Makers a Roma: gli "hacker"
che stampano Stradivari Artigiani del futuro, manipolano la materia e producono statue, case, hardware e altro ancora. Grazie a stampanti 3D

CLAUDIO LEONARDI Si chiama “makers” il nuovo fenomeno figlio di Internet, ma dilagato fuori dalla realtà virtuale, nel mondo reale. Si possono definire artigiani tecnologici, progettisti fai da te, inventori di futuro. Sono il prodotto della filosofia open source (disponibilità di idee e di mezzi per chiunque, sempre) e di un bel po' di intraprendenza e creatività. Sfileranno oggi al World Wide Rome, l'evento organizzato presso l' Acquario Romano di piazza Manfredo Fanti nella Capitale, introdotto dal direttore di Wired Usa Chris Anderson (trasmesso in diretta streaming dalla Stampa) che del fenomeno è stato pioniere.

Si tratta di qualcosa di più di una moda, se già si parla di nuova rivoluzione industriale. C'è chi profetizza il tramonto di società come la General Motors, e l'alba di una imprenditorialità individuale. La chiave di volta di questa nuova era si chiama stampante 3D, macchina in grado di produrre qualunque oggetto così come in casa possiamo stampare qualunque documento.

Il salto di qualità di questa tecnologia, in uso da circa trent'anni nelle fabbriche, lo si fa risalire al 2009, grazie al trentottenne Bre Prettis. Il creativo di Brooklyn ne ha creata una propria, chiamata Maker-Bot, il cui costo era di mille dollari, 100 volte inferiore a quelle fino ad allora in commercio.

Il vaso di Pandora era stato scoperchiato, a partire dalla Maker-Bot è uscito ogni tipo di creazione: una società tedesca ha conquistato la copertina su The Economist stampando un violino, l'architetto italiano Enrico Dini trasforma la sabbia in oggetti di design, case o barriere coralline artificiali, il museo Smithsonian ha replicato la statua di Thomas Jefferson, che troneggia a Washington, a Monticello.

L'innovazione è “tutta” qui: si può progettare, ideare e infine produrre un oggetto a costi abbordabili anche per imprese a conduzione singola, magari rifugiate in qualche garage come successe ad aziende che si sarebbero poi chiamate Apple o Microsoft.

Il fenomeno nasce negli Stati uniti, ma in Italia, come si è detto, non ne mancano esempi. Come quello di Massimo Banzi, già inventore di Arduino, una forma di hardware open-source applicato a diversi campi produttivi. E le nuove “botteghe” tecnologiche spuntano sulla Penisola, da Vectorealism a Kent’s Strapper. A Torino dal 17 Febbraio c'è qualcosa di identico agli spazi FabLab americani, autentiche officine open source che mettono a disposizione gli strumenti dei nuovi artigiani: chi ha bisogno di frese, lasercut e stampanti 3D può fare visita al laboratorio in Via Egeo 16, ospite delle Officine Arduino.

Nel 2010 Chris Anderson scrisse un saggio dal titolo "Gli atomi sono i nuovi bits". Era una osservazione, non una ipotesi: presso il Mit di Boston era nato un "Center for bits and atoms", officina ai limiti della magia dove si poteva materializzare quasi qualunque prodotto, e sicuramente molti sogni. Anderson ha dimostrato anche di avere imparato subito la lezione, creando una fabbrica casalinga di droni che vende kit per aeromodellini con videocamera e fattura, secondo quanto scritto da Riccardo Luna su Repubblica, circa tre milioni dollari all'anno.

L'era della riproducibilità totale sembrerebbe avere così superato l'ultimo steccato: gli oggetti fisici. Comprensibili gli entusiasmi per una promessa di rivoluzione, ma il tramonto dell'artigianato vecchio stampo potrebbe presto rivelare aspetti malinconici e meno eccitanti. Ci si potrebbe chiedere cosa succederà quando tra i “makers” nascerà qualcuno che deciderà di riprodurre Smith and Wasson, vale a dire armi da fuoco. Ma non si può porre questa domanda ai giovani demiurghi degli atomi: le ricadute di una rivoluzione sono sempre preoccupazione delle generazioni precedenti. E compito di quelle future.

