http://www.studiotoogood.com/
Tuesday, March 1
Thursday, February 24
Adam Zaretsky
"For me, scientific research is just a minor subset of perversion. It is a particular way of exploring the forbidden. Life on earth is curious, intuitive and creative. Those things are not rationally explainable. There are invisible worlds all around us. So, scientists want to reveal them in ways that are repeatable, empirical and reductive. We artists may be looking for equally important isolated instances of amazingness, anomalous and singular, personal and subjective. We poke and prod, sniff and stare, even into those areas that defy the social norm. The process of analysis assumes, A Priori, that the unknown is seductive, that secrets unfold when interrogated. Otherwise, why look any deeper? And the methods of interrogation are extreme. Often, you must destroy something to comprehend it. It is for these reasons that I refer to the processes of artistic and scientific discovery as perverse practices."
Tuesday, February 22
Advanced Beauty
Advanced Beauty [advancedbeauty.org] is an ongoing exploration of digital artworks influenced by sound, as a collaboration between programmers, artists, musicians, animators and architects.
The first artwork collection includes a series of audio-reactive video sound sculptures, as manifestations of sound, sculpted by volume, pitch or structure of the soundtrack. The films embrace unusual video making processes, the visual programming language Processing, high-end audio analysis and fluid dynamic simulations alongside intuitive responses in traditional cell animation.
Rendered in the 1920 HD format, with 5:1 surround sound, each artist was given the same set of parameters to work within; to start, finish and exist within a white space, creating a seamless coherence, all sculptures sharing the same white environment.
Watch all the videos online here, or check out a few below.
See also lyrics and audio-responsive visual and rethinking the music video. Via Ping Mag.
http://infosthetics.com/archives/2008/11/advanced_beauty_audio-reactive_video_sound_sculptures.html
The first artwork collection includes a series of audio-reactive video sound sculptures, as manifestations of sound, sculpted by volume, pitch or structure of the soundtrack. The films embrace unusual video making processes, the visual programming language Processing, high-end audio analysis and fluid dynamic simulations alongside intuitive responses in traditional cell animation.
Rendered in the 1920 HD format, with 5:1 surround sound, each artist was given the same set of parameters to work within; to start, finish and exist within a white space, creating a seamless coherence, all sculptures sharing the same white environment.
Watch all the videos online here, or check out a few below.
See also lyrics and audio-responsive visual and rethinking the music video. Via Ping Mag.
http://infosthetics.com/archives/2008/11/advanced_beauty_audio-reactive_video_sound_sculptures.html
Friday, February 18
Pure Culture
Philip Ross is an inspiring american artist that works with living organisms as means of his artistic work. In a very controlled environment, Ross manipulates, nurtures and transforms a variety of living species into sculpture. Particularly interesting for our blog is his work Pure Culture, a series of sculptural objects from living mushrooms.
with:
Using fungus called Ganoderma lucidum, also known as Reishi or Ling Chi, Ross develop a living-art project that takes him around a year to complete, from finding and growing the mushrooms to the final result.
Reishi Mushroom
The project here prsented, Life Like is inspired by the famous photo of Harold Edgerton called Milk Drop Coronet.
Harold Edgerton Milk Drop Coronet
Reishi MushroomThe project here prsented, Life Like is inspired by the famous photo of Harold Edgerton called Milk Drop Coronet.
Harold Edgerton Milk Drop Coronet
Sunday, February 13
Thursday, February 10
SEEDMAGAZINE.COM § The Scent of Design
A designer who creates objects and spaces engages our sensations of touch, sight, and sometimes hearing. But what of our noses? Despite olfaction’s unmatched ability to evince memories and emotions—two essential objectives of design—smell is a relatively untapped medium in design practice. Combining scents with design was the challenge put to five designers, deemed “accidental perfumers,” by the organizers of HEADSPACE: On Scent as Design a symposium recently held in New York through the joint collaboration of Seed, Parsons the New School for Design, MoMA, International Flavors & Fragrances, and Coty. Selected for their diverse approaches to design, each “accidental perfumer” was paired with two professional perfumers from IFF and commissioned to explore how evanescent chemistries, when translated into smell, shape our experience of space and time. Though the participants chose to take their projects in radically different directions, they all came to the same conclusion: This is only the beginning. Many of the works you’ll see in this slideshow represent just the starting point for what promises to be a fruitful merger of olfaction and design.
