Fashionable Technology Research Consortium

Fashionable Technology Report February & March 2010

SUMMER SCHOOL ::: LIVING MATTER
International Summer School 2010, KHM Cologne in cooperation with FU Freie Universität Berlin
LIVING MATTER
ART & RESEARCH & SCIENCE STUDIES IN BIOLOGICAL LABORATORIES
July, 18 - 23, 2010
Biological laboratories as sites of artistic and epistemic practice have enabled research that informs humanities, arts, and sciences. During the last decades various laboratory studies have established descriptive modes and methods of investigation. For instance, Hans-Jörg Rheinbergers concept of 'epistemic objects', the notion of Bruno Latour on objects as agents and 'science in action' as well as Karin Knorr Cetinas investigations on the reconfigurations of relations to the world within laboratories. Furthermore, artists have explored the hidden agendas and practices of biological laboratories in various projects, such as Hannes Rickli's long term study "Überschuss. Videogramme des Experimentierens" or the work at SymbioticA-Centre of Excellence in Biological Arts.
The summer school brings together artists and researchers who work in the context of biological laboratories. Besides methodological and theoretical discussions we want to stimulate the exchange between research in arts and humanities. We would also like to mediate experience of laboratory work by practical exercises, e.g. in the KHM Laboratory for Experimental Computer Science (lab III). Therefore, the program includes project presentations by the participants, BioArt and laboratory workshops in addition to plenary and public lectures. MA- and PhD Students of Philosophy, STS, Art, and Humanities can apply until 2010, March 15th. Costs for travel expenses to and accommodation in Cologne will be covered.
Please send a project description (2-3 pages) and CV (1 page + list of exhibitions if applicable) to Prof. Dr. Peter Bexte, e-mail:summerschool2010@khm.de. Offer of acceptance by 2010 April, 1st
http://www.fu-berlin.de/embodiedinformation


CALL FOR FASHION DESIGNERS ::: INTIMACY LOTUS & INTIMACY BLACK
DEADLINE: April 15, 2010
V2_Lab
Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Artist Daan Roosegaarde and V2_Lab are looking for two fashion designers (M/F) to contribute to the 'Intimacy' series. 'Intimacy White' (2009), the first dress in the series, is made out of smart foil that becomes transparent when electrified. The distance of a spectator to the dress determines the level of transparency. This first dress received a lot of media attention and is considered highly successful. V2_Lab and Daan Roosegaarde now intend to make a series of 'Intimacy' dresses, each playing with a different material to create a sensual play of shared control.
V2_Lab and Daan Roosegaarde are looking for:
•    Recently graduated or senior year fashion designers (M/F);
•    He or she must be able to participate in thought process along the lines set out by V2_Lab and Studio Roosegaarde in the preliminary stages and therefore must be a good team player;
•    He or she must be ambitious and determined to achieve our request for success;
•    The project starts on 1 May 2010. It is a full-time position for a period of 8 weeks.
What we offer:
•    Access to functioning new technology, an existing prototype and an artist' Impression of the intended final product;
•    A workplace at V2_Lab;
•    The opportunity to collaborate with an experienced, interdisciplinary team;
•    Technical support and backup;
•    Exhibition of the end result;
•    Name credit.
Please send your resume/portfolio and motivation before 15 April, preferably by email, to piem@v2.nl
V2_Institute for the Unstable Media
Attn. Piem Wirtz
Eendrachtsstraat 10
3012 XL Rotterdam
Eligible designers will be invited for an interview end of April.
http://www.v2.nl/lab/projects/intimacy


SYMPOSIUM ::: GREEN DESIGN
Symposium for Sustainable Design Strategies
Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin
John-Foster-Dulles-Allee 10, 10557 Berlin
April 7 - 8, 2010, 10 am – 5 pm
The newly established Laboratory for Sustainable Design Strategies - GREENLAB initiative across all design departments at the Art College Weissensee Berlin aims to support, inspire and create innovative approaches to the development of sustainable, environmentally friendly and ethical products, services and systems. It connects higher education, practice-led design research and the industry. The two-day symposium will highlight the various strategies, concepts and practices regarding sustainability issues from the perspective international researchers, technologists, designers and practitioners working in the area of ecological design. The focus will be held on the practical developments, innovative concepts and economic potential of sustainable and ecologically sound production, the role of design and the designer within this context as well as the impact of these practices on our everyday lives. (the program is in the attachment). The languages of the symposium will be German and English.
The two-day symposium with international speakers from different disciplines is open to public. The participation costs for the symposium are:
General public - 40 Euro, Students - 20 Euro
If you would like to participate at this symposium please make a money transfer to:
Beneficiary: GREENLAB
Account No. 581515100
BLZ 100 100 10
Purpose: Kap.1200 T GREENLAB 11,122 + your full name
No tickets will be issued, but your name will be put on the guest list.
In the transfer order you need to the mention your full name in the purpose field and please send a short notification e-mail that the money transfer has been completed to: mode@khb-weißensee.de. If the money is transferred in less than 4 working days before the event, please bring with you the proof of your payment to the symposium as an "entrance ticket".
http://kh-berlin.de/index.php5?projectID=757&Action=seeProject

CONFERENCE ::: UPA 2010
Munich, Germany
May 24 - 28, 2010
The Usability Professionals' Association (UPA) is pleased to announce the UPA 2010 International Conference, "Embracing Cultural Diversity - User Experience Design for the World ”. Our key theme will focus on how UX professionals can create great user experiences across different cultures, meeting the challenges of delivering to diverse audiences. One of the great strengths of the UPA conference is that it brings together a network of practitioners from around the world.  This international conference will provide more networking and social interaction than ever before, putting you in touch with inspiring people and new ideas.
https://www.usabilityprofessionals.org/conference/2010/index.new.html


CONFERENCE ::: ADVANCED TEXTILES
Paris, France
June 16 & 17, 2010
Advanced Textiles ’10 gives voice to the new spirit and game-changing technologies in the textile industry. Our mission is to inspire you, and we’re bringing the network and knowledge together for you which showcases future-looking experts in the field of technical textiles. There will be a selection of 25 exciting lectures by some of the most prestigious speakers from Europe and the U.S. They’ll cover a fascinating array of new applications in technical textiles industry, with cross-sectoral thinking that will shape the value chains of tomorrow. Conference sessions will discuss the interdisciplinary and cross-section blending of technical textiles in the following industries:
    • Natural fibers and fiber composites
    • Products and technologies for medical applications
    • Performance textiles in sports, wellness and healthcare
    • Membranes and fabric structures in architecture
    • Safety and protective textiles
    • Technology solutions and material aspects
http://www.ifai.com/AdvancedTextiles10.cfm


