οικοδομήματα εκτός από την αίσθηση ότι οι δρόμοι είναι το σπίτι του; Γενικά ήμασταν παιδιά των δρόμων που δεν βρίσκαμε ησυχία. Ο δρόμος ήταν σπίτι πολλών, απλά εμείς τον οικειοποιούμασταν. Είναι η αίσθηση, ήταν η αδρεναλίνη, είναι το γνώριμο, το οικείο, η αλλαγή και η εξέλιξη του περιβάλλοντος γύρω μας. Είναι το αύριο και ο τρόπος μας να το αλλάξουμε σαν μια ταμπέλα στραμμένη σ ’άλλη κατεύθυνση και σ’ αυτό που θέλουμε να ‘ρθεί… απλά είναι ανάγκη.

Ζεις στη Θεσσαλονίκη αλλά δουλεύεις σε όλη την Ελλάδα με πολύ σημαντικές συνεργασίες όπως ο Same84, Urban Act… Η ελληνική street art μπορεί να γίνει ένα σημαντικό εξαγώγιμο προϊόν; Ναι, υπήρχαν περιπτώσεις που έλειπα μήνες από την πόλη μου. Είναι σημαντικό να έχεις μια βάση και να ξαναφορτίζεις. Εφόσον μένουμε εδώ πρέπει να κοιτάξουμε καταρχάς πώς μπορεί να γίνει προϊόν που να εξυπηρετεί πρώτα την εικόνα στο εσωτερικό του. Είναι πολύ δύσκολο τις περισσότερες φορές το να προσπαθείς να φέρεις στο ‘σήμερα’, μυαλά και καταστάσεις κολλημένες στο ‘χθες’. Είναι πολύ δύσκολο να παλεύεις στο χθες κοιτώντας το αύριο με το σήμερα κάπου κολλημένο ανάμεσα. Μπέρδεμα… Βιώνεις καταστάσεις σε πολλές χώρες όπου τα πράγματα για κάποιο λόγο ρολάρουν λίγο πιο εύκολα ή καλύτερα οργανωμένα ή ίσως με περισσότερη υποδομή για να λειτουργήσεις ως καλλιτέχνης, μάλλον υπάρχει λίγη περισσότερη παιδεία πάνω στο θέμα, όχι πάντα και όχι παντού. Δεν είναι επίσης εύκολο να απορροφηθείς σε μια χώρα όπου οι καλλιτέχνες είναι πάρα πολλοί και το επίπεδο υψηλό. Εδώ που τα λέμε η ‘τέχνη’ είναι και ένα είδος πολυτέλειας στη σημερινή Ελλάδα, όταν ο άλλος δεν έχει να πάρει ‘ψωμί’ πώς να στραφεί στην τέχνη. ‘Ομως ο πολιτισμός δεν είναι πολυτέλεια, σ ’αυτές τις εποχές είναι ανάγκη. Και φυσικά μπορεί να γίνει εξαγώγιμο προϊόν. Οι Έλληνες writers δεν έχουν τίποτα να ζηλέψουν από άλλους του εξωτερικού, ήδη έχουμε αρκετούς αξιόλογους καλλιτέχνες, graffiti writers, street artists και street bombers που ταξιδεύουν πάρα πολύ και είναι αρκετά αναγνωρισμένοι έξω.

Εδώ και αρκετά χρόνια συνεργάζομαι με την ομάδα ‘Urban Act’ που μου δίνει βήμα και ευκαιρίες να λειτουργήσω σε μεγάλες επιφάνειες που χωρίς τη βοήθειά της δεν θα τις είχα, τουλάχιστον σε αυτό το ποσοστό. Είναι πολύ σημαντικό να έχεις καλούς φίλους και συνεργάτες που να νιώθουν και να μοιράζεσαι τους ίδιους προβληματισμούς και σκέψεις. Για πολλά χρόνια ο Live2 ήταν αυτός που τα περνούσαμε όλα. Tα τελευταία χρόνια ο βασικός φίλος και συνεργάτης στις μεγάλες τοιχογραφίες είναι ο Same84 όπου έχουμε μοιραστεί αρκετά κτίρια όλο αυτό τον καιρό. Το να επικοινωνείς και να τα βρίσκεις στο κομμάτι της αισθητικής, είναι πολύ σημαντικός παράγοντας προς την υγιή συνεργασία και εξέλιξη. Οι μίξεις των διαφορετικών στυλ, το κάνουν ακόμη πιο ενδιαφέρον. Δουλεύεις τοιχογραφίες σε τεράστιες επιφάνειες. Πόσο δύσκολο είναι κάτι τέτοιο, πόσος χρόνος απαιτείται και ποια είναι τα στάδια παραγωγής μιας τέτοια δουλειάς εικαστικά; Δεν είναι εύ��ολο, αλλά το μεγάλο μέγεθος σου δίνει άλλη ώθηση και οπτική. Συνήθως χρονικά ένα mural το ολοκληρώνω σε 3 με 5 μέρες. Γενικά στις μεγάλες τοιχογραφίες προσπαθώ να δουλεύω πρακτικά και με μεθοδικότητα, ώστε να μην κουράζομαι και να το χαρώ όσο περισσότερο γίνεται. Μελετάω αρκετά πριν, ώστε να έχω μεγαλύτερη ευκολία στην υλοποίηση. Έχω δοκιμάσει πολλούς τρόπους σχεδιασμού, δεν έχω συγκεκριμένο τρόπο ούτε συγκεκριμένη μεθοδολογία στο σχέδιο, η κάθε επιφάνεια, τοποθεσία και θεματική διαφέρει, άρα μόνο εμπειρικά πλέον μπορώ να πω ότι προκύπτει. Ο κόσμος ολο και περισσότερο αρχίζει να αντιλαμβάνεται ότι η street art είναι πολύ σημαντική για την ελληνική πραγματικότητα, ειδικά αυτά τα χρόνια που με την κρίση χρειαζόμαστε περισσότερη χαρά και χρώμα και λιγότερο γκρι. Πώς πιστεύεις εσύ ότι επιδρά η τέχνη στο δημόσιο χώρο αλλά και στις ψυχές των ανθρώπων; Κοίτα δεν είναι αυτοσκοπός τα ‘χαρούμενα θέματα’ ούτε είμαστε εδώ να κάνουμε τον κόσμο γύρω μας 'καλύτερο’. Είναι ο τρόπος μας να εκφραστούμε και ναι, να δώσουμε χρώμα και χαρά, αλλά και να προβληματίσουμε. Δεν μου αρκεί απλά να ‘τρέχει’ ο κόσμος γύρω μου, να βλέπει μια τοιχογραφία και να γελάει, επιτυχία εξίσου είναι να το δει και να σταματάει. Να σκεφτεί, να χαμογελάσει, αλλά και να προβληματιστεί… Αν προκύψει έστω και ένα μικρό συναίσθημα, όποιο και αν είναι αυτό, τότε εγώ είμαι οκ, τουλάχιστον προκάλεσα έστω και λίγο τον ειρμό που είχε στο φευγιό του. Δεν είναι εύκολο, ούτε και ο σκοπός τις περισσότερες φορές. Το να μπεις όμως στο χώρο, στο μάτι και στη γειτονιά του κόσμου χωρίς να τον ρωτήσεις ή να τον υπολογίσεις είναι και αυτό ένα θέμα, απλά κάπως πρέπει να επικοινωνήσουμε και εμείς και αυτός είναι ο τρόπος μας. Συνδιοργανωτής του street art festival (SAF) στη Θεσσαλονίκη. Πως ξεκίνησε; Κάθε πότε γίνεται; Με τι ασχολείται); Ποιους θα δούμε φέτος και ποιος είναι ο στόχος; Ξεκίνησε στο στρατόπεδο Κόδρα, στην Καλαμαριά, 5 χρονιά πριν όπου με κάλεσε ένας φίλος-διοργανωτής να πάω να βάψω και να στηρίξω τη φάση τους. Το κάνανε τα παιδιά για το χαβαλέ τους. Η ενέργεια, ο ρομαντισμός και η διάθεση για εξωστρέφεια ήταν τα στοιχεία που με κέρδισαν. Τον 2ο χρόνο εντάχθηκα και εγώ στην παρέα. Πλέον, είμαστε μία ομάδα από νέους σε ηλικία καλλιτέχνες, μουσικούς, σχεδιαστές, ζωγράφους, δημιουργούς.