Monday, January 24
sonja bäumel
I am based in Vienna.
In my projects I explore the boundaries between fashion design, art and science, to create multidisciplinary works. I am fascinated by the human body especially the (in)visible platform around it and by the applications this existing infrastructure can have.
Believing in symbiosis, networks, exchange and individuality, my work seeks to consider plants, animals, fungi and even bacteria as equally respected partners in finding solutions to global matters.
In my projects I explore the boundaries between fashion design, art and science, to create multidisciplinary works. I am fascinated by the human body especially the (in)visible platform around it and by the applications this existing infrastructure can have.
Believing in symbiosis, networks, exchange and individuality, my work seeks to consider plants, animals, fungi and even bacteria as equally respected partners in finding solutions to global matters.
http://www.sonjabaeumel.at/
crocheted membrane
The crocheted membrane project translates scientific data into crochet pieces representing a design language in-between science and fashion design.This project is a visualisation of how we could use our unique bacteria population to create new clothes which would react to our individual body temperature. The texture would get less thick on areas where we need less warmth and would built up on cold body zones and create new body related silhouettes.
Sunday, January 23
Donna Franklin and the Fibre Reactive dress from orange bracket fungi
Donna Franklin's 'living garment' is a dress that you grow, made from the Australian orange bracket fungi. It smells like red wine and feels like sludge when wet, but the cotton-like cellulose dress fits snugly as a second skin. The orange hue produced is an adaptation of the organism’s fruiting body stage.
The glowing and seemingly floating hybrid Fibre Reactive dress challenges us to consider how we as a society commodify and manipulate other living entities, and how that will manifest in the not too distant future through the physical and cultural impact of biotechnology.
http://bioalloy.org/o/information/donna-franklin.html
Growing Jewelry
Have you ever thought you might find mycelium even around your neck!?
Mycelium Pendant is a jewellery piece developed by Australian-based designer Elliat Rich.
Her work is focused on finding sustainable design solution that emphasize the "poetry of humble pleasure".
A new definition of sustainable design, indeed, not focused on new materials but more on a new way of thinking.
The Mycelium Pendant, for example, is a growing object and its owner is part of its formation or ... transformation, in a way.
In between two bezels a peace of regular bread starts its moulding process in a period of five to six days.
After changing colors, when the mould is right, the piece can be taken out of the environment and worn. At the end of the night the spent bread can be replaced with another and the cycle can begin again.
On the blog cool Booz we found something else, as well very interesting.
Product designer Hafsteinn Juliusson tries to redefine the modern values mainly the urban prospective.
If as metropolitans we are pushed to have little time for leisure and "old fashion" hobbies like gardening, well, here comes the revolution!
Your little private garden comes with you around town.
The owner need indeed to water regularly its jewelry and nurture it like any other plant.
Here we are again far from the well-known concept of eco-life but more in a new vision of the sustainable urban nature.
Her work is focused on finding sustainable design solution that emphasize the "poetry of humble pleasure".
A new definition of sustainable design, indeed, not focused on new materials but more on a new way of thinking.
The Mycelium Pendant, for example, is a growing object and its owner is part of its formation or ... transformation, in a way.
In between two bezels a peace of regular bread starts its moulding process in a period of five to six days.
After changing colors, when the mould is right, the piece can be taken out of the environment and worn. At the end of the night the spent bread can be replaced with another and the cycle can begin again.
On the blog cool Booz we found something else, as well very interesting.
Product designer Hafsteinn Juliusson tries to redefine the modern values mainly the urban prospective.
If as metropolitans we are pushed to have little time for leisure and "old fashion" hobbies like gardening, well, here comes the revolution!
Your little private garden comes with you around town.
The owner need indeed to water regularly its jewelry and nurture it like any other plant.
Here we are again far from the well-known concept of eco-life but more in a new vision of the sustainable urban nature.