EXHIBITION ::: MULTIPLEX TRANSNATURAL
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
(the exhibition is sadly over but the website lists the wonderful projects exhibited)
Technology was the means by which we separated ourselves from nature, and escaped its limitations. In the 21st century we move beyond the animosity between nature and technology. In a lot of areas we see new fruitful collaborations and new kinds of unity: in our dealings with the environment en with energy, but also in arts, architecture, fashion and games.
What will this transnatural world look like? Is this a next evolutionary step, or merely a changed perception of ourselves?
Multiplex Transnatural is the first of two exhibitions with symposia. Transnatural will show to young and old the most interesting attempts from art, design, and science to fuse technology with nature. A glimpse of a new and rich world with transnatural architecture, installations, games and more.
http://www.multiplexart.nl


CONFERECE ::: MOBILE HCI 2010, A MOBILE WORLD FOR ALL
September 7-10, 2010
Lisboa, Portugal
Doctoral Consortium Day, Workshops and Tutorials on September 7th, 2010.
MobileHCI 2010 is organised by the University of Lisboa, with the collaboration of the New University of Lisboa and the research centres LaSIGE and CITI, and in cooperation with ACM SIGCHI and ACM SIGMOBILE. MobileHCI is the leading conference in the field of Human Computer Interaction with Mobile Devices and Services. The MobileHCI series provides a forum for academics and practitioners to discuss the challenges and potential solutions for effective interaction with mobile systems and services. It covers the design, evaluation and application of techniques and approaches for mobile and wearable computing devices and services.
http://www.mobilehci2010.org

Fashionable Technology Report October & November 2009

CONFERENCE ::: CODED CULTURES JAPAN
Yokohama, Japan
October 14 - 18, 2009
Sabine Seymour was invited to speak about Functional Aesthetics in Fashionable Technology. The symposium of “CODED CULTURES – Exploring Creative Emergences” was hosted by the Tokyo National University of the Arts. It combined theoretical lectures and presentations structured through the four sub-topics of the festival: Designing Complexity, Assembling Things, Expanding Locality and Creating Proto-Culture. The selected positions raised questions about the transformation of cultural codes in different areas of creative selforganization and give an opportunity to discuss these on an international and trans-disciplinary level.
http://codedcultures.com/jp/about/


SYMPOSIUM ::: BIG DESIGN WEEK
Ljubjana, Slowenia
November 5 - 6, 2009
Sabine Seymour was invited to speak at the conference ‘Sustaining Design Excellence’. As part of the Month of Design 09, Zavod Big hosted its annual design conference, this year entitled ‘Sustaining Design Excellence’. The conference addressed questions and issues that explore the relationship between quality design, creativity, innovation, technology, strategy, responsibility and sustainability. Eight internationally active and engaged practitioners – from designers and architects to managers, consultants, planners and strategists – were invited to present their work and their vision within the framework of ‘Sustaining Design Excellence’.
http://www.zavodbig.com/category/mod-conference-09/
http://www.zavodbig.com/2009/04/07/sabine-seymour-chief-creative-officer-moondial-new-york-usa-vienna-aut/


PRESENTATION ::: KEPLER SALON
Linz, Austria
November 7, 2009
Sabine Seymour was invited to speak about her work in Fashionable Technology. The astronomer and mathematician Johannes Kepler lived in Linz between 1612 and 1627. With Galilei and Newton he belongs to a select band of pivotal figures in the development of astronomy; he is the eponymous patron of the Kepler Salon. What does the term “mechatronic” actually mean? Do we have free will? How does a heart valve work? The Kepler Salon will be the venue for meetings and an ongoing exchange of information. Universities, institutions of higher learning and hospitals will be engaging in the presentation of knowledge and in making research results accessible and intelligible to the general public in a series of dialogues with the researchers themselves. The Kepler Salon will serve as a showcase for the sciences and as an interface between research and workaday life.
http://www.kepler-salon.at/en/Kepler-Salon
http://www.kepler-salon.at/en/content/view/full/960


CONFERENCE ::: 3rd EUROPEAN CONFERENCE ON AMBIENT INTELLIGENCE
Salzburg, Austria
November 18 - 21, 2009
Ambient Intelligence represents a vision of the future where we shall be surrounded by technological means, sensitive and responsive to people and their behaviors, deliver advanced functions, services and experiences. Ambient intelligence is expected to combine concepts of ubiquitous technology, intelligent systems and advanced user interfaces putting the humans in the centre of technological developments. Future contextual solutions are envisaged exploiting the power of Ambient Intelligence. The conference aims to bring together researchers from academia and industry from various disciplines that constitute the field of Ambient Intelligence to present the latest results, discuss the state of art and think about the future.
http://www.ami-09.org


EXHIBITION ::: SK-INTERFACES
Casino Luxembourg – Forum d’art contemporain
41, rue Notre Dame
Luxemburg
September 26 - January 10, 2010
Skin is our natural interface to the world – but it is progressively being replaced by technological extensions, some of which can have liberating, other rather new restrictive, effects. The trans-disciplinary exhibition sk-interfaces presents about 20 international artists who question the ways in which today’s techno-sciences alter our relation to the world: digital technologies, architecture, tissue cultures, transgenesis, self-experiments or telepresence – the artists appropriate these methods and explore the permeability between disciplines and between art and science. Their interfaces connect us with different species, destabilise our definition of being human today and reflect on the question of satellite bodies.
The exhibition sk-interfaces at Casino Luxembourg – Forum d’art contemporain, curated by Jens Hauser, is the extended continuation of a project organised for Liverpool, European Capital of Culture 2008 at FACT (Foundation for Art and Creative Technology) in Liverpool. Artists: Art Orienté objet, Maurice Benayoun, Zane Berzina, Critical Art Ensemble, Wim Delvoye, Olivier Goulet, Eduardo Kac, Antal Lakner, Yann Marussich, Kira O’Reilly, Zbigniew Oksiuta, ORLAN, Philippe Rahm, Julia Reodica, Stelarc, Jun Takita, The Office of Experiments, The Tissue Culture and Art Project, Sissel Tolaas, Paul Vanouse
http://www.casino-luxembourg.lu/


