Love this idea! Intended to introduce children to the world of visual art, ArtisanCam provides an insight into the lives of contemporary artists. The site contains great short videos, like the one above about sculptor Andy Goldsworthy, that focus on different aspects of an artist’s life, including techniques, preparing for an exhibit, timelapse of a work in progress, interviews, and activities. Designed for kids...but worthwhile for anyone interested in art.
Photo from Valerie Lamontagne
Imagine wearing a dress that inflates or deflates depending on the weather? Or sporting a jacket that barks like a rottweiler if another person gets too close? Or having a garment that tranforms your breath into pulses of coloured light? Electromode at Emily Carr, part of the Cultural Olympiad, showcases a whole wardrobe of interactive clothing just like this by artists like Valerie Lamontagne, Suzi Webster, Sara Diamond, Joanna Berzowska, and others. There’s even the aptly-named Skorpions, garments that change shape as they’re worn, conceived as a living parasite that can constrict the body and even cause pain. Fascinating, beautiful, and technical, these pieces merge science and art and challenge the relationship between body and garment.
A group of us at Fleming… along with a few thousand other people…headed down to Creekside Park this morning to see a live, outdoor taping of The Colbert Report. Under a sunny sky and atop a muddy field, we waited for the Assistant Sports Psychologist for the 2010 US Olympic Speedskating Team (aka Colbert) to make his appearance. Finally, after a rousing O Canada from the crowd, Colbert stepped onto the Canadiana-bedecked stage (moose, beaver, skis….you get the drift), getting us simultaneously riled up and amused with his take on all things Olympic and Canadian. The highlight (lowlight?)...Colbert and Michael Buble singing the national anthem to the tune of The Star Spangled Banner!
Corporate and VIP visitors to the BC Showcase at Robson Square become part of a unique ‘people powered’ interactive installation created by Switch Interactive, Fleming Design’s sister division. As visitors walk down a 110 ft long passageway, their movements trigger sensors that ‘paint’ the wall with animated vignettes of sector success in Canada’s West. Illustrations appear and morph, and digital energy lines advance and recede – all according to the number of people moving down the corridor.
During the Olympics, visitors to the BC Canada Pavilion will have the chance to play with The Curious Tree, created by our sister division Switch Interactive. This multi-touch cube features five-foot-wide panels featuring scenes of a tree in a west coast forest in spring, summer, fall, and winter. Each scene is identical, except for season-specific colour palettes and interactive experiences. By touching the panels, visitors can transform the forest, making flowers grow, leaves fall, icicles form, kites fly, and much more. The entire surface of the panels is interactive, allowing for multiple users and a whole array of visual effects that fill the screen. Complemented by whimsical sounds created by an award-winning composer, the user-generated experience recreates the sights and sounds of a BC forest throughout the year. Check out The Curious Tree at the BC Canada Pavilion (at the Vancouver Art Gallery) from 10 am to 5 pm, February 12 to 28.
Meet our new mascot: Charlie Darwin…aka Darwin. Partner Catherine Winckler passed up an opportunity to visit the Galapagos as part of the International Women’s Forum World Cornerstone Conference in Guayaquil, Ecuador this May to focus on bonding with and training her brand new AussieDoodle puppy. We’re excited to welcome Darwin to the team but suspect that chasing a curious, energetic puppy around the studio will certainly give new meaning to the phrase “survival of the fittest.”
Did you know that Canada is the fourth most successful Paralympic nation? Or that we’ve won 1097 medals since 1968? If you didn’t, you’re not alone. In fact, when the Canadian Paralympic Committee approached us to redesign their website, one of their goals was to raise the profile of Paralympic sport in Canada – and foster pride in Paralympic athletes, particularly as the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Winter Games were just months away.
