A Made Cooler Exhibition- Exhibition Continues Through Oct.11

Blush Wale was invented to explore the changeable qualities of a physical object that dynamically alters the perception of materiality, form and function through computational manipulation and digital fabrication.

In an era of digital prevalence where personalized data flows freely across the globe, our physical world seems to trail decades behind, remaining relatively static and unchanged. And so it should, as facing the burdens of physical realities - like materiality, space, and plain old gravity - presents constraints that are much more difficult to solve than challenges in the virtual world. However, as manufacturing evolves with advancing digital fabrication tools like 3D printing, laser cutting and CNC milling, a whole new breed of artifacts can emerge.

The project intent is to re-interpret a simple lattice structure as an omni-dimensional object possessing a multitude of qualitative dualities. Using ordinary sheets of birch plywood, the surface is embellished with flickering hues of chameleon-like UV printed colour. Transforming a rudimentary slotted waffle structure, the form is algorithmically sculpted into an amorphous laser cut http://www.hotpopfactory.com/laser-cutting/ entity that undulates as the viewer moves around it. Unlimited to just one application, the changeable form is designed to be parametrically customizable as various furnishings in the home. Straddling the real and virtual, solid and void, static and ephemeral, Blush Wale attempts to break free of the bounds of physicality in the context of our highly digitized, contemporary lifestyle.

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Bio:

HOT POP Factory www.hotpopfactory.com is a design studio that specializes in creative applications of digital manufacturing techniques like 3D printing and laser cutting in Toronto. Founders Biying Miao and Matthew Compeau draw from their architectural design sensibilities while exploring applications of automated manufacturing processes in consumer products, art and design. Though a diverse range of client work and open-to-public workshops, their mission is to make new high-tech manufacturing techniques accessible to the mainstream. Examples of their work can be found in some of Canadas foremost cultural institutions including the Royal Ontario Museum and the Art Gallery of Ontario.