SYMPOSIUM ::: SUPER HUMAN: REVOLUTION OF THE SPECIES
Melbourne, Australia
November 23 - 24, 2009
Taking place over two days, the Super Human symposium will present an invigorating and inspiring mix of keynote speakers and collaborative research projects engaging with one or more of the symposium themes: Augmentation, Cognition and Nanoscale Interventions. Questions that the symposium will address include, but are not limited to: How do scientific and artistic bodies of knowledge intersect with human, social bodies? Does art serve simply as a representational tool for the sciences or is there more to the picture than that? Does research into bodies and their systems offer an insight into aesthetics, or is it confined to the purely functional?
http://www.superhuman.org.au/


CONFERENCE ::: DESIGN FOR CONVERSION, THE MOBILE EDITION
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
December 11, 2009
Design for Conversion is a highly interactive conference aiming to collectively (as one big family) deepen our knowledge of Persuasive Technology, Experience Design and Evidence Based Marketing, and how these disciplines can learn from each other. With heavy doses of design thinking, cognitive psychology and statistical knowledge we are very serious in taking up a worldwide conversion challenge
http://designforconversion.nl


CONFERENCE ::: ACM Augmented Human International Conference
Megève, France
April 2 - 4, 2010
DRAFT ABSTRACT SUBMISSION DEADLINES: December 20, 2009
The AH international conference focuses on scientific contributions towards augmenting humans capabilities through technology for increased well-being and enjoyable human experience.
The topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
Augmented and Mixed Reality
Internet of Things
Augmented Sport
Sensors and Hardware
Wearable Computing
Augmented Health
Augmented Well-being
Smart artifacts & Smart Textiles
Augmented Tourism and Games
Ubiquitous Computing
Bionics and Biomechanics
Training/Rehabilitation Technology
Exoskeletons
Brain Computer Interface
Augmented Context-Awareness
Augmented Fashion
Safety, Ethics and Legal Aspects
Security and Privacy Aspects
http://www.augmented-human.com

Fashionable Technology Report August & September 2009

MOONDIAL AND WENDY & JIM SHIRT ::: SUN N01
The conversion of a static interface into a dynamic one by the simple natural power of the sun is the basis of SUN. It is a new series of shirts by the fashionable technology studio Moondial and the fashion label Wendy & Jim. A limited edition was launched yesterday at the Ars Electronica Festival 2009. SUN is using the shirt as a canvas to tell a story and uses the sun as the switch to turn on the graphic. As such the static graphic becomes an interactive story.
http://www.moondial.com/sun


CONFERENCE ::: THE FUTURE OF RETAIL AT ARS ELECTRONICA
Linz, Austria
September 5, 2009
Sabine Seymour is a speaker at Pixelspaces at Ars Electronica. "The future of retail" is an open, collaborative project which aims to explore and develop new technological and creative opportunities to develop the instore fashion retail experience.
http://www.aec.at/humannature/en/pixelspaces/future-of-retail


CONFERENCE ::: DESIGN CONTEST AT ISWC2009
Linz, Austria
September 7, 2009
Sabine Seymour is design contest co-chair at this year's ISWC. The selected projects will be presented at the Design Contest.
http://iswc.net/program_7th.php#design


CALL ::: FASHION DESIGNER AT V2
Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Artist Daan Roosegaarde and V2_Lab are looking for a fashion designer (M/F) to help realise “Intimacy”, a next step in wearable technology. Daan Roosegaarde, known for his interactive artworks such as ‘Dune’ and ‘Sustainable Dance Floor’, is expanding his artistic and innovative horizon to include fashion. In close collaboration with V2_Lab he will be developing electronic fashion that becomes visually transparent according to the amount of personal intimacy involved. In order to take this step from prototype to 'haute couture' V2_Lab and Daan Roosegaarde are looking for:
-    a recently graduated or senior year fashion designer (M/F) with an affinity for hairstyling;
-    he or she must be able to participate in thought process along the lines set out by V2_Lab and Studio Roosegaarde in the preliminary stages and therefore must be a good team player;
-    the project starts on 1 November 2009; it is a full-time position for a period of 4 to 6 weeks.
Please send your resume/portfolio and motivation before 1 October, preferably by e-mail, to: piem@v2.nl
Eligible designers will be invited for an interview mid-October.
http://www.v2.nl
http://www.studioroosegaarde.net


MAGAZINE ONLINE ::: FILTER CODED CLOTH
Check out the online version of Filter's Coded Cloth issue. Filter was designed to encourage engagement and dialogue. It was first published as the ANAT Bulletin in July 1988, Filter has been informing and inspiring a global network of creative innovators for over two decades.
http://filter.anat.org.au/category/issue-69/


CALL FOR PAPERS ::: 6TH EUROPEAN MEETING OF THE SOCIETY FOR LITERATURE, SCIENCE, AND THE ARTS
DEADLINE FOR ABSTRACT SUBMISSION: September 15, 2009
The Stockholm School of Economics in Riga (SSE Riga)
Riga/Liepaja (Latvia)
June 15 - 20, 2010
Main Organizer:  Electronic Text + Textiles (e-t+t)
Theme: TEXTURES. The SLSA-EU 2010 conference is dedicated to exploring fabrics, structures, surfaces, and interfaces in a world that has been transformed to a large extent through technoscience and networked media. This transformed world is highly textured, partly through verbal and non-verbal 'texts' but also by mixtures of human-made and given environments whose complexity offers resistance to symbolic readings.
http://www.e-text-textiles.lv/SLSAeu2010/home.htm

FASHIONABLE TECHNOLOGY REPORT June 2009

TV DOCUMENTARY ::: ORF NEWTON (in German)
Sabine Seymour was interviewed for ORF Newton on June 6, 2009. The headline: "WLAN-Hüte und Zeitungs-T-Shirts: Wie wir uns in Zukunft kleiden". Während den großen Modeschöpfern offenbar seit Jahrzehnten nicht mehr einfällt als die Geschichte in regelmäßigen Abständen zu wiederholen, arbeiten Designer an der Schnittstelle zwischen Modeindustrie und Wissenschaft an gänzlich neuen Modekonzepten. Pullis, die bei Bedarf das Handy laden, gehören da fast schon wieder zu alten Hüten. Diese werden in Zukunft übrigens anzeigen, wo WLAN-Spots zu finden sind, auf denen wir unsere T-Shirts mit den neuesten Zeitungsinfos updaten können.
http://tv.orf.at/program/orf1/20090606/462576701/264862/

