Bomi Park's ethereal furniture

 Bomi Park is a designer from South Korea and has presented a series of furniture called 'Afterimage'. As objects, the pieces are made out of steel wire, but what really 'makes' the objects is the negative space in between the solid material. I think the designer has succeeded in showing how something material can be turned into something with immaterial qualities, and there it lines up well with some of Philippe Starck's (for example the Louis Ghost chair) and Tokujin Yoshioka's work.

Reuben Margolin's wavy kinetic art

Reuben Margolin creates moving sculptures with an intriguing complexity and serenity to them. He uses sine waves, movements inspired by water, and even live dancers connected to strings as input for the movements of his sculptures.

The wave is an interesting phenomenon, it seems to always capture our attention effortlessly when we see one. The movement seems so perfect and tranquil that it is can seem almost like a token from another dimension. Similarly, with these sculptures you become so engrossed in the movement that you forget that they are made out of ordinary objects such as soda cans and bike reflectors. The physical world then transfigures in a world of experience, a world of energy, a world beyond being an object among objects. Here we have a visual reminder of what intellectually quantum physics has already shown: waves and particles are nothing but different interpretations of the same underlying field.

Superflow algorithm produces candy for the senses

Ian Clemmer, an effects artist, created some beautiful audiovisual material for his Bachelor's thesis. His work is based on the Superflow algorithm, that creates parent-child relationships between objects with one pivot point. He implemented this algorithm into 3D Studio Max to create these stunning visuals that are in harmony with the music.

This video shows a very joyful example of the effect:



And here you can see other aesthetic styles, that are suited for music ranging from techno to classical. It gets pretty psychedelic:

Liquid photography by Luka Klikovac

Check out these photographic experiments by Luka Klikovac. As you might have guessed, he suspends fluids in a glass of water and then creates this dramatic lighting to make the pictures come alive more. It might remind you a bit of the good old lavalamp, but still I think this imagery is relevant today, where our environments are getting more and more complex, intelligent, flexible, and metaphorically speaking liquid rather than solid.

Neri Oxman shows 3D printing in its full glory

Neri Oxman, professor at the MIT Media Lab, has recently gone on a 3D printing spree and created a beautiful collection of objects that represent the state of the art of this additive manufacturing process. More than that, it is an interesting conceptual probe into a future where we can interweave these sorts of objects more and more with our own bodies, as 3D printing allows a sophistication in design approaching that found in nature. Professor Oxman has shown that now we can produce objects of unlimited geometrical complexity, consisting of different materials that can smoothly transition in terms of properties such as hardness, thickness, or color.

Now the first 3D printers that are interesting to the mainstream consumer have emerged on the market, we will need to see how this democratization of design will turn out. Are we entering a future where everyone will become a designer through trial and error, and even more throw-away objects are produced with these technologies than happened after the plastics revolution, or will people learn faster this time and be more careful in what they create? With this creative power comes responsibility, of course, and it might be that because people are so closely involved in the making process that it helps them taking on this responsibility, just like, say, you take responsibility for the quality of the turkey you make for Thanksgiving; it has to be exquisite. Same goes for creating objects with our 3D printers - let's all take Neri Oxman's work as a good example of the objects to come.

Eight objects of the collection, called "Imaginary Beings," have been included in the permanent collection of the Centre Pompidou, so it might be worth paying a visit during your next trip to Paris. Also, here is a video that shows you the objects in more detail:

Also check out her personal website, where you can see some other interesting projects she has been involved in, some of them venturing more away from raw art and towards contextualized, embodied product design. A beautiful example is the Carpal Skin glove, that can be made uniquely according to the physiological requirements of each user.