Thursday, January 13
Moulds growing on fashion
n 1997 Belgium fashion designer Martin Margiela produced his first solo exhibition, 9/4/1615 at the Boijmans van Beuningen Museum of Rotterdam.
In collaboration with a microbiologist, Margiela treated his clothes with bacterias and moulds.
Caroline Evans in her book Fashion at the edge: spectacle, modernity and deathliness associate the traces of moulds in Margiela's work to the figure of the ragpicker who fascinated Baudelaire and Benjamin hundred years before. And even more, to the more actual concept of consumerism and consumption: "Ingrid Loschek has observed that, when he destroyed his clothes with mould and bacteria, Mergiela compared the natural cycle of creation and decay to the consumer cycle of buying and discarding."
In collaboration with a microbiologist, Margiela treated his clothes with bacterias and moulds.
Caroline Evans in her book Fashion at the edge: spectacle, modernity and deathliness associate the traces of moulds in Margiela's work to the figure of the ragpicker who fascinated Baudelaire and Benjamin hundred years before. And even more, to the more actual concept of consumerism and consumption: "Ingrid Loschek has observed that, when he destroyed his clothes with mould and bacteria, Mergiela compared the natural cycle of creation and decay to the consumer cycle of buying and discarding."
The Esthetic of Microscopical Science
Are Moulds, Mushrooms and Parasites really so disgusting and unaesthetic as some people think? Let's give it a closer look...
We already saw on this blog some interesting examples of artists and designers getting particularly inspired by these microscopical fascinating organisms.
Why is that, then? Is this microcosm really depraved by any natural beauty?
These organisms can certainly remind us of monsters, aliens of any other fantastic creature; however we can't really say there is no esthetic in it.
Here follow a small collection of microscopy pictures from various websites on the net showing the natural beauty of microorganisms.
Why is that, then? Is this microcosm really depraved by any natural beauty?
These organisms can certainly remind us of monsters, aliens of any other fantastic creature; however we can't really say there is no esthetic in it.
Here follow a small collection of microscopy pictures from various websites on the net showing the natural beauty of microorganisms.
Wheat Loose Smut
Inside a seedling, parasitic smut sends out fine, thread-like filaments called hyphae that feed upon host cells. The creeping filaments form networks that invade almost all plant tissue and form an integrated structure called mycelium. Smut reproduces by forming numerous thick-walled resting spores. Upon maturity, superficial spores erupt through the confines of thin plant membranes and appear as very fine, dust-like black powder. f The minute black spores travel to other plants upon air currents or are washed into the ground to mix with seed grain during heavy dews or rain.
wheat_loose_smut Nikon Microscopy
Black Rot of Grape
This fungus reproduces with two types of spores: ascospores and conidia (pycniospores). Ascopores are produced in the grape mummy and forcibly discharged into the air, often traveling considerable distances. Conidia are vegetatively reproduced spores that the fungus uses to propagate, and they are spread through rain or irrigation water splashing on the plants.
black_rot_of_grape Nikon Microscopy
Blue Mold Sporangiophores
Molds are members of the Fungi kingdom, and are therefore neither plant nor animal. While many species of mold possess physical features strongly reminiscent of plants, such as stalk-like growths and plant-like cell walls, these resemblances are merely superficial. For example, the cell walls of plants are composed of cellulose, whereas a mold's cell wall is made of chitin. Furthermore, molds have no chlorophyll and are unable to produce their own food by means of photosynthesis. Rather, molds are heterotrophs and must obtain nutrients by consuming organic materials, a process achieved by secreting digestive enzymes that break down food materials into absorbable form.
sporangiophores_blue_mold Nikon Microscopy
Inside a seedling, parasitic smut sends out fine, thread-like filaments called hyphae that feed upon host cells. The creeping filaments form networks that invade almost all plant tissue and form an integrated structure called mycelium. Smut reproduces by forming numerous thick-walled resting spores. Upon maturity, superficial spores erupt through the confines of thin plant membranes and appear as very fine, dust-like black powder. f The minute black spores travel to other plants upon air currents or are washed into the ground to mix with seed grain during heavy dews or rain.