EXIBITION ::: OPEN SOURCE EMBROIDERY
June 6 - September 6, 2009
Bildmuseet, Umea University, Sweden
The Open Source Embroidery exhibition presents artworks that use embroidery and code as a tool for participatory production and distribution. The Open Source Embroidery project includes workshops and exhibitions which investigate how the open source software development model has been incorporated into the language of cultural participation. This major exhibition at BildMuseet brings together individual and collectively made artworks by artists, makers, computer programmers and html users that explore the relationship between craft and code through social and digital networks. The works experiment with interdisciplinary approaches to modifying patterns, the DIY culture of hacking and sampling in sound, GPS and mobile technologies.
http://www.open-source-embroidery.org.uk

CONFERENCE ::: NANOMATERIALS 2009
June 16 - 18, 2009
Bonn, Germany
NanoMaterials09 will focus on the commercialisation of nanomaterials, rather than theoretical benefits; practical solutions for practical challenges.
Two plenary's and five parallel sessions focus on:
   * Printed Electronics
   * Nanocomposites
   * Nanobiotech & Consumer Products
   * Coatings, Inks & Pigments
   * Clean Technology
http://www.nanomaterials09.com

WORKSHOP ::: MAKE ELECTRO - CLOTHING
June 13, 16, 17, 2009
Mediamatic BANK
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Make your shirt beep when people touch you, or yell back at you when you scream. Make your pants light up in the dark or your sleeves blink when you wave your arms. Make self-heating touch screen-friendly gloves or a hat that vibrates when someone is coming up behind you. We provide electronics-kits with the necessities to create your electro-clothing. Bring your own garment(s)! Not just for experienced technicians, everyone can participate. MIT Media Lab researcher Nadya Peek guides the workshops.
http://www.mediamatic.net/page/83908/en

CONFERENCE ::: MOBILE ENTERTAINMENT MARKET 2009
June 23 - 24, 2009
London, UK
The Mobile Entertainment Forum is the global trade association of the mobile media industry, working on behalf of its diverse membership to drive mobile entertainment adoption, shape regulation and deliver competitive advantage to its members. MEF anticipates, defines and addresses issues and opportunities for the industry that monetises mobile media, by identifying sustainable business solutions, promoting best practice and influencing policy to accelerate the business. With global headquarters in London, a Hollywood-based Americas secretariat, an Asia chapter and a newly expanded EMEA branch, MEF’s network of members represents a veritable ‘Who’s Who’ of mobile entertainment businesses and entrepreneurs.
http://www.mem09.com/

CONFERENCE ::: 3rd EUROPEAN CONFERENCE ON AMBIENT INTELLIGENCE
AmI-09: ROOTS FOR THE FUTURE OF AMBIENT INTELLIGENCE
SUBMISSION DUE: June 8 and June 22, 2009
November 18 - 21, 2009
Salzburg, Austria
Ambient Intelligence represents a vision of the future where we shall be surrounded by technological means, sensitive and responsive to people and their behaviors, deliver advanced functions, services and experiences. Ambient intelligence is expected to combine concepts of ubiquitous technology, intelligent systems and advanced user interfaces putting the humans in the centre of technological developments. Future contextual solutions are envisaged exploiting the power of Ambient Intelligence. The conference aims to bring together researchers from academia and industry from various disciplines that constitute the field of Ambient Intelligence to present the latest results, discuss the state of art and think about the future. AmI-09 will bring keynotes, technical papers, workshops, industrial case studies, posters & demos, panels and landscapes. In addition to these categories we will feature ambient visions to look into the next decade of Ambient Intelligence.
http://www.ami-09.org

FASHIONABLE TECHNOLOGY REPORT April 2009

MOONDIAL FASHIONABLE TECHNOLOGY NEWS
CONFERENCE ::: TEST_LAB: FASHIONABLE TECHNOLOGY*
*The term Fashionable Technology is coined by Sabine Seymour.
May 20, 2009, 8pm
V2_ Institute for the Unstable Media, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
Test_Lab is a bi-monthly public event organized by V2_ Institute for the Unstable Media that provides an informal setting for the presentation, demonstration, testing, and discussion of artistic Research and Development (aRt&D). Featuring: Sabine Seymour (AT/US), Mark Coeckelbergh (NL), Aram Bartholl (DE), Cutecircuit: Francesca Rosella and Ryan Genz (UK), and KOBAKANT: Mika Satomi and Hannah Perner-Wilson (JP/AT). Clothing is an aspect of the human physical appearance with considerable social significance. Styles, logos and prints mediate our self-expression and publicly communicate our personal tastes and preferences. Popular ways of doing so reflectwhat is in fashion, which is under constant change due to new developments in fabrics, construction methods,ancillary objects, and their (re-)combination by fashion designers. Recent advances in wearable technology have resulted in a variety of technologies that seamlessly connect to the human body, or are integrated into clothing (such as shape memory alloys, soft circuits, and embedded displays). As a result, more and more fashion designers are turning to the field of wearable technology fornew developments. While these progressive fashion designers are currently setting the trend in fashionable technology with,what can broadly be considered, innocent implementations (such as embedded iPods, integrated LEDs, and adaptive contours), many artists and designers prophesize more provocative scenarios for the future of such technology. These artists foresee that this trend will eventually have an unprecedented social impact, due to the wide-ranging possibilities for self-expression, connectivity, and public communication of innovative fashionable technologies. The scenarios for fashionable technology sketched by these artists provoke philosophical discussionas to the social impact that such developments may have.
This edition of Test_Lab is organized in collaboration with Rotterdam's acclaimed philosophy cafe Arminius Denkcafe.
This event will be streamed live at http://live.v2.nl
http://www.v2.nl