(L'immagine è tratta dal video di presentazione della storia di MakerBot su YouTube)

 

VIDEO La nuova rivoluzione industriale secondo Chris Anderson (Wired)

K. Hassenfeld, Star Upon Star, 2011 (detail)
Paper with mixed media
Courtesy the artist and Peter Mendenhall Gallery, Los Angeles

 

Kirsten Hassenfeld usa materiale ordinario come la carta da regalo per creare opere scultoree sospese, collocate su un confine evanescente tra l’enigmatico e il domestico. Materiali e oggetti comuni sono trasformati, abbandonando la propria funzione per assumere nuove forme estetiche e nuovi significati.

STEVE McQUEEN’S MEAN MACHINES | THE 1957 JAGUAR XK-SS “GREEN RAT”

March 6, 2011

tags: 1950s, 1957, 1960s, automobile, British, bullitt, California, history, Hollywood, Jaguar, Jaguar XK-SS, Mullholland Drive, Steve McQueen

 

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Jaguar’s epic 3.4 liter, DOHC inline-six powered D-Types were originally built for competitive racing– with a few also falling into the hands of privileged private owners. But by 1958, the D-Type had become obsolete– new racing mandates now called for smaller 3.0-liter engines, which would hurt the D-Type’s performance on the track. Ferrari had proven themselves to be the masters of small-displacement, high-performance racing, particularly with their iconic Testa Rossa that could handily eat the 3.0 liter D-type’s lunch. Jaguar found itself needing to unload 25 of the 3.4 liter D-Types.

Jaguar execs decided to convert the old D-Types to street legal sports cars and sell them to the public as limited-edition GTs. The Jaguar was subjected to a series of street-legal retrofits, including– a full-width windshield, and a bare-bones top and luggage rack added to the rear deck replaced the original racing dorsal fin. Removable fixed-pane side curtains were then mounted to the Jaguar’s doors. A vestigial exhaust system was devised by engineers– complete with a guard to prevent laymen from burning themselves on the Jag’s exposed, aggressive sidepipes. The roadster’s lighting was converted to meet street specs, two nicely-appointed seats were added, a passenger side door and sleek bumpers were tacked-on, and they were ready to roll.  Tragically, 9 of the 25 XK-SS D-Types were destroyed by a fire at the Jaguar factory in 1957, making the remaining 16 all the more special.

One of these iconic roadsters would find its way into the hands of Steve McQueen– who enjoyed an on-and-off love affair with this special Jaguar up until the very end.

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• Poster
• Artworks (30)

Stieglitz and His Artists: Matisse to O'Keeffe

October 13, 2011 – January 2, 2012

Accompanied by a catalogue and an Audio Guide

 

This exhibition is the first large-scale presentation of paintings, sculptures, drawings, and prints from Alfred Stieglitz's collection, acquired by the Metropolitan in 1949. In addition to being a master photographer, Stieglitz (1864–1946) was a visionary promoter of modern American and European art, and he assembled a vast art collection of exceptional breadth and depth. Through a succession of influential galleries that he ran in New York City between 1905 and 1946, Stieglitz exhibited many of the most important artists of the era, and he collected works by Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Constantin Brancusi, Gino Severini, Vasily Kandinsky, Georgia O'Keeffe, Marsden Hartley, John Marin, Charles Demuth, and Arthur Dove. For more than sixty years, the Alfred Stieglitz Collection has been the cornerstone of the Museum's holdings of modern American art.

The exhibition features some two hundred major works by American and European modernists, supplemented by photographs by the Photo-Secessionists and publications by Stieglitz—all from the Metropolitan's holdings. Highlights include Picasso's Woman Ironing and Standing Female Nude, Kandinsky's Improvisation 27 (Garden of Love II), Brancusi's Sleeping Muse, O'Keeffe's Black Iris and Cow's Skull: Red, White, and Blue, Demuth's I Saw the Figure 5 in Gold, and Hartley's Portrait of a German Officer.

