Practice, production and the quest for innovation

The means to produce are changing. The chimneys stopped smoking during the past century, and large industries increasingly are replaced by distributed production lines. Production is coming to a desk near you.

These new ways of producing, such as 3d printing, while in some branches of technology already being employed in mass production, are being explored extensively by the creative industries. Not so much as a tool of mass production but rather as a rapid prototyping tool to explore options and simulate a proof of concept.

Image taken from formLabs by Dani Clode. / From Fixing Disability to Extending Ability.

A mesmerizing project was recently developed by design student Dani Clode at Royal College of Art for her final year project. She had already worked in reference to the body in earlier projects and also experimented with other ideas centring around prosthetics.

This third thumb project is exploring the relationship between body function, mechanics and perception. Clode states about her project: It is part tool, part experience, and part self-expression. She has in fact based the project not on the idea of fixing, but rather the interpretation of the word prosthetic as extending.

The Third Thumb functions via sensors on the shoe of the wearer to control the movement of the 3d printed sixth finger, or third thumb.

Image taken from DANI AT RCA by Dani Clode. / MY COFFEE TABLE CURRENTLY, November 21, 2016.

Image taken from DANI AT RCA by Dani Clode. / WORK-IN-PROGRESS, January 20, 2017.

It references a growing body of work that is exploring the human body such as for example Instrumented Bodies by Joseph Malloch and Ian Hattwick with Les Gestes

Objects and extensions in this dialogue are not reduced to mere fashion accessories but placed in a discourse that ranges from cyborgs to self-image. Couldn’t be more suitable for our times.

Video taken from Vimeo by Dani Clode. / Promotion clip for imaginary KickStarter campaing.

edited, 2017-10-25