EXHIBITION ::: WEARABLE EXPRESSIONS
April 17 - May 30, 2009
Greylock Arts, Adams, MA, USA
A group exhibition of wearable art, accessories, and technology apparel exploring fashion as a means for individuals to dynamically express themselves. In this exhibition of wearable art, accessories, and technology apparel, we explore fashion as a means for individuals to dynamically express themselves. From Lynda Meyer’s collection of 19th century hoops and bustles to Alexander Reeder’s “Butterfly Dress” which engages those close without words by displaying the heartbeat of the wearer, “Wearable Expressions” is both historical and contemporary in its scope and examines the impact of material and technology in wearable design.
http://greylockarts.net/wearable-expressions

EXHIBITION ::: TOKYOFIBER 09 SENSEWARE
April 22 - 27, 2009
Milan, Italy
Talent meets technology at the second Tokyo Fiber exhibition since 2007. Senseware, a title that refers to materials that inspire creativity, features the stunning possibilities of Japanese artificial fiber technology. A mix of architects, designers, manufactures and artists make use of new fibers in inventive and unexpected ways, giving us all a glimpse into what the future of fiber holds. (Text by by Kori Schulman, www.CoolHunting.com)
http://tokyofiber.com/en/

CONFERENCE ::: ORGANIC PHOTOVOLTAICS 2009
April 27 - 29, 2009
Philadelphia, PA, USA
Now in its third year, Organic Photovoltaics 2009 is the industry’s only conference dedicated exclusively to the applications, technological developments and markets for organic photovoltaics (OPV). Attendees will meet and network with important players, key innovators and decision makers from the technical and business sides of the PV, OPV and organic and printed electronics industries.
http://www.organicphotovoltaics2009.com/

WORKSHOP CALL FOR PARTICIPATION ::: DIY WEARABLE TECHNOLOGY
DEADLINE: May 3, 2009
May 16-17, 2009, 10am - 6pm
V2_, Eendrachtsstraat 10, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
I am very pleased to announce that my former student Mika Satomi and Hannah Perner-Wilson (aka KOBAKANT) will give a two-day workshop on DIY wearable technology. V2_Lab will organize a wearable technology workshop with an emphasis on DIY techniques and performing arts. The aim of the workshop is to provide participants with hands-on experience on DIY wearable technology. The outcome of the workshop will be workingprototypes, which will be demonstrated by means of a short performance during Test_Lab.The participants will partake inhands-on sessions that involve both conceptual as well astechnical development. Developers from both V2_Lab and KOBAKANT are available for assistance throughout the workshop. The workshop is open to students and professionals in the fields of art, design, and engineering. Although anyone with an interest in wearable technology and basic knowledge of electronics or of sewing is welcome to join, we especially encourage people with an expertise in fashion design, technology in performance arts, and/or wearable technology engineering to sign up. Participants are invited to demonstrate the workshop outcome during Test_Lab: Fashionable Technology on May 20. The number of participants to the workshop is limited. The fee for participation is €50,- (to be paid before the workshop).
For more information about the workshop, please contact Piem Wirtz, piem@v2.nl
http://www.v2.nl
http://www.kobakant.at

CONFERENCE ::: NANOMATERIALS
June 16 - 18, 2009
Bonn, Germany
In order to offer the breadth of information and at the level of detail required for Europe’s leading event on nanomaterials, the conference begin on the 16 June with an afternoon forum on Proactive Nanotechnology Risk Management. The next two days will be structured into two plenary's and five parallel sessions: Printed Electronics, Nanocomposites, Nanobiotech & Consumer Products, Coatings, Inks & Pigments, Clean Technology. Remaining loyal to its conceptual origins, NanoMaterials09 will focus on the commercialisation of nanomaterials, rather than theoretical benefits. This is what sets it apart from other events and was the key to our success last year – practical solutions for practical challenges.
http://www.nanomaterials09.com/

WORKSHOP ::: MME'09 - MEASURING MOBILE EMOTIONS: MEASURING THE IMPOSSIBLE?
DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION: May 4, 2009
September 15, 2009
Bonn, Germany
Emotions are a key element in the analysis of user experience. Observational analysis, interviews and questionnaires can be supported by various physiological measurement methods (e.g. GSR or EMG) to investigate such emotions. This workshop addresses approaches to mobile emotion measurement. The workshop addresses particularly the state-of-the–art in the emotion research and investigates the possibilities to apply and adopt these methods in the field of mobile HCI and user experience research. We will select participants with diverse backgrounds based upon the relevance, insightfulness, and originality of their submissions. Particularly important is the challenge of portability of the available solutions and their applicability in the field.
http://mme.cure.at/

CONFERENCE ::: 2nd INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON FLEXIBLE ORGANIC ELECTRONICS
July 8 - 10, 2009
Porto Carras, Halkidiki, Greece
The field of Flexible Organic Electronics is one of the most rapidly growing sector of the modern science and technology. Today, many resources and investments from government agencies, research institutes and local industries are devoted to the developments of materials, processes, instrumentation, equipment for flexible organic electronics. The IS-FOE is the Premier Scientific & Research Event in Organic Electronics devoted to gather scientists, engineers and industrials from all around the world and to exchange information and provide access to the latest developments of several topics covering organic electronic printable materials, device structures, system integrations, manufacturing processes, characterization and monitoring, product applications and business opportunities.
http://isfoe.physics.auth.gr/

EXHIBITION ::: SMART TEXTILE SALON
DEADLINE FOR CALL: May 15, 2009
September 25, 2009
Ghent, Belgium
The programme is organised together with 80th Anniversary of the Department of Textiles at Ghent University (http://www.textileconferences.be) and 6th International Conference on Textile and Polymer Biotechnology (http://www.intb.org). The exhibition introduces the latest demonstrator and prototype developments in the field of smart textiles and intelligent wearable systems. The displayed items will be explained and demonstrated by the developers. Tool Time gives you the opportunity to create your own smart textile. Two workshops will be offered: elucidating textiles, temperature changing textiles. The award ceremony will be held to honor a student for outstanding work with the SysTex award. The work will be shown in the exhibition area.
http://www.systex.org
http://www.smarttextilessalon.com