 

Read more about Alfred Stieglitz and his circle on the Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History.

Photographic Treasures from the Collection of Alfred Stieglitz
October 11, 2011 – February 26, 2012

A towering figure in early twentieth-century photography, Alfred Stieglitz was not only a master of the medium, but also a powerful tastemaker and tireless advocate for photography as a fine art in the early 1900s. Through his sumptuous and influential journal Camera Work (1902–1917) and his "Little Galleries of the Photo-Secession" (1905–1917), known to insiders simply as "291" for its address on Fifth Avenue, Stieglitz introduced the public to the best of artistic photography and, eventually, modern art. He was also his gallery's best client, supporting the artists he most admired by purchasing their work. Stieglitz's photography collection, donated to the Metropolitan by gift in 1933 and bequest following his death in 1946, constitutes the finest gathering of Photo-Secession works anywhere.

This exhibition, which coincides with the exhibition Stieglitz and His Artists: Matisse to O'Keeffe, presents some forty-eight photographic treasures by Anne Brigman, Alvin Langdon Coburn, F. Holland Day, Gertrude Käsebier, Joseph Keiley, Heinrich Kühn, Edward Steichen, Clarence White, and others.

Left: Gertrude Käsebier (American, 1852–1934). Blessed Art Thou among Women, 1899. Platinum print; 23 x 13.2 cm (9 1/16 x 5 3/16 in.). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Alfred Stieglitz Collection, 1933

riusuke fukahori: goldfish salvation at ICN gallery

'goldfish salvation' by riusuke fukahori at ICN gallery in london, united kingdom
image © dominic alves

 

hosted by ICN gallery, japanese contemporary artist riusuke fukahori makes his london debut with
'goldfish salvation', a collection of paintings and sculptures revolving around the often colourful freshwater fish.
what looks to be an actual goldfish frozen in time is a careful construction of casting resin which has been
layered with acrylic paint. section by section, fukahori builds up the fish with fleeting brushwork,
resulting in an effect that resembles motion blur underneath water.

cast in a variety of vessels - from large sushi basins to the hollow insides of black bamboo - the 'living sculptures'
are a delicate balance between painting and sculpture. the artist's meticulous attention to detail coupled with
the tedious nature of the style creates highly dynamic three-dimensional pieces that capture the delicacy and
animated life of the fish.

Power of Making celebrates the role of making in our lives by presenting an eclectic selection of over 100 exquisitely crafted objects. Curated by Daniel Charny, the exhibition is a cabinet of curiosities showing works by both amateurs and leading makers from around the world, presenting a range of skills with imaginative and spectacular results.

 

Russian architects Alexey Goryainov & Mikhail Krymov have designed and produced a booth for taking a quick nap in busy urban environments called SLEEPBOX,

'bosco verticale' by stefano boeri, milan, italy
image © stefano boeri

construction is under way for the 'bosco verticale', two residential towers by italian architect stefano boeri of milan-based
studio stefano boeri architetti within the metropolitan center of milan, italy. the concept of reforestation within the city context
intends to minimize the expansion of established urban fabric for additional green spaces while still increasing biodiversity
which has been lost during development. the implementation of this project serves as a model for contemporary european cities
for linking a building with nature within city limits.

reaching 110 and 76 meters in height, the four sides of each structure will place over 900 mature trees on display to nearby
residents and onlookers. the facades are lined with staggered concrete balconies which will become the planting boxes for
the various shrubs, plants and trees. ranging from 3, 6 and 9 meters tall, the species of the selected vegetation have been carefully
chosen to withstand the increasing wind forces at successive levels. to place the green spaces on flat land, the necessary amount
of land would occupy 10,000 square meters in a natural forest and 50,000 square meters in a residential setting.