Το SAF γίνεται κάθε χρόνο γύρω στα μέσα του Ιουνίου στο χώρο της Διεθνούς Έκθεσης Θεσσαλονίκης και φέτος προχωράμε για την επετειακή 5η διοργάνωση, στις 9-10-11 Ιουνίου. Είναι πλέον η μεγαλύτερη συνάντηση καλλιτεχνών στη street κουλτούρα. Φέτος, όπως και κάθε χρόνο έχουμε ανοιχτό κάλεσμα σε νέους καλλιτέχνες με πάνω από 50 street artists από Ελλάδα και εξωτερικό, μουσικούς, χορευτές, με συναυλίες, live graffiti action, live dance shows, special dance shows, εικαστικές παρεμβάσεις, σεμινάρια, εκθέσεις και άλλα πολλά.

Από μουσικούς και συγκροτήματα φέτος έχουμε την τιμή να έχουμε μαζί μας, τους: GENTLEMAN / EVIDENCE (dilated peoples) / DUB FX / LEAF DOG & BVA / ΖΗΝΩΝ / HATEMOST / TΑΦ ΛΑΘΟΣ και πολλούς άλλους…

Στόχος, σκοπός και όνειρο του Street Art Festival Thessaloniki είναι να φέρουμε κοντά τους νέους ανθρώπους, τους δημιουργικούς ανθρώπους της χώρας μας και όχι μόνο. Να τους δώσουμε την ευκαιρία και το βήμα να εκφραστούν, να παρουσιάσουν τις δραστηριότητές τους και να διασκεδάσουν. Να επικοινωνήσουν την τέχνη τους με το ευρύ κοινό με τον τρόπο που ξέρουν οι ίδιοι καλύτερα. Υπάρχει κάποιο πλάνο ώστε αυτό το φεστιβάλ να κινείται σε διαφορετικούς χώρους και τόπους μέσα στη χρονιά; Να δημιουργηθεί δηλαδή κάτι σαν “παράσταση” με αρχή, μέση, τέλος; Υπάρχουν αρκετά πλάνα που συζητάμε και σχεδιάζουμε. Το φεστιβάλ έχει εξωστρεφή χαρακτήρα και φιλοξενεί κάθε χρόνο περισσότερους από 150 διεθνείς καλλιτέχνες. Γίνονται συζητήσεις για συνεργασίες με εταιρίες και κολεκτίβες στο εξωτερικό αλλά ακόμη δε μπορούμε να πούμε κάτι μέχρι να ανακοινωθεί. Το βασικό για εμάς είναι να προάγεται η διαπολιτισμική ανταλλαγή κουλτούρας ανάμεσα σε νέους ανθρώπους χωρίς να μας νοιάζουν τα σύνορα. Θέλουμε οι νέοι, δημιουργικοί άνθρωποι να συν-δημιουργούν, να ανταλλάσσουν ιδέες και απόψεις.

Τι σου έχει λείψει από τα “αθώα” χρόνια, εκείνα που έβγαινες στους δρόμους και έβαφες χωρίς να ξέρεις ότι αυτό στο μέλλον θα γίνει μια από τις πιο βασικές πηγές βιοπορισμού σου; Οι πολλές και 'ανέμελες’ παρέες από την 'καθαρή’ την αλητεία μέχρι την ελευθερία του δεν με νοιάζει τι θα βάψω και που, απλά πρέπει να βγει. Ποτέ δεν φανταζόμουν ότι μπορεί να καταλήξει έτσι, αλλά νιώθω πολύ τυχερός για αυτό. Σε 10 χρόνια από τώρα; Ελπίζω να είμαι γερός και να συνεχίσω αυτό που κάνω. Αυτό που ζούμε τώρα δεν μας βοηθάει να κοιτάξουμε και πολύ μακροπρόθεσμα, απλά μας έχει κάνει να είμαστε ετοιμοπόλεμοι και να ελισσόμαστε γρήγορα. Τα όνειρα είναι για να κυνηγιούνται, οι ευκαιρίες είναι να παλεύονται και οι αποτυχίες να μας πεισμώνουν. Έτσι λέω εγώ και ας μας δείξει η πορεία.

[android-for-life]

"Kubernetes engineers keep your favorite software running"

In Greek, the word "kubernetes" means "helmsman." In tech, it's a system created by Google that uses containers to help software work more efficiently with the server space it has. Just as someone helms a container ship, Kubernetes makes sure everything gets where it's supposed to be.

Containers are systems that have everything needed to run a piece of software: the code, the dependencies, and on and on. Companies build their products using containers so they’re standardized, whether it runs in the cloud or in a physical data center. Kubernetes manages the workloads and services associated with containers, so software efficiently uses server space. Kubernetes, which Google donated to the Cloud Native Computing Foundation, is now one of the most active open-source projects ever. Google remains the top contributor for the project, including leadership and committee positions. 

Aug. 26 marks the five-year anniversary of Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE), our managed version of open-source Kubernetes, becoming available to everyone. GKE engineers contribute beyond Google Cloud to the Kubernetes community at large. Here, three of those engineers—Michelle Au, Janet Kuo and Purvi Desai—explain why Kubernetes is so important, and how it’s used in the real world. 

Google Kubernetes Engine turns five this year. How would you explain Kubernetes to a five-year-old?

Michelle Au:Kubernetes is a tool that helps many of your favorite games and websites run without problems, even when all your friends want to play at the same time. It makes sure that there are enough computers running to support everyone using them, they are restarted if they crash and that they update without problems.

Janet Kuo:Think of containers as plants. To grow a plant, you need to first find some pots, and then fill the pots with seeds and compost. Let’s say you have all the plants in one pot and there’s not enough compost in that pot. Then you need to move them to other pots. Kubernetes is like a gardener that helps you take care of your plants, check the compost levels of each pot, check the health of your plants, remove dead plants or transplant them when needed. Kubernetes can also grow more or less of certain kinds of plants (“I want at least two roses and at most 10 roses at all times”) based on your preferences. 

Purvi Desai:Imagine a child wants to build a huge city out of Legos. Deciding which Lego blocks needed would take significant time and hard work. Now imagine instead, the child vaguely describes the idea of the city, along with shapes and colors, to their mom. Mom buys Lego kits and builds them for the child. She also works with them every day to add more buildings, so the child can spend more time playing rather than working. Think of Kuberentes as the mom, applications that you use on your computer or tablet as the Legos and the child as the application developer.

And how would you describe your role in GKE to a five-year-old?

Michelle:As a software engineer on the storage team, I write computer programs that make sure your important information is safely stored in Kubernetes.

Janet:I’m the Kubernetes project maintainer. I review code, fix bugs and implement new features. I also build products and tools on top of Kubernetes. You can think of those products as equipment Kubernetes uses to do fancier work. 

Purvi: I’m a senior manager in GKE and Kubernetes development team. My teams build the plumbing or roadways, aka the networking, for Kubernetes. We do the heavy lifting for our customers. 