CONFERENCE ::: TEXTURES
DEADLINE FOR ABSTRACT SUBMISSION: August 16, 2009
June 15 - 20, 2010
Riga, Latvia
The SLSA-EU 2010 conference is dedicated to exploring fabrics, structures, surfaces, and interfaces in a world that has been transformed to a large extent through technoscience and networked media. This transformed world is highly textured, partly through verbal and non-verbal 'texts' but also by mixtures of human-made and given environments whose complexity offers resistance to symbolic readings. Through the term, 'textures,' we aim to bring together transitional figures of thought in many fields.
http://www.e-text-textiles.lv/SLSAeu2010/home.htm

WORKSHOP ::: WEARABLE ART AND INTERACTIVE PERFORMANCE
May 25 - June 5, 2009
Lunar Outpost
Tempe, Arizona, USA
Herberger College Dance and the School of Art at Arizona State University are offering a two-week workshop on Wearable Art and Interactive Performance. In response to initiatives to create a fully occupied operational base on the moon by 2024, the theme for this year's workshop is: Lunar Outpost. As artists how do we respond to extreme environments that are so unlike our home environment? At the Lunar Outpost people will experience micro gravity, a different atmospheric propagation of sound, an essentially black-and-white environment, and a profound sense of loneliness. Workshop participants will explore emergent electronic technologies for performance and installation framed by the theme Lunar Outpost. Interactive technologies offer the means to extend, manipulate and add color to our environments in a new manner.
Workshop leaders from Herberger College Dance and the School of Art include:
John D. Mitchell, mediated performance designer,
Galina Mihaleva costume and fashion designer,
Hilary Harp, media artist and sculptor,
joined by a special guest, Keiko Courdy, French artist and director of KI transdisciplinary performance structure.
http://wearableart-interactiveperformance.com/

CALL ::: TRANSMEDIALE AWARD 2010
DEADLINE: July 31, 2009
February 2010
Berlin, Germany
As leading international festivals for art and digital culture as well as adventurous music and related visual arts, respectively, transmedialeand CTM (club transmediale) are inviting submissions to the transmediale Award Competition 2010 and the Vilem Flusser Theory Award 2010. Invited are art works, projects and positions that respond to the challenges of our rapidly changing digital, technological and networked cultures. The transmediale Award seeks innovative, experimental and visionary works across a wide scope of form, process and practice that embrace, question and enrich our understanding and relationship to our immersed media and technologically driven society. Entries that exemplify new and critical forms of digital expression and interaction are encouraged, as are works from countries and regions in which digital art and culture are emergent. Submissions of art works for both festivals participate in the transmediale Award 2010 while theoretical abstracts, papers and research oriented positions are invited for the Vilem Flusser Theory Award, with prizes totaling 10.000 EURO.
http://www.transmediale.de/en/call2010-main

FASHIONABLE TECHNOLOGY REPORT November 2008

MOONDIAL FASHIONABLE TECHNOLOGY REPORT
Visionary Insights on Epidermis & Technology
by Sabine Seymour
November 2008

MOONDIAL FASHIONABLE TECHNOLOGY NEWS ::: LECTURE AT DESIGNFORUM VORARLBERG
Sabine Seymour's lecture "Fashionable Technology, Ein Chip zum Anziehen" highlighted the opening of the Designforum Vorarlberg in Dornbirn, Austria on October 23, 2008.
http://www.prisma-zentrum.com/start.php4?m1id=3&m2id=87&m3id=0&m4id=0
http://www.designforum.at

LECTURE ::: LUCY ORTA, BODY ARCHITECTURE
Wednesday, November 19, 2008 @ 6pm
School of Constructed Environments
Glass Corner, 2nd Floor
25 East 14th Street, New York, USA
Trained as a fashion designer but working as an artist since the beginning of the 90’s, Ms. Orta has realized what she called “architectures with soul.” They are objects that respond to a critical and constructive gaze on the most sensitive areas of society, evoking the need for change, poetically prefiguring reality and suggesting alternative life styles. She has produced numerous interventions and actions, putting on stage crucial themes of the contemporary world: community, social exclusion, dwelling, mobility, sustainable development and recycling.
http://www.studio-orta.com/

CALL FOR SPEAKERS ::: AVANTEX SYMPOSIUM: FASHION
Applications are open for Fashion curated by Sharon Baurley. Please refer to the Fashionable Technology Report when applying.
June 16 - 17, 2008
Frankfurt, Germany
The latest developments and trends in new and innovative apparel textiles not only enhance their properties and, in turn, the application areas for the apparel but also facilitate new kinds of apparel. This is associated with an increased demand for information and communication. The Avantex Symposium is not only an opportunity for this but also a chance to engage in cross-sector discussions.
This year, four main themes are planned:
1. Fashion: modern materials and technologies in fashion
2. Material + Technology in apparel: advances in the areas of fibres, textiles, technology and processing
3. Sports + Outdoor: performance and lifestyle
4. Portable technologies / E-textiles: textile-based, portable electronic systems, sensors and controllers
The lectures will be taking place on 16 - 17 June 2009 (afternoons only) at the Messe Frankfurt Congress Center.
Anyone wishing to take part as a symposium speaker, is now cordially invited to apply.
http://techtextil.messefrankfurt.com/frankfurt/en/symposium_coc_symposien.html

EXHIBITION ::: SPECIMEN: RESPRESENTING THE NATURAL WORLD
November 6, 2008 - January 29, 2009
Paul Robeson Galleries, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
350 Dr. Martin Luther King Boulevard, Newark, New Jersey, USA
In the 19th century a thirst for information about the natural world was rampant among the general populace, from dedicated scientists to avid amateurs. This exhibition addresses the pervasive influence of ‘natural history’ inspired aesthetics and methodologies on contemporary artists. In this exhibition, contemporary artworks will be displayed alongside historic works, on loan from the Newark Public Library and private collections.
Artists: Catherine Chalmers, Keith Cottingham, Dorothy Cross, Julie Dermansky, Jordan Eagles, Seth Goodwin, Damien Hirst, Mike Libby, Laura McClanahan, Julia Randall, Christopher Russell, Laura Splan, Kimberly Witham, Dustin Yellin
http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/artgallery/current/index.html

