New Lifecharm Shells
December 12, 2012 by Giles Lane · 2 Comments
Our colleague at Philips R&D, David Walker, was kind enough to have some more shells 3D printed in metal for a small experiment we’re planning to run in the new year. Here are some photos he’s taken of them.
Health, Bones, Teeth, Shells and biomineralisation
December 4, 2012 by stefankueppers · Comments Off on Health, Bones, Teeth, Shells and biomineralisation
This post is one of several exploring the research and creative processes Giles and I have undertaken for our project Lifestreams, an Art+Tech collaboration with industry partner, Philips R&D in Cambridge as part of Anglia Ruskin University’s Visualise programme.
What I did not yet know – and have been discovering – is just incredible!
Our explorations for Lifestreams initiated further research into bio–mineralisation in animals such as bones and seas-hells. It has opened my eyes – even more widely – into the utter inventiveness of Nature.
I studied architecture and spend several years in design research working on the analysis of morphology and dynamics at urban and architectural scale; e.g. how streets and public spaces and their features are organised and how people move through them – so, naturally, I have an ongoing fascination with patterns large and small, both man made and natural, as inspiration and reference for design ideas.
From this basis and with previous personal explorations into biomimetics many years ago (screen sculpture), I thought that it would be good to connect the idea of lifecharms and our shell concepts with the actual processes of bio–mineralisation as they occur in living systems.
To do this, I would need to have a better understanding of the real thing. Extraordinarily the last 30 years or so can really be seen as a new dawn of human discovery of the nano-scale in nature: Many scientists have been uncovering the most amazing natural phenomena of biological fabrication, self-assembly and material composition at the micro-scale.
Knowledge and research into bio–mineralisation has been of huge area of interest in biophysics, chemistry, medical and biological science. It has opened up new routes in areas such as tissue engineering for bone healing, design and production of prosthetics (i.e. limbs etc) and insights into nano-technologies and materials. For instance, this has helped in identifying bio-ceramics for bone scaffolds that could be used in medical procedures. Research into bio-mineralisation has prompted many innovations and holds a further promise in others fields well beyond medical sciences.
So setting out with virtually no understanding of bio-mineralisation I have come to learn that most living systems – ourselves included – are in fact expert at producing hard mineral deposits by growing them in crystal form. Organisms mix living tissue structures with the creation of a variety of crystalline substructures in very deliberate (and often quite subtly different) ways.
These structures of interlacing soft tissues and crystals of different configurations act as composites which are employed within our bodies to do different things; so you could say that ‘growing’ is more than just about purely organic matter but incorporates and embraces the growing and connecting of crystalline structures in our bodies all the time. We effectively grow our own bio-material composites: we have a variety of patterns in our different tissues that make these crystals assemble in very particular structural ways to – for example – construct bones that act as structural internal support, exoskeletons, teeth, sea-shells, glass-spines, beaks, etc.
The mineral/ crystalline deposits that animals and plants can form vary incredibly and – to my great surprise – have even produced such strange objects such as up to 1 meter long glass rods (spicules)
(capable of transmitting light similar to a glass fiber) in certain species of glass sponges
and even metal–composite teeth in molluscs!
Growth really encompasses quite complex interactions within cellular tissues where deeply integrated biological, chemical and physical processes result in layers of both living tissue and hard mineral deposits.
Human and animal bones, animal teeth and seashells alike are chemical compositions that are produced by cell tissue acting as templates and scaffolds. These provide the structure along which biologically controlled mineral deposits are formed. As well as the effect of many different chemical compositions, the patterning of these varies greatly depending on the functions they fulfil and what stresses they are under.
One extraordinary type of bio-mineral composite can be found in the teeth of chitons, a type of mollusc that even incorporates iron; in particular an iron oxide called magnetite which together with the organic components make them three times harder than human teeth.
So what good is this to our project research? Well, we are now exploring these phenomena to design a sculptural piece that will use aspects of this bio-mineral composite growth approach in nature. Our experiments are on the way so watch this space!
Special Offer : bookleteer book sets
December 2, 2012 by Giles Lane · Comments Off on Special Offer : bookleteer book sets
Our 5th special offer to raise funds for new projects and initiatives is an opportunity to buy three special sets of books made and published via bookleteer for our projects, City As Material, Material Conditions and Professor Starling’s Expedition.