Why is Kubernetes so important?

Janet:In a world where customers need access to software—regardless of their location—Kubernetes allows applications to run at global scale. Another benefit of Kubernetes is that it runs anywhere, so you can move your applications around. Kubernetes also allows you to customize and manage any resources you want, even the ones that live outside of Kubernetes, using the Kubernetes APIs.  Michelle:Kubernetes makes it easier for users to adopt good practices for running applications. It provides basic building blocks for scaling workloads, monitoring their health and updating them. This enables teams to develop, roll out and test their applications faster—making those applications more reliable and dynamically scalable. Kubernetes took off because it’s portable across any infrastructure provider and flexible to extend it with custom APIs. 

Purvi: Kubenetes enables you to run cloud native applications anywhere consistently on various platforms. It’s become massively popular not only with developers of modern cloud native microservices applications but also with developers looking to move their traditional applications to a platform that isn’t dependent on the underlying infrastructure. It’s enabled developers and operators alike to run their test and production workloads in environments of their choice without needing to rewire the application. This will continue as more businesses become digital. 

What are some real-life applications of GKE? Tell us a story of a favorite customer use case.

Janet:One of my favorite customer use cases is Shopify. Shopify runs entirely on GKE. They chose GKE and Kubernetes because it allows Shopify to cope with huge spikes in traffic, such as Cyber Monday, Black Friday shopping events or when a celebrity shares a new product on their Shopify store. 

Michelle: I love hearing how GKE enables customers to push the limits of computing. My favorite customer story is this Kubecon keynote by CERN that included a live demo on GKE processing 70TB of data in five minutes to rediscover the Higgs boson. This was impressive not only because of the scientific achievement and processing power demonstrated, but also because they highlighted the portability of Kubernetes and the reproducible environment of containers. 

Purvi: My favorite use cases are when customers have successful massive-hyper growth in a matter of minutes and GKE helps them scale to those demands. We see amazing graphs during launch of new online games, Black Fridays, flash sales, during live events like the Super Bowl, when customers migrate traffic and during customers’ new product launches. It’s so satisfying to see our customers’ business growth and our platform’s role in seamlessly enabling it.

What has your experience been like as a woman in software development? What do you think the future will be like for women in the field?

Janet:A few years ago, I went to a developer meetup with a woman friend of mine who had never been to one before. She was surprised that we were the only two women there, but I didn’t even notice because I was so used to being outnumbered. Luckily, our industry is becoming increasingly diverse over time. 

Michelle: In college, I was part of a women’s engineering community where I established many long-lasting friendships. On the GKE team, I’ve been able to work with many great women leaders, and the leadership in general has been very supportive and accommodating to make sure everyone feels safe and comfortable on the team. I know that my experience is unfortunately not the norm for a lot of women in the field. I hope that with more women role models and leaders, we can help build inclusive communities and encourage more women to take up a career in software. 

Purvi: When I joined a startup straight out of college, I was the only woman in the engineering and product group. But thanks to my upbringing and deep focus on my work, I never felt out of place in the field. I did, however, feel the pinch later at a different startup job when I had my kid and I was the first mother on the team. The company didn’t have support systems like paid leave or a mother’s room. Overall, things are getting better with more women in the field. I think the future for women in software development is bright.  

What’s your advice for aspiring developers who want to get started?

Michelle:It’s important to spend time learning about computer science concepts rather than deep-diving into specific technologies. The latest frameworks and programming languages will come and go, so it will be easier to adapt and learn if you have a good conceptual background.

Janet: Be hands on. Build something from what you’ve learned, and don’t worry if it’s “good enough.” Write articles about what you’re building or learning. This helps you grow and deepens your understanding of a new technology. 

Purvi: Find your passion or interest and explore how computer science can help you realize it. You have to lay the groundwork by learning programming languages, algorithms, data structures and such. This might get boring and tough, but these are fundamental skills just like reading or math. Once the groundwork is laid, the ability to turn your passion into reality will be exhilarating. 

Learn more about how to develop using Kubernetes. 

Source : The Official Google Blog via Source information

[typographasaurus]

What does the design process (the conceptualisation, research, first draft, etc) look like to you? I think this process is very brushed over and if you don’t have a grasp on it right away it’s pretty hard to teach yourself because you overthink everything and never come to a decision to follow & edit later & i also find like i have no idea what i’m doing & what are the right questions and answers for a design project it’s stressful! Your portfolio is so good! You are such a good designer!

I always find I’m the worst at trying to explain how the design process happens for me because I’m such a mess?? It usually just comes down to how much information/specifics I need to cover and then spending 3 hours in a rabbit hole looking at design online and dumping resources into a folder/on my canvas. 

Right now I’m working on a prospective donor brochure for a local museum and their restoration of an old farmhouse and I was literally given a 5 page basic bare powerpoint presentation and three photos and then handed an example big information booklet and was told ‘make it like that’ with no other direction which was.....really fun lmao....  

So I opened up InDesign, organized the text into a couple different pages and cropped some of the images/color corrected them in PS to look better than a grainy cellphone photo and then had to go dig through the other material I’ve done for them in the past (information, more photos) and began dragging and dropping them into InDesign and just kept moving text around and repositioning/recropping photos until there was a layout that made sense to me and displayed the information in a way that makes sense. 

I think that’s really what’s important, but tough to conceptualize when you start with a design is just trying to figure out ‘okay what’s important to highlight here, what hierarchy makes sense, what shapes and colors match the clients brand but also is interesting enough to create something visually appealing?’ and working within those parameters. 

Another example was I was asked to help do an introduction ‘presentation’ for some of our freelancers who interact with us every day on a digital level but don’t know us personally. So I literally spent an hour searching different variations of ‘about me pages’ ‘about me presentations’ ‘biography page presentation’ ‘biography graphic pages’ and taking ideas from those image searches and mashing it with our company’s current brand and sprinkled in a little from an example template my coworker referenced that they had used many years previously (that looked absolutely awful, I might add xD) 

From that, I created a title page and an example page with an example bio of me and gave it to the coworker who requested it. (It’s currently sitting in my inbox being asked to pare it down and fit two people on one page instead of using one page for each person, which I have no idea how to do by keeping the same fun feel she loved from the ‘one page-one person’ version but  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯)

And overthinking and anxiety always sit with me while I’m working too... I always deal with it, by telling myself to do like five wildly different versions, and then the lazy part of me gives up by version 2 and I go back to version 1 and implement what I liked in the first 20% of version 2 and then tweak it until I’m like WELP GOOD ENOUGH, LET’S SEE WHAT THEY THINK and then let the client feedback guide me from there. 

I KNOW NONE OF THAT IS LIKE SUPER HELPFUL. But like all my advice boils down to do your design research and always keep your eyes out for awesome designs that can inspire you for your next project! 

[jaegermau]

Essay

Jaeger Ehrenbeck

Prototyping

March 26, 2020

Why Gray Area Matters:

 A Compendium on Ideation Synthesis, and Collaboration

 Ambiguity is often met with dismay or fear. Ambiguity is a sense of uncertainty towards something, or a state at which something is observed in and paradoxically not observable, at least in terms of making a solid conclusion or remark towards what it is that is being observed. To designers however, this uncertainty is the life-force of the imagination, it is the boundless freedom of creativity.

 The topic that will be discussed in this essay is the process of prototyping and engaging with others, but more specifically, the importance of  equivocacy in the context of collaborating with others and sharing ideas with peers, stakeholders, or whoever else may be included in the prototyping process. Leaving some aspects of an idea undefined is of great importance to designers and stakeholders alike. The degree to which a designer does this can make or break a prototype, so it must always be balanced carefully in accordance to what stage of prototyping the designer is on.