wheat_loose_smut Nikon MicroscopyBlack Rot of Grape
This fungus reproduces with two types of spores: ascospores and conidia (pycniospores). Ascopores are produced in the grape mummy and forcibly discharged into the air, often traveling considerable distances. Conidia are vegetatively reproduced spores that the fungus uses to propagate, and they are spread through rain or irrigation water splashing on the plants.
black_rot_of_grape Nikon MicroscopyBlue Mold Sporangiophores
Molds are members of the Fungi kingdom, and are therefore neither plant nor animal. While many species of mold possess physical features strongly reminiscent of plants, such as stalk-like growths and plant-like cell walls, these resemblances are merely superficial. For example, the cell walls of plants are composed of cellulose, whereas a mold's cell wall is made of chitin. Furthermore, molds have no chlorophyll and are unable to produce their own food by means of photosynthesis. Rather, molds are heterotrophs and must obtain nutrients by consuming organic materials, a process achieved by secreting digestive enzymes that break down food materials into absorbable form.
sporangiophores_blue_mold Nikon Microscopy
WHAT EXACTLY IS MOLD?
Most people think that mold is slimy, blackish-green discoloration found on carpeting, baseboards or wallpaper that gradually increases in size, but found only in dirty, unkempt homes or apartments. The truth is, mold and spores can flourish in sparkling clean environments as well.Molds are microscopic organisms (miniscule life forms) found virtually everywhere outdoors. No one really knows how many species of mold exist but estimates range from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands. Spore production is characteristic of molds in general to reproduce. A spore is a small reproductive body that is capable of growing into a new organism, producing bacteria, fungi, and algae. Most spores are filamentous (thread-like) organisms so small that 250,000 of them can fit on the head of a pin. They stay airborne indefinitely, drifting from one room to the next, landing on food, clothing, appliances, table tops, carpeting and furniture, walls and woodwork. Any wet, damp or humid surface becomes a breeding ground for mold colonies and more spores.
Where mold can be found.
Mold and mildew is inside your sink and dishwasher cabinets and probably in your bathrooms and laundry areas. There is an 86% chance of mold growing somewhere in or on your refrigerator. Its nestled into the microscopic crevices of clothing, furniture fabric and in your carpeting. There is little doubt that mold spores exist in your heating and air conditioner system ductwork from where mold is continually dispersed throughout a home or building looking for a place to “plant” its self and grow. It can be found in your window sills, basement, crawl space and attic, office desk, indoor plants, kitchen counter space, on the TV, in your fireplace and countless other places.
Mold exposure risks vary.
The above incidences could be everyday, ordinary “low-risk” and “acceptable level” occurrences of mold—or not. Each person has their own level of tolerance to the mycotoxins (poisons) emitted by mold. And those with higher levels of tolerance to mycotoxins can eventually become sensitized to these poisons from prolonged exposures.
Signs of increased health risks to mold exposure.
“Higher risk” mold conditions are more easily recognized by the sudden visual appearance of emerging mold. Another and unmistaken evidence of this kind of mold problem is the presence of a pungent mildew or musty odor, even when mold is not visually evident. The faintest whiff of this odor should immediately prompt one’s concern about mold exposure and to take quick action to identify and correct its cause and clean up the mold and mildew damage! Our mold consultants are prepared to assist you in necessary planning and cost-effective corrective actions to take.
Some molds have been more closely associated with specific health problems. One example is Stachybotrys atra, a greenish–black mold often referred to as “toxic mold.” It grows on material with high cellulose content (e.g. drywall, wood, paper, dust). Stachybotrys becomes a problem when it emits mycotoxins capable of producing toxic effects in humans and animals. Many Aspergillus species of molds also produce mycotoxins.
Some molds release volatile compounds into the air, producing an unpleasant odor. Scientists label these compounds “microbial volatile organic compounds” or “mVOCs” (Moisture Remediation in Schools and Commercial Buildings, Environmental Protection Agency, March 2001). Exposure to mVOCs has been associated with headaches, dizziness, and fatigue.
Answers to your mold problems.