CALL FOR ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCY PROPOSALS ::: V2_LAB SOFT TECHNOLOGY
DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS: December 7, 2008
V2_Lab, the artistic Research & Development (aRt&D) department of V2_ Institute for Unstable Media in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, has a vacancy for a three-month artist’s residency from January 15 to April 15, 2009.
V2_Lab has an extensive history in the field of wearable technology. In recent years, we have carried out various aRt&D projects in collaboration with various artists and universities. For example, we developed soft, wearable interactive objects with Thecla Schiphorst during Soft(n). We recently took these developments further in the direction of fashion and wearable technology with Di Mainstone’s Sharewear. In these projects, we combine knowledge from various domains to produce surprising or critical artistic statements. V2_ is seeking to further investigate the combination of fashion and technology by means of an experimental residency. The goal of the residency is the research and development part of the residency will focus on the development of flexible, textile-integrated circuit boards and electronic components, manufactured from easily accessible materials. We wish to involve the artist in this research at the earliest possible stage, so that the accumulated knowledge will remain easily transferable. This residency is also geared toward achieving a satisfying end result in the form of a visually attractive working prototype.
To download your application form please follow this link: http://files.v2.nl/portal/Applicationform_AIR.rtf
http://www.v2.nl

WORKSHOP ::: WIRELESS WEARABLES
Sunday, December 14, 2008 @ 2 - 6pm
Location: NYCResistor (www.nycresistor.com), Brooklyn, NY, USA
Instructors: Kate Hartman and Rob Faludi
Cost: $150
Get ready to explore the delights of mutual connectivity with the soon-to-be released XBee LilyPad! This class will introduce the communication and construction techniques necessary to create wireless wearables. We'll start by learning how to communicate using XBee radios, including digital, analog, input and output modes along with an overview of other useful features. Once we've made contact, we'll translate our circuits onto fabric, learning how to make flexible, durable, and attractive connections between components using conductive textiles and threads. By the end of the class, we'll have our soft circuits conversing wirelessly and you'll be ready to create your own clothing, toy or tapestry that talks!The price of this class includes a $50 materials fee, which covers a LilyPad XBee board, XBee radio, battery pack, conductive fabric & thread, and various sewing supplies. When the class is over, the circuit you've created will be yours to keep!
http://www.eventbrite.com/event/202648126

CALL FOR PARTICIPATION: CHI 2009 WORKSHOPS ::: PROGRAMMING REALITY: From Transitive Materials to Organic User Interfaces
Submission is still open. Please refer to the Fashionable Technology Report when applying.
Workshop date: April 4 - 5, 2009
Boston, MA, USA
Over the past few years, a quiet revolution has been redefining our fundamental computing technologies. Flexible E-Ink and OLEDs displays, shape-changing and light-emitting materials, parametric design, e- textiles, sensor networks, and intelligent interfaces promise to spawn entirely new user experiences that will redefine our relation with technology. In one example, future flexible displays will allow us to design devices that are completely flexible, and that can curve around everyday objects or our bodies. These and other developments are opening up unprecedented opportunities for innovation and require us to re-examine and re- evaluate some of the most basic user interface design principles. This workshop invites researchers and practitioners to imagine and debate this future, as well as prototype next-generation interfaces. We will explore two converging themes. Transitive Materials will focus on how emerging materials and computationally-driven behaviors can operate in unison blurring the boundaries between form and function, human body  andenvironment, structures and membranes, while supporting the design of computational systems that are intrinsically capable of  interactivity and personalization. Organic User Interfaces (OUI) will explore future interactive designs and applications as these materials become   commonplace. The OUI vision is based on an understanding that in the future the  physical shape of display devices will become non-flat, potentially arbitrary and even fluid or computationally controlled. This allows display devices and entire environments to take on shapes that are 3D, flexible, dynamic, modifiable by users or self-actuated.
Submissions and enquiries: programmingreality@media.mit.edu
http://www.chi2009.org/Authors/CallForPapers/Workshops/cfp121.pdf

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS ::: CODED CULTURES - Exploring Creative Emergences
Binational Festival / Austria - Japan 2009
Festival Austria (Vienna): May 27 - 31, 2009
Festival Japan (Yokohama): October 14 - 18, 2009
The team of 5uper.net (www.5uper.net) is happy to announce the CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS for the binational festival »CODED CULTURES - Exploring Creative Emergences«, which is taking place in Austria and Japan in the year 2009 (Austria - Japan Year 2009). The second edition of CODED CULTURES (first edition online at: http://codedcultures.5uper.net) is exploring new artistic practices and creative ability profiles within media integrated project-cultures and digital media related art, focusing on Japan and Europe. The festival »CODED CULTURES – Exploring Creative Emergences« addresses questions regarding the codes of creative cultures and artistic practices, which are based on new transdisciplinary and hybrid developments of culture and art under the conditions of a post-contemporary digital media-age and transformations of related artistic developments. Therefore, the festival creates a surrounding in which new ways of emerging arts, creativity, theories, projects and ideas can be explored in the field of digital media related forms of creative delineation and arts. The particular aim is to present, discuss and criticize topics, which are situated on the intersection of disciplines and activities in order to enforce new potentials of artistic practices and positions. By these means, persons from the field of digital media related art and culture, who derive joy from discovering ways to circumvent limitations are welcome to submit their works, projects, theories and ideas. Regarding this, CODED CULTURES is mainly searching for projects, which shape new vectors of creation and art, situated between: e.g. Science & Art, Technology & Art, Design & Art, Fashion & Art, Economy & Art, a.s.o.
http://www.codedcultures.net

NEWSLETTER ::: LUMINAPOLIS
Luminapolis is the portal of Light for all working with lighting: architects, designers, artists. We publish your lighting-news. Luminapolis prepares the Luminale 2010 - Lighting Culture Biennale.
http://www.luminapolis.com/?langswitch_lang=en

DISCUSSION ::: NANOART: MAKING THE INVISIBLE VISIBLE
The Australian Network for Art & Technology (ANAT) is pleased to announce the  November discussion on the Synapse elist which, throughout 2008, is investigating the  leading-edge of art and science research collaboration. This month's discussion explores artists' engagement with nanotechnologies. As well as an exploration of artistic projects, the list will investigate some of the pressing issues arising from the proliferation of nanoscale technologies - for example, implications of the inability to control affect at the nano level and the peculiar challenges facing artists working with these technologies, not least the 'invisibility' of their practice both literally and figuratively.
To join the discussion visit:
http://www.synapse.net.au select 'Discuss' and follow the prompts.