Leaving aspects of a prototype undecided is important for collaboration with others the designer is working on the project with. It is inherent in the very nature of building a prototype that things are left undecided. It is not a polished idea; it is a compromise between the dualistic worlds of imagination and practicality. The collaborative process works and aims towards a common goal, that is the only certainty when it comes to creating, so with that in mind, everything else is left up in the air. 

This is the most primitive stage of the prototyping process, when only the goal is determined and the idea is not yet made. This stage can be extremely frightening to a designer, feelings of doubt and uncertainty arise and prevail. It is only when the first most primitive concept is created that these feelings begin to subside; this is when a prototype is born, albeit in its most basic capacity, the progress from this point grows exponentially. The reason for this is the very uncertainty that causes the fear in the first place. A primitive prototype, while weak in its initial realization, is actually very strong for the sake of ideation, comparatively to a raw brainstorm. This is because once the hatchling idea is first given some basic concrete information it then becomes something phenomenological amongst all the brainstorm’s participants and can be a jumping off point of sorts. Everyone can see this hazy idea through their own set of lenses. When this occurs it can significantly bolster a brainstorm, as everyone has their own envisioning of the idea, and with each person it is filtered through, their mind generates a variation of the same idea or new ideas altogether, thus bringing immense insight into not just the fledgling prototype, but the brainstorm as a whole. It allows what is gained from this to be fuzed with other ideas, creating whole new concepts and allowing this phenomenological envisioning to repeat again and again. 

In my project 2 group I experienced this personally; we had the goal in mind of improving family communication. From there we identified the problems of time-zone management, difficulty with scheduling time to talk, and phobia over not knowing the subject of what a family member was calling about (emergencies etc.). Once we identified the problems we felt very lost in the face of solving these monumental tasks, and we couldn’t quite figure out how to solve all of them in one design. We had very primitive concepts at the beginning, such as a subject line for calls (which is not exactly ground-breaking), a mood tracker, dice with a list of controversial topics to talk about, a bell system of sorts for a simple two-way communication between a small area (think a few rooms away in a house), and an interface that could display availability and aid in scheduling. While not much on their own, these simple ideas once shared added quite a bit of synergy to our brainstorm, within minutes we were already figuring out how they relate and quickly put them together into the singular idea of a digital, smart-whiteboard which sparked even more ideas. All of these ideas began with quite a bit of gray area to allow us to mesh them together. In contrast, if these ideas had started out polished with almost all their aspects planned out it would be difficult (not impossible) to think of how they could mesh together, and maybe even too precious to change for those who had slaved away to perfect them; it would no doubt cause a reluctance to radically change if needed. Maintaining gray area in prototypes and design proposals is maintaining flexibility.

Equivocacy is important for the imagination of the stakeholders. When proposing designs within the prototyping process the stakeholders are not looking for a completed product. They are trying to filter your idea first before they accept it for further development. For this reason a prototype should not be a fully defined project. It is for the same reasoning as why a designer should not define too much too soon: It kills the imagination of the viewer. A prototype is collaborative by nature and stakeholders are as much part of the process as are a designer’s team. From what we learned in our Graphical User Interface course, selecting colors or photos to be used in a mockup is generally bad practice, sometimes when stakeholders see these prototypes they cannot imagine them without these colors or photos and they may write off the design proposal. In Exploring Information Appliances Through Conceptual Design Proposals, It is also argued for a level of equivocacy or “openness” -as Gaver calls it, when it comes to making design proposals, for the sake of the stakeholders, “Presenting ideas as narrative proposals allows their concreteness to be balanced with openness, because many details of their implementation, aesthetics, or functionality do not need to be resolved” (Gaver, 215). Gaver’s reasoning is more directed at the feasibility of the designs he is referring to, but the principle is the same. It’s not always about having everything done and resolved, prototypes should maintain some equivocacy.

It could be argued against having gray area that a lack of concrete elements to a design is a lack of responsibility on behalf of the designer, and that keeping things too ambiguous places more of the onus to imagine the proposal on the stakeholders; this has some truth to it. While gray area in the prototyping phase is a great strength, it is neither black or white in consideration to whether it is good to have or not. Maintaining gray area in design is a nuanced topic and must be judged on a case by case basis. 

The lazy designer expects stakeholders to envision too much, and in contrast, the overzealous, compulsive designer defines too much too early with their design proposal, closing off imagination and opportunities for their prototype. Much like painting or drawing, the designer must strike a balance with how much is defined at any given point. Painting is a good parallel process to this, you start off broad, making sure to keep the full picture in mind before jumping into small trivial details. For the prototyping process it is exactly the same, the designer should start broadly to allow flexibility, and be able to make radical changes. As the idea begins to come more and more into focus, the designer should begin looking at the details of how the prototype will operate more carefully. For example, when designing our project 2 whiteboard prototype, it started out as a makeshift hodgepodge of several ideas, an availability interface, a smart-schedule, a subject line for calls, and a drawing program with real-time updates. At this stage in our design there was enough ambiguity to allow for tons of ideation and iterations of the whiteboard, but if it were to be presented it in its raw state, it would be laughable. Only when we created hi-fidelity Sketch and Adobe XD mockups, did I feel confident with presenting the idea as a proper proposal. Creating the hi-fi mockup in sketch helped me define more features of the idea and helped see what the experience could look like; there was still some gray area, but at this point the whiteboard was something that was appropriate to present, as we ensured that most of the onus to imagine and define features was on our shoulders, and that there was still a smidge of gray area as to not be a full-fledged idea. This would allow a stakeholder to see the idea and still envision it taking a different path should they choose to do so.

Collaboration, ideation synthesis, flexibility, and an openness to radical changes in the face of stakeholders all hang in the balance of how much ambiguity you maintain.  Striking a good balance of defined and undefined aspects in one’s prototype is extremely important for these reasons.

Works cited

Gaver, B. and Martin, H. (2000). Alternatives: exploring information appliances through conceptual design proposals. CHI Letters, [online] Volume 2(Issue 1), pp.209–216. Available at: ResearchGate.net [Accessed 26 Mar. 2020].

‌

[vncntprzdsgn]

C.22 Process Journal: Selection

ASSIGNMENT: PROCESS JOURNAL: SELECTION Reflect on the methods and techniques that your group used to select the most appropriate idea to address the problem you have defined and summarize those activities in a new post in your process journal. How did your group come to a consensus on what ideas to select? What were the discussions and debates over ideas?

When reflecting on the methods and techniques, I feel a bit hopeful yet deflated. We first began by taking the 5 choices we had below and polling to our colleagues which idea they thought was the best. That being said, we landed on Idea 1 as being our starting off point. Based on feedback, it was best that we do not proceed with the Smoothie/juice cart idea as that idea has already been conceptualized and may not warrant the result we are looking for as it relates to innovation. 

IDEA 1: Local Source Marketplace & K-12 Nutritional Program “EDUCATION”

IDEA 5: Recycle/Reuse programs “CAMPAIGNS”

IDEA 4: Revitalize /inspired WIC “SHOPPING & COMMUNITY”

IDEA 2: LA Smoothie / Juice Carts “PRODUCT”

IDEA 3: Revitalize CSA-esq “APP”

With idea 1 in mind, we broke out into self discovery where we conceptualized on our own what the best blue sky idea for us individually as it relates to idea #1. We effectively came back and pitched to one another an idea that is centered around idea number 1 and collaborated through google sheets. From there we took the significant attributes that we liked from each idea and rated those attributes against all the ideas that were presented to where we would cherry pick what ideas made the most sense. That being said, I think this process was the most difficult out of all the steps in the journey so far. 