Do you have a concern about indoor mold exposure or are in question about a possible mold colonization problem? AMI certified mold and mildew inspectors are equipped and available to evaluate and assess your individual conditions. Our certified toxic mold inspectors can conduct mold sampling and test to give you comparative baseline analysis for an accurate snapshot of what is in the air you breathe. Call for an appointment today at (800) 369-8532 or (760) 414.1181
Moulds by Mike Morgan, UK
Moulds will be familiar to everyone as the growths that appear so frequently upon fruits and other foodstuffs. Almost always these moulds are species of Aspergillus and Penicillium. These are moulds, which reproduce by free spores, or conidia, and are distinguished by the characters of their spore-bearing stalks, or conidiophores. In Aspergillus the conidiophore arises form a vegetative mycelium called a foot-cell. This is larger than the filament of mycelium and when the spores are ripe it is often empty, i.e., it contains no protoplasm. The stalk itself is non-septate, without cross-walls. It ends in a swollen portion, the vesicle. From this expanded tip the conidia are formed in chains from the ends of a large number of little stalks, the sterigmata. In some cases the sterigmata are branched, the spores arising from the branches, or secondary sterigmata.
Key to Aspergillus shown right and below.
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Aspergillus species are widespread, occurring in soil and also upon vegetable matter. The species grows best at rather high temperatures, 35 - 40°C. Aspergillus niger is probably the most common species. It is widespread and is one of the most troublesome contaminating moulds in the microbiological laboratory. It forms very large black globular spore heads. The sterigmata are branched. The conidia are round, black and prickly on the surface.
Aspergillosis refers to a number of disease states in human beings that are caused by Aspergillus. Aspergillus niger, A. flavus, and A. fumigatus, result in a range of reactions. Aspergillus is prevalent in the air and inhalation is common. Persons with a normal immune system are able to fight any infection. Aspergillosis is almost entirely limited to those with a compromised immune system, caused by drug therapies or disease. Microscopic identification of colonies and the characteristic septate hyphae and spores in the samples of sputum will confirm the diagnosis of the disease. 
Penicillin is still one of the most widely used antibiotic agents. It is obtained from the Penicillium mould (shown right). In 1928 Alexander Fleming noted that the growth of colonies of the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus was inhibited in those areas of a culture that had been contaminated by the mould Penicillium notatum. Fleming isolated the mould and grew it in a fluid medium. He found that this produced a substance capable of killing many of the bacteria that cause disease in humans. In 1940, research workers developed an injectable agent for therapeutic use. In Penicillium there is no foot-cell, the stalk arising from an undifferentiated cell of the mycelium. The conidiophore is septate and ends in a whorl of short branches, the metulae, each of which bears a whorl of little branches or sterigmata, which forms the conidia. The spore heads of Penicillium are seen to be looser than those of Aspergillus. They are more brush-like in appearance as compared with the compact globular or cylindrical spore heads of Aspergillus.
Species of Penicillium are more common than those of Aspergillus. They have, however, a lower optimum temperature, 25 - 30° C, and are not so troublesome in the microbiological laboratory, which commonly use a 37° C, incubator. Many species of Penicillium form green conidia. P. expansum is one of the most common of the green species of Penicillium causing a rot of apples. P. roqueforti is also a green species forming the mould spots in Roquefort cheese. P. camemberti forms a woolly, white aerial mycelium, with conidia which are of a light grey-green colour. On lemons and oranges may be found P. italicum (blue-green) and P. digitatum (olive-green).
Microscopic Preparation of the Moulds
Moulds are best stained with lactophenol cotton blue for examination. A thin line of the stain is placed on a microscope slide. A piece of sellotape is then applied to the mould growing on the fruit etc., and this is then carefully placed on the stain-containing slide, and examined under the microscope. In the absence of lactophenol cotton blue, a fairly good preparation can be made using blue ink.
References:
The Biology of Bacteria, A. T. Henrici revisd by E. J. Ordal, 3rd Edition 1948 D.C.Heath and Company.
Biology Staining Schedules, R.R. Fowell, 9th Edition 1970 H.K.Lewis & Co. Ltd.
Acknowledgement:
Aspergillus annotated image is reproduced from 'The Biology of Bacteria' with thanks to the publishers Houghton Mifflin.
Comments and feedback to the author Mike Morgan are welcomed.
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