CONFERENCE ::: IFAI ADVANCED TEXTILES '09
A European-US Entrepreneur Networking Conference
Brussel, Belgium
April 2 - 3, 2009
Attend the second IFAI Advanced Textiles Conference 2009, where market-ready innovations and new technologies in the technical textiles field with be unveiled. This high-level gathering of industry experts and government officials is designed to provide a valuable educational and networking opportunity for participants, creating new business opportunities between U.S. and European companies.
Conference sessions and discussions will focus on key advanced textile application areas such as:
Architecture, Sports apparel, Protective fabrics, Medical textiles
http://www.ifai.com

CALL FOR PROPOSALS ::: O'REILLY EMERGING TECHNOLOGY CONFERENCE
March 9 - 12, 2009
The Fairmont San Jose
San Jose, CA, USA
The spirit of ETech is fueled by honing in on the ideas, projects, and technologies that the alpha geeks are thinking about, hacking on, and inventing right now, creating a space for all participants to connect and be inspired. ETech 2009 promises to be another rich and cutting edge event, looking this time at technology is reinventing the way we live. The constrained world has to make do with what's available. Why scrimp and sacrifice for a computer when most people have mobile phones with an SMS server that can do the job just fine? With limited food, water, fuel, medicine, it's the people and their ideas that are often the cheapest part of the equation. Their technology looks to collaboration and connection with fewer resources—almost the opposite of the industrialized world which seeks to make each individual as effective as possible.What technologies cross the divide? How do the two interact and cross-pollinate? On the surface, they wouldn't seem to overlap, but on deeper examination, inhabitants of both worlds learn from each other constantly. Here are some areas at the intersection of abundance and constraint we'll be exploring at the 2009 edition of ETech, the O'Reilly Emerging Technology Conference:
City Tech
Materials & Mechanics
Personalized Healthcare
Mobile & The Web
Geek Family
Synthetic Biology
Nomadism & Shedworking
Sustainable Life
Life Hacking & Information Overload
http://conferences.oreilly.com/etech

IFAI Advanced Textiles 2008 Conference

IFAI Advanced Textiles 2008
Berlin, Germany
June 12 - 13, 2008

Program: Download 08AT_ebrochure-FINAL250408.pdf

IFAI Advanced Textiles 2008, taking place in the cultural hub of Berlin from June 12.-13 is  conceived as a European-US Networking Conference, highlighting major trends and new  technologies in the field of technical textiles. The overall goal is to create new business  opportunities between US and European companies that deliver or process technical textiles  for various application fields. The unique forum for bilateral talks and meetings shall point the  way for prosperous initiatives towards innovation and cross-section activities in both  continents by fostering co-operations, strategic partnerships and common projects.    

The conference is being supported by major European and US institutions like the US  Commercial Service, the major German association IVGT, ESF, the European Safety  Association as well as ETT, the European Entrepreneur Club of Technical Textiles, to name  only a few. Key note speaker Luis Filipe Girão, Head of Unit, Directorate General Enterprise  & Industry, European Commission is opening the conference. The program is clearly  application-oriented and will bring together industry leaders from all over Europe and the US  to speak about their issues and requirements. Global players like Lenzing and TenCate,  Hollingsworth & Vose as well as small and medium-sized businesses offering special product  solutions and technologies are sharing their innovation processes with the audience. This  concept will foster prosperous bilateral discussions during the 1,5 day event in Berlin.

The conference topics are:
Sustainable product developments for major fabric applications
Nanotechnologies and embedded systems
High-performance textiles for architecture and lightweight structures
Innovative textile applications for advancing protective clothing

Thanks to Isa Hofmann!

Smart Fabrics 2008 Conference

Smart Fabrics 2008
Double Tree Guest Suites Charleston - Historic District
Charleston, SC, USA
May 5 - 7, 2008

Unfortunately I cannot make it this year but I can only recommend you attend this great industry gathering. The conference chairs Stacey Burr from Textronics and Martijn Krans from the Photonic Textiles unit at Philips are doing a wonderful job in initiating the event every year.

In its 4th year running, Smart Fabrics 2008 will bring together innovators and enthusiasts of e-textiles to discuss these challenges and much   more. The event will provide an opportunity for leading developers, manufacturers   and end users of smart fabric technologies to discover and discuss the growth   potential of this burgeoning industry. The conference will focus on the latest   business issues facing the industry, including market size, commercialization   and business challenges, potential for growth, technological advances and hurdles,   application trends, design considerations, and production economics. Special   attention will be paid to the current status of innovative smart fabrics technologies   in the marketplace as well as the potential for future applications and consumer  acceptance.

Who should attend
Smart Fabrics 2008 is designed for CEOs, CTOs, business development   managers, sales and marketing executives, R&D specialists, technology planners,   engineers and those from the finance community who are involved in the development,   design or manufacture of interactive textiles.

 

Second Skin: Imaginative Designs in Digital & Analog Clothing

Second Skin: Imaginative Designs in Digital & Analog Clothing
Exploratorium
San Francisco, USA
April 29 - September 7, 2008 

The Exploratorium projects the human imagination into the 21st century of fashion. San Francisco's popular, museum of science, art, technology and human perception hosts a quirky evening event where science/technology and art/fashion converge at a runway fashion show on Friday, April 25, from 7–11pm. The artists' stellar works, to be highlighted around the spaces of the museum, will be up for five months, as will "the clothesline project," which will show off the creative works of visitors, from April 29-September 7, 2008. Artworks include Hannah Perner-Wilson and Mika Satomi's Massage me, an interactive, wearable computer that allows users to play a video game and massage a friend at the same time, developed in Linz, Austria; and Takehito Etani's Masticator, headgear that gives audio-visual feedback of chewing during meals.  Scott Tallenger's Tribute to Norma Desmond dress features still and moving images from the film Sunset Boulevard. Matthew Gale's clothing allows the wearer to "rest" anywhere with its built-in, portable neck rest. In addition, local artist Sha Sha Higby will perform within her exquisite and ephemeral body sculpture of layered wood, silk, paper, urushi, ceramic, and gold leaf. Refreshments available for purchase.

Voice Prints

Voiceprints is an experiment in audio visual software. A person speaks into a microphone, their voice is analysed for frequency content, looped, and then a number of small similar textile patterns are re-arranged in an abstract representation of the person's vocal frequency print. These patterns eventually fade, and with them the sound of the person's looped voice.

Via Transmaterial