We used a number of techniques to solidify our idea like Kepner-Tregoe matrix, ranking and selecting attributes from each idea, and picking parent each idea via the colored hats method. What was troubling was not the idea generation, but rather the selection and the consensus portion. Though we have a lot of great ideas, it was difficult to pair down on a solution that was unique and would give enough backing to fulfill our problem statement. This is when we began to revisit some of our initial ideas. 

We chose our top 5 from an easy-hard matrix where we categorized ideas based on low impact and easy and hard to implement. The ideas we choose were primarily on the top left hand quadrant of the matrix which were high impact and easy to implement, or so we thought. By revisiting the matrix we were able to discover additional ideas that were viable for what we want to achieve as it levels up to our problem statement. We determined that taking a model like a good delivery truck or the “Swanson Cold Cars” that carried household staples to where people can pick up bulk items that can be packaged in sustainable and eco friendly containers (think ice cream truck of grocery goods). We determined being able to bulk select items and delivery would be the best method in reducing plastic and food waste, while also making it mobile allows us to cater to a wide variety of markets where we could set up anywhere so people can get what they need. 

[architecturalengineering534-blog]

Home Architecture: 10 Things I Wish I'd Known Earlier

Your builder must be in a position to comprehend what exactly you're looking for. Before you employ the architect make certain you settle and do your study. Even better, Residential Architect has a conventional design that it is likely to pick out of, out there, it is going to be less of stress in your end because you won't be thinking what is going to be the very best design for your house. Residential architects bloomfield hills Michigan are a professional group of architects which are known for rendering their services which are considered as best in the company. A adequate architect has to be in a position to supply you.

Don't Buy Into These "Trends" About Architectural Engineering

Buildings have a propensity to get foundations, whilst model building kits have a tendency to lack them. Therefore, if you're thinking about building, your very first step must be to locate the suitable architect! Building and designing your own custom made home could be a really exciting procedure.

The projects aren't only educational programs, but may also supply possible solutions in societal advancement. Only a few have been attained thus far though many jobs are conceptualized. Zoning information services Before you are able to start a new construction project, you will need to to learn whether the space in which you would like to build is zoned for the type of construction you wish to construct.

You do call for a design template. A flourishing store design contributes to great customer flow. But design is in reality a craft type which may be really executed by anybody who knows a few essential principles. The program isn't only revolutionary in sustainable stipulations, but in visual outcomes. At Grandpad, you'll find the most recent luxury interior layouts in numerous styles, which suits to your house.

There are quite a lot of reasons to get a designer to complete their schooling. Designers have to have a formidable observation and they have to get ready to judge which measures are taken to reinforce any sort of interior design. A designer understands of these details and impact of various things on any particular website. It'd be far better think about selecting an Interior Designer to assist you. The newer interior designers discover that a sensible quantity of knowledge concerning CAD applications is as essential. Since you could imagine, the very first step into becoming a booming interior designer is to find a level and a permit.

The inside may have a tremendous effect on not or if a shop is a success. When it's interior or exterior, you've got different color tones to accent the pure colour of the brick or adjust the colour entirely. The interior helps to boost business productivity and make the best atmosphere for workers which help present their best in performance, creativity and innovation. The inside of the castle towers is presently a museum and it's full of a number of the splendors of design and architecture of this period it had been constructed in.

Become An Expert On Residential Architect By Watching These 5 Videos

Besides design, you should pick an acceptable lot for your own residence. Pick the plot in which you have to construct your house. Then you simply have to permit the attractiveness of your house's substances take center stage. Whether you're selling your current home or searching for a new house, the Coldwell Banker Innovations we'll gladly assist.

If you do not sell your house, it is unlikely you'd ever need to worry about replacing your roof again if you opt for a tile roof. With planning and a little math, you can set your house's best face forward. Boost Your Home's Appeal The first thing an individual will notice about your house is the front lawn. During the time you are arranging a house in UAE, your funding may be your principal component to find out your design choices.

In the event you're considering interior layout for a customer or your own house, then recall all the tips mentioned below. Compared to what the majority of men and women think, interior layout is much more than simply decorating, though that is a part of it. Because of this, you will require something which complements the current design. As soon as you are finished with the customized house design design it's the time to search for an architect.

The builder is a full-stack programmer, therefore it's important to acquire a broad technical understanding. In addition, he usually has knowledge in several technological stacks at a decent level, and should have a fantastic understanding of some different ones. The program architect also needs to be ready to write a whole lot of technical documentation, reports and diagrams. It's desirable to uncover a software architect in your present place of employment.

You don't even need to begin your company. Nobody ever constructed an important company on a smart idea. Again, it actually depends upon the kind of business and the item or service they're working to deliver along with on the construction of the general business. A particular company or department might have a lot of products.

As the business grows the requirement for development resources increases and you employ a larger engineering group. Another corporation may require a VPE with extremely quite good product experiences. So it appears as though the business was really trying for a little while there. Its portfolio businesses and other information are available at www.aminocapital.com.

Hiring junior people is cheaper and lets you shape them to match your institution's culture. Sooner or later, the organization needs someone who will assist engineering implement. Naturally, every business differs and the proper time varies. As a consequence, American companies have significantly more income than ever before. In fact it's to construct a outstanding company that produces a wonderful product.

The Advanced Guide To Architecture And Design

As stated by the BLS, all engineers working directly with the people has to be licensed by the country. Some architectural engineers work in specialty companies that are dedicated to the plan of one construction system. In most parts of the world, they are not entitled to practice design unless they're also licensed as architects. Engineers that are really very good at their job is going to be surprised by how several new things there are to learn as a supervisor.

CAD services are favored by many companies because there are minimal probability of malfunction or data loss. Outsourcing CAD services saves your time and enables you to concentrate on your company actions. Anyway, architectural CAD businesses provide broad selection of different amenities like CAD conversion services of versions. Moreover, there are not many services that cater to the demands of specific business such as architectural CAD services.

Architects are directly answerable for the shape and look of a construction, by way of instance, way in which people use and experience the spaces of the construction. Furthermore, should they wish to raise their potential annual salary, they might need to finish graduate school. Architects over the plan of history have been responsible for a few of the most important monuments of mankind.

Architects are a wise group. After talking the demands and needs, the builder will earn a concept layout. There are a number of aspiring architects in Australia who work to produce a name from the business.

Because of this, it is crucial to decide on an architect who's well qualified along with seasoned in the specialized area of your pick. An Architect brings a large amount of experience to the table. It's likely to discover residential architects out of word of mouth also.

You will ask the architect to perform periodic inspection so as to make certain that everything is going as planned. The architect will undergo the tender documents so as to ensure the rates are okay and that the programs are accepted from the council. Architects are the ones that alter and construct homes in addition to industrial buildings. To achieve fully the construction building that you need, you will have to get the most effective residential architect and construction project management which may assist you in each step along the construction.

5 Laws That'll Help The Home Architecture Industry

You are going to want to have an architect who's prepared to supply you with realistic expectations about what you can have built for your financial plan. Implementing an architect is the perfect approach to create the best utilization of the final cent of your financial plan. As previously mentioned, to have an excellent layout you need to work with a seasoned architect who will not just provide you plans for the residence, but one that will also inform you about of the newest designs to go for.

Architecture isn't an exception. Employing a landscape design is a very fantastic decision you've ever made for you house. It is not a method of adding beauty as the purpose can change from time to time.

According to the conventional small company design, company produces a client base and then seizes the usage of advertising strategies and approaches. Architecture companies should select technology vendors which don't simply understand their company but has the potential to provide suitable training. They typically work on a high number of projects with outcomes that are tough to predict.