- City As Material : London (10 books, slip bound, 2010) featuring contributions from Tim Wright, Alexandra Deschamps-Sonsino, Simon Pope, Ben Eastop and others.
- Material Conditions (8 books, wrapper, 2011) featuring books by London FieldWorks, Active Ingredient, Jane Prophet, Ruth Maclennan, Karla Schuh Brunet, Jules Rochielle & Janet Owen Briggs, Desperate Optimists and Sarah Butler.
- Professor Staring’s London-Thetford-Oxford Expedition (3 books, ribbon bound 2012) featuring contributions by DodoLab (Andrew Hunter & Lisa Hirmer), Proboscis (Giles Lane & Hazem Tagiuri), Leila Armstrong & Josephine Mills.
We’re offering just 7 sets for the bargain price of £24 plus post & packing – 50% off their usual prices.
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2012 Special Offer 5
Bookleteer Sets: City As Material + Material Conditions + Prof Starling |
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Special Offer #4 : RCA CRD RESEARCH books
December 2, 2012 by Giles Lane · Comments Off on Special Offer #4 : RCA CRD RESEARCH books
Our fourth special offer to help raise funds for new projects and initiatives is from my personal archive of publications which I published whilst I was a member of the RCA’s Computer Related Design Research Studio. These were produced between 1999 and 2001 and include some rare copies of the original first edition of Tony Dunne’s classic, Hertzian Tales and the FLIRT book, a research project led by Fiona Raby.
- The Presence Project by Bill Gaver, Ben Hooker et al (2001)
- Biotica : Art, Emergence & Artificial Life by Richard Brown (2001)
- The Flirt Book, by Fiona Raby et al (2000)
- Hertzian Tales by Anthony Dunne (1999)
- Technological Landscapes by Richard Rogers (1999)
Sorting through my archive, I found 11 copies of each which will be available per set for just £25 plus post & packing.
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2012 Special Offer 4
RCA Computer Related Design Books Set |
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2012 Festive Offer #3
December 2, 2012 by Giles Lane · Comments Off on 2012 Festive Offer #3
Our third festive offer to help raise funds for new project and initiatives is a set of publications we have collected together under the name Arts of Engagement. We have just 5 sets of these available, as some of the contents are now quite rare. It includes,
- Agencies of Engagement (2011)
- Total Place StoryCube Set (2009)
- With Our Ears to the Ground (2009)
- Being in Common : Catalogue of Ideas (2009)
- Perception Peterborough NoteBook (2008)
- Perception Peterborough StoryCubes (Matt Huynh & Proboscis) (2008)
- Perception Peterborough NoteBook (2008)
- Social Tapestries : An Atlas of Enquiry (2006)
- Navigating History Programme (2004)
- Navigating History : 12 Bookmarks by Rob Kessler (2004)
- Navigating History : A Three Fold yarn by Cathy Rains & Sally O’Reilly (2004)
All for £20 plus post & packing.
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2012 Special Offer 3
Arts of Engagement Set |
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Special Offer #2 : Fridge Magnets & Pack of Cards
December 1, 2012 by Giles Lane · Comments Off on Special Offer #2 : Fridge Magnets & Pack of Cards
Our second special offer (to raise funds for new projects and initiatives) is a great deal on two of our most popular items – Alice’s Endless Landscape Magnet set and our (somewhat eccentric) pack of cards, Being in Common : Catalogue of Ideas.
We’re offering them together at 50% off their usual price – perfect as gifts for people who like to make up thwir own games and stories! Get them for just £12.50 plus post and packing.
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2012 Special Offer 2
Endless Landscape Magnets + Catalogue of Ideas cards |
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Special Offer #1 : COIL sets, Case of Perspectives, Magnets & Cards
December 1, 2012 by Giles Lane · 1 Comment
This year we’re offering some special offers to help raise funds for new projects and initiatives. The first offer is a limited number of packages (15 sets only) of some of our loveliest publications – including :
- Complete set of COIL journal of the moving image (1995-2000)
- Social Tapestries : A Case of Perspectives (2007)
- Alice Angus’ Endless Landscape Magnet Set (2006)
- Being in Common – A Catalogue of Ideas (2009)
We’re offering all this for £35 plus post & packing – a third of their combined original prices!
*** Hurry – we have only 9 of these available ***
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2012 Special Offer 1
COIL journal set + Social Tapestries: Case of Perspectives + Endless Landscape Magnets + Catalogue of Ideas cards |
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