Architects can mix in precisely the same projects systems and know-how that is traditional. Your architect is told by you as you'll need that additional bedroom. Henceforth it is essential that you select the best architects from the most well-known and reliable Architecture Firms Brisbane.

Architects finally have the capability to better benchmark their customer's expectationseverything from a building's natural light possible to the selection of materials are now able to be actively evaluated anytime in the plan process. In the exact same time, you are going to find some architects who tend to feel that design and aesthetics are just two jobs that are individual. Or, you may employ a landscape architect and pass the duty to layout the of your home to him.

Architectural design is quite open and varied regardless of in which you look. It involves the crucial services that help with the construction of monuments or buildings. To conclude, architectural design and application of appropriate technology can greatly decrease the cost of construction of your own residence.

Analyze the contract carefully to comprehend who must have the layout. Instead, you have to concentrate on picking quality layout initially and then limit your choices depending on the budget which you've got. Brick design, quality of construction and extra features also give rise to the appreciation in value of a home.

You ought to be in a position to make the perfect layout out of everything you have and it must be'unique'! Architectural design affords you the event to locate various different manners of homes by designers from all around the area in which you reside. Architectural House Layout is your sole way which you are likely to discover a unique, bespoke home made to fit your requirements and amazingly often it ends up as being extremely reasonably priced! You see architectural house design ought to be looked at from several components to make certain you receive the house you would like. Furthermore, it's the architectural design of a home that investigates the usage of balustrades.

Architectural design is quite a discipline. Contemporary design does not need to be outlandish. To the contrary, modern architectural designs don't permit any room for the usage of balustrades.

As a photographer, structure provides many unique challenges, particularly for the new photographer. In a wider sense and taking under consideration the pressing political and economic problems, sustainable structure attempts to lessen the negative environmental effect of the buildings by raising efficiency and moderation in the utilization of construction materials, power and development space. Even though it's a 4G-enabled architecture, it's backwards compatible with 3G and 2G cellular technologies too. Cycladic architecture is well known for its charm and uniqueness. Mimetic structure, as its name implies, is a kind of architecture that imitates its environment. Strong company with high potential expansion costs and the best direction is always what makes ideal small business structure.

5 Killer Quora Answers On Architectural Design

You need to prevent any architect who's not keen on going to the site before discussing his plans with you. The perfect architect will know what you'd like, they will sincerely be excited about your job as you've defined it, they are going to get personality which you feel comfortable with, they could offer unbiased leadership on the best usage of your building funds, and can help you to find the suitable builder. Also, in spite of how you are looking for the perfect architect you need to remember they're not the same as interior designers as for them it's more concerning the structural aspect compared to aesthetics. It's possible for you to encounter residential architects out of word of mouth also.

Architecture is a company. Organizational structure is understood to be the construction and form by which any company operates. It has a major impact within my organization. The Victorian style design of this church is sufficient reason to see that, regardless of a person's religious beliefs.

Architects work with a variety of varieties of professionals. Furthermore, they might not operate independently until a few years after they graduate college. An excellent solution architect will attempt to be aware of the future of the system and based on this pick the most acceptable amount of architecture that needs to be in place.

Architects must be good at math and drawing. They tend to procrastinate since they believe that there is always time. Instead of just leading part of the project, they are believed to become the only touch point with the project since technology will let them take direction of not only the layout but also the fabrication process. It's desirable to uncover a software architect at your present place of employment.

Architects adore hard difficulties. Additionally, should they want to increase their potential yearly salary, they may want to finish graduate school. The program architect also should be ready to write a substantial variety of technical documentation, reports and diagrams.

Architects often appear difficult to understand. By way of example, they should be able to clarify the difference between threats and risks. Our architects are excessively technical, it's not possible for them to operate with the corporation. Again, a fantastic software architect can solve issues that company was unable to solve during a few decades.

[travelingwith-grace]

Sahr

I can almost feel soap suds against my hands and wet cloth sticking to my tanned skin as I recall sitting with Maddie outside of our little hostel at Grace, lugging our dirty clothes in and out of the water in a (failed) attempt to do laundry. The ache of my muscles, the grains of sand in between my swollen toes, and the tiny ant crawling dangerously close to my mouth all remind me that this very well could have been my life. I could have had the inability to make comparisons, a lack of understanding of a parent’s warmth, and no true conceptualization of life outside of my island. I could have known nothing else, just like my Grace girls.

It feels ridiculously trite. To go to a developing country for three weeks and say you, and your perspectives, opinions, and understandings, have been changed as a result. But what if, it’s true? What if, all of the work you’ve done in your college career to promote social justice awareness in South Asian communities feels utterly fruitless when Natasha, one of your favorite little girls, sees you arrive at the orphanage and dashes off to powder her face? You wonder how the notions of colorism have seeped into the orphanage, and how this little girl has learned to equate beauty with fairness. What if, you were so concerned about accusations of Western Savior Complex and convinced yourself of your disassociation to such a term, only to realize far too late into the project that your impatience with a country’s unique work ethic and time management, and your inability to automatically accept it, was in fact perpetuating this monstrous phenomena? What if, you realize that you too were contributing to the world’s unfair sensationalization of orphans as individuals who never disobeyed the rules and are ashamed to admit that you were surprised when the little girls threw temper tantrums when the evening’s ocean swim was over?

Yes, implementing the Transitional Housing Project at Grace Girls’ Home absolutely changed my life. However, it was not because of what the process of implementation itself taught me. It changed my life because these girls molded a lens that has been developing over the past four years - an admittedly selfish, Westernized lens - and allowed me to process the world through experience. I began my education at the University of Michigan nearly four years ago as a much more naive individual. One of my goals throughout college was to gain an understanding of various social justice issues that plagued minorities, and learn how to be an activist within a dynamic climate. However, these three weeks exposed me to material that just is not taught.

The driving force behind each Sunday morning, conversational-English-tutoring Skype call was my desire to somehow contribute to the development of women’s education in impoverished areas. However, when I started this task at the tender age of 13, I had no idea of the complexity of such an issue. I didn’t know that my comforting words would render meaningless when one of the girls failed her A-level exams, because of the institutionalized system that was attempting to dissuade and discourage certain populations. After all, is it really fair to be tested in a language you had not conducted your education within? The driving force behind applying for the Davis Projects for Peace Grant was our desire to somehow instill the girls’ inner peace regarding their futures. However, it was only when one of the girls introduced me to her suicidal father, who was suicidal because of his daughter’s decision to pursue an occupational job instead of retaking her exams, that I realized that their futures would inevitably be tied to their pasts. My previous understanding of such concepts was very one-dimensional, and while I am undoubtedly grateful for any sort of exposure I had received to them previously, to see them in practice was incredibly humbling. It reminded me not of how much work there is to be done, but rather, the importance of being cognizant of other cultures and the issues that plague them, and learning how to work within and integrate two worlds of knowledge to generate the most respectful, and appropriate, plans of action. Throughout those three weeks, I redefined my understanding of how Transitional Housing brought about peace. Our Grace girls have been independent from the day they stepped foot in the orphanage - they have been responsible for carving out their own paths in becoming the people they want to be, and must learn how to do this amidst the burdens of PTSD, of abandonment by their families, and of learning to call a new place Home. However, this project facilitates the development of inner peace because for the first time, the girls were independent by their own choice. They chose to live in this complex, to learn to cook and clean and manage finances. For the first time, they are able to decide where they want to wake up in the morning, and where they want to go to sleep at night.

It really does take a village to raise a child, and Grace is no exception. The backdrop in which we implemented this project - in which every single staff member is committed to these girls and their success, tying every braid, sticking every bindi, ironing every uniform, and all before 6:30AM! - provided an infectious environment in which we learned the practices of patience, communication, and flexibility. We were able to carry this same energy into implementing Transitional Housing, and we too worked with a village to guarantee the success of this project. Amidst talking to construction companies, our contractor, the faculty and staff at Grace, and the girls themselves, we quickly surrendered control of this project to the community, and what would best benefit them. This surrender marks my proudest accomplishment, as I now understand how to work within an environment other than my own, especially the environment of often-sensationalized developing countries. We are not the orphans living at Grace, and we are not the ones who will be utilizing the pots and pans of Transitional Housing. This project is not ours, it is theirs. There are so many stories from these three weeks that I will carry with me throughout my life, because every aspect of this life-changing project was brought to life by these girls, and what they have gone through. Their smiles, tears, laughter, personalities - they add color, richness, and emotion to every single wall that was built and every single door that was placed. I am forever indebted to Davis, and Grace, for allowing us to implement this project and benefit generations of Grace girls to come.

[estimatemygrade5-blog]

how to calculate what i need on my final exam

There is no monumental relation between the place train students’ epistemological beliefs and calculate semester grade with final styles in Accumulation during the cultivate assemblage 2009-2010; There faculty always be a deadline for your team™s output and this implies that preparation instrument be required to meet your goal (Ch 8). You may make it knotty to organise mutually fit meeting nowadays if the forgather members someone diverse timetables and responsibilities, so Lectures should be seen as a guide to a message rather than the expressed or last morpheme on a content (Ch 15). The lincoln lecturing provides staple assemblage delivered in a particular successiveness for a peculiar layer. In some subjects, the lecture is an launching to the issue rather than a universal psychotherapy. For whatever subjects, lectures are oftentimes required. This may be settled by adult associations that authorize galore professed qualifications and is not simply a university conception. Principles of Pedagogical Book To attain these goals, I followed cardinal principles of square education wisdom. I am presenting one illustration for each of them. Represent and preparation what you press. As described above, the content of the row was to better teachers™ conceptual statement of an underlying noesis compound and to tie this conceptual noesis number to exercise. Row participants came to gathering with a limit of preceding skillfulness and experiences in the schoolroom. Conceptual how to determine your final google Grade calculator (http://finalsgradecalculator.com) goals and participants with different expertise are the conditions low which groupwork is advisable. Therefore, the Maneuver teachers participating in the layer had numerous opportunities to make in moderate groups as groupwork was utilised in each and every session. Tho' the tasks ranged from elongate (e.g., direct seethe groups to rapidly swop comments or reactions) to whole, (e.g., artful how much do i need on my final tasks for the spot train want to make something new by faculty members themselves. Engaging these challenges is, indeed, a daunting, but exceptionally solid extend. 33.1 Liken textual patterns. Go okay to a underlying schoolbook and denote the quotient of type allocated to introducing the whole production and how untold is reticent for the happening. This should be educational in framing your own penning. 33.2 Cartroad the imitate of your penning. Go game to an existing patch of your own oeuvre and try to discover that you fuck the essential elements and sub-elements of the textbook composition separate in abode. Are the entry, important embody and closing recognisable? Does the start hold the elements of discourse, specialized point and evidence of concentrated? For the end, is your relation ordered out clearly and with bearing rationale? 33.3 Practise converting sub-headings into content sentences. Cover a bushel of your own penning or a section from a textbook where sub-headings get been victimised. Try to make a topic time (Ch 38) that could position that sub-heading. End which is solon operative " the matter doom or the innovative sub-heading. Debate why this is the sufferer. Again, this should be informative in process the communication you have in your own composition. A numerate of aspects present be daubed, including l Vigour advance l Soiling limitation l Toll suppress For whatsoever, the stresses of student experience are such that they reckon descending out or justified see suicidal. Conversation virtually your situation is the unexcelled way to curb these feelings. You can do this anonymously and/or confidentially finished: Martyr F. Kneller: ˜In its liberal perceive, how to calculate semester grade percentage refers to any act or undergo that has a immature feeling on the intellectual, fibre, or bodily noesis of an individualist ¦ In its theoretical perceive formula for calculating final grade is the outgrowth by which gild, finished schools, colleges, universities, and another institutions, advisedly transmits its social heritage"its increased knowledge, values, and skills"from one procreation to other. ™ (Kneller, G. F. (1971). Beginning to the philosophy of pedagogy. New Dynasty: Apostle Wiley and Sons, pp. 20"21.) See also: ØØ http://everything.explained.at/Education/ Pestalozzi: ˜Education is a unbleached, sympathetic and modernized utilization of man™s innate powers.™ final exam mark inculcates convinced values and principles and also prepares a anthropoid state for social history. Galore studies know investigated the touch of philosophy beliefs on calculate my grade before exam strategies (Hofer, 1999) in tralatitious contexts. Schommer and Hutter (2002) open links between epistemological beliefs and students' comprehension, meta-comprehension, test grade calculator chart strategies, and rendition of matter. The more students anticipate in involved noesis and sloping acquisition, the many possible they are to successfully dig, supervise their comprehension and strategize their learning. Kardash and Scholes, (1996) advisable that students who make little elegant beliefs (in the slip of avoidant students) run to use surface-level strategies to hoard scattered facts and try to perform and memorise concepts and key position to read for examinations, piece students with polished epistemological beliefs run to apply deep-level strategies specified as expansion and disposal (as in the showcase of participative and collaborative learners). a line. You power bang a desire to become colorful, to ameliorate those little excavation off than yourself, to inform, to help, to use with animals, to make a stable and certain sentence, to alter a parentage. It isn™t the easiest feeling to name what these factors are, but if you are able to, you can use this message to conceive a many solid educational and job itinerary. What transferable skills am I gaining " both during my academic studies and in my extra-curricular activities? The physical in Ch 6 should be important here, but you module chance another accumulation nigh the skills you are screening in your layer enchiridion and in study benchmarking statements on the Dimension Certainty Implementation website (www.qaa.ac.uk/academicinfrastructure/benchmark/default.asp). Opportunities for gaining new skills should be merged in your intend " for instance, present a workplace to hear near a new software package. What personality traits and individualised qualities do I get, and how might these meliorate me label my tense? Get a sensing at Ch 65 and diffuse out the personality analyse on diplomat 431 (or transfer out a related scrutinise as concept of your university™s PDP representation). How might the qualities you hit identified in yourself cerebrate to your potentiality job paths? Investigate websites that give ideas (for instance, www.prospects.ac.uk). What is my grade calculator with final exam style? Reflecting on this power improve you prettify a gambler assimilator. Change countenance at Ch 13 to exploit you decide whether you demand to modify your prevailing formulation. The pursuing pages mortal character versions of tables for your own individualised use. These are all copyright issue, so you can reproduce them and use them as more nowadays as you require. The goods theory of an essay was described in Ch 33.

[caveartfair]

6 Artists Who Are Pushing the Limits of Wood

Wood may be one of the oldest and most commonplace art materials, long used in African, Pre-Columbian, and Oceanic artwork to create groundbreaking forms, but it’s full of surprises. Even the artist Ursula von Rydingsvard, who has been creating monumental sculptures from cedar wood for more than 40 years, is frequently caught off guard by its vagaries. “Often, as I build my work, the original image changes—it is not unusual for the wood to [refuse to] yield to something I am asking of it,” she tells me. “Every time I see a truckload of my cedar beams, I give myself a talking-to: ‘Okay Ursula, enough is enough, surely there must be some other material that you can work with.’”

Through their powerful, large-scale public artworks, and elegant, minimal, or playful forms, artists like von Rydingsvard, Martin Puryear, and Courtney Smith have positioned wood as a viable contemporary material for sculpture, one that transcends its associations with mere craft. Wood has also become easier to manipulate in recent years, due to the availability of digital tools for design and fabrication. CAD programs, CNC machines, and laser cutters have expanded the possibilities of shaping wood, making it more versatile and reducing the need for hard-earned manual skill.

However, the most innovative artists working with wood today aren’t necessarily taking advantage of the newest technology. Some, like Christopher Kurtz, are still honing traditional woodcraft techniques, and others, like Alison Elizabeth Taylor, are reinvigorating methods of sculpting wood that date back to the Renaissance. This new generation continues to push the limits of wood, employing a dizzying variety of conceptual and technical approaches. Below, six artists describe their strong relationships to the material, despite (and in some cases, because of) its challenges.

Christopher Kurtz

B. 1975, based in Kingston, New York

Christopher Kurtz, Singularity, 2013. Courtesy of the artist.

Kurtz, who once worked as an assistant in Martin Puryear’s studio, shares the older artist’s commitment to manual skill. “The human hand is still infinitely more complex than any multi axis CNC machine— so I continue to work wood by hand—not to be nostalgic, but because the result is much more nuanced and spontaneous for me,”  Kurtz explains. “The process I use would look very familiar to the craftsperson of 100 years ago.”

Kurtz’s sculptures look impossible, like models of yet unproven astrological theories. They are often confoundingly slender, the wood either ending in tiny points or curling around itself like loose ribbon. His furniture line, originally started in 2008 to support his art, is sturdier, but employs the same attentive craftsmanship.

Kurtz enjoys working within the restrictions of the medium—for example, responding to the way wood swells or shrinks in response to changes in its environment, or selecting the most adept wood species for a particular job. Inspired by wood’s challenges as much as by its malleability, he notes: “I like bumping up against the rules and seeing how far I can challenge the conventions as a way to find compelling forms.”

Rachel Beach

B. 1975, based in Brooklyn, New York

Water Bearer, 2016. Rachel Beach Jane Lombard Gallery

Cuff, 2015. Rachel Beach Jane Lombard Gallery

Beach first learned woodworking by building painting panels, and later by working construction. Her interest flows from a practical connection to the material. “I like wood’s factual, elemental relationship to building and manual labor,” she says. “It’s historical and human in scale; one human can build one thing out of wood.”

Beach’s work often references the ways and means of architecture, and she’s particularly interested in transitional elements in the built environment—“seams that transition space to plane, edges that frame an experience or vista, the place the floor meets the wall, or where a hallway opens to a room,” she explains. The references in her current work are broad-ranging, from ancient armor and shields to symbolic languages such as hieroglyphs, marine flags, and typography.

In Beach’s human-scaled, geometric sculptures, you’ll find angles, patterns, and colors reminiscent of Memphis furniture, and incised shapes that suggest minimalist totem poles or modern skyscrapers. For Beach, this affinity with the built environment is also conceptual: “In addition to the more obvious spatial, structural, and material relationships my work has to architecture, it also [combines] the commonplace with the magical.”

MANGLE

Founded 2006, based in Bogotá, Colombia

Carpeta Calada, 2014. MANGLE SGR Galería

MANGLE is a partnership between Colombian artists María Paula Alvarez and Diego Fernando Alvarez, who met as woodworking students at the Fundación Escuela de Artes y Oficios (School of Arts and Crafts) in Santo Domingo​, and later married. The group takes its name from the Latin classification for mangrove tree, a plant—known for its twisty, tangled shapes—that reflects their interest in complex forms in the natural world.

“I think their diversity distinguishes them,” explains Dara Metz of Magnan Metz, the collective’s New York gallery. For Metz, MANGLE’s cross-disciplinary approach is part of their appeal. “They create both usable objects and conceptual objects without thought to what category they might be considered,” she explains.

Although the duo is trained in carpentry, many of MANGLE’s sculptures aren’t immediately recognizable as woodcraft. They create the illusion that wood can behave just like textiles, rubber, or even living plants. Among their recent subjects are tangled extension cords, ferns rendered in wood and concrete, and delicate plywood lattices inspired by the ironwork of Bogotá.

Julian Watts

B. 1989, based in Oakland, California

Julian Watts,  Blob Vases, 2017. Photo by Julian Watts. Courtesy of the artist.

Watts didn’t pick up a chisel or operate a lathe in art school—at the University of Oregon, he focused on conceptual and installation art. But after graduation, he took a job in a woodshop, and something clicked. “I quickly became obsessed with wood,” Watts says. “As a living material, it incorporates the organic, irregular forms I have always been drawn to.”

Watts’s sculptures look vaguely libidinal, like housewares from an erotic dream. His spoons have impossibly long handles, and his bowls have unexpected apertures. His recent “blob vases” are perforated with holes and look less like vessels than fairytale birdhouses. Subverting the assumption that wood is inherently functional and sturdy, his work is playful and impractical.

Although Watts uses wood in unusual ways, his sculptures employ the techniques of traditional folk wood carving, and he’s compelled by this connection with the past: “I like the idea that my strange, very non-traditional-looking woodcarvings follow an almost identical process that has been part of human expression for as long as we’ve been around.”

Alison Elizabeth Taylor

B. 1973, based in Brooklyn, New York

The Lookers, 2015. Alison Elizabeth Taylor James Cohan

Alison Elizabeth Taylor, The Cosmopolitan, 2016. Courtesy of the artist.

“Originally, woodworking seemed very off-limits, because of the bias against craft in contemporary art,” Taylor tells me. Not to mention that the field is still heavily male, and very gendered. “I made my teachers nervous when I got near a table saw, and men in hardware stores are still trying to explain wood glue to me,” she says.

Clearly Taylor isn’t one to mince words or take the popular route. She’s best known for marquetry, the technique of applying thin pieces of wood to a surface in order to form a pattern or image. Taylor builds her flat, figurative compositions and installations by cutting and fitting pieces of wood veneer together like pieces in a jigsaw puzzle. “I like making flat images out of three-dimensional materials,” she says. “The grain of wood is like having a tube of paint that makes texture within form.”

In contrast to marquetry’s Renaissance origins, Taylor’s work shows contemporary, often quotidian scenes, such as those depicting pleasure-seekers at casino machines or posing with whalebone cocktails. Taylor’s forthcoming show, opening at James Cohan Gallery next month, will feature marquetry hybrids, which combine wood with paint and photography.

Bhuvanesh Gowda

B. 1976, based in Mumbai, India

Bhuvanesh Gowda, Born from Each Other, 2016. Courtesy of the artist.

Gowda credits his interest in wood to his childhood. Raised on the slopes of Western Ghats, a mountain range in southern India, Gowda has a knowledgeable connection to the material by way of his community. “Almost everyone knew how to handle wooden implements and build wooden structures,” he explains. Even wooden tools and “wooden ploughs,” he says, had strong aesthetic forms.

Gowda’s recent work investigates the relationship between new developments in physics and Eastern philosophy. Some of his wooden elements are finely carved, others left in their original state. Some are burned black, while others are painted, suggesting a confluence of opposing forces or a psychological narrative. Antarmukhi I (2016), which means introverted or inward-facing, is a carved sculpture that extends both above and below its steel plinth. It’s rough above the plinth, but shaped into careful ridges below.

Gowda’s primary material is salvaged wood, either purchased second-hand or sent to him by friends. This isn’t so much a conceptual choice, as an ethical one, he explains: “The use of salvaged wood lies in my responsibility towards the environment as a human.”

—Ariela Gittlen

from Artsy News