phil patton – DesignApplause

design for disruption: gopro.

Dec 12, 2014

gopro’s top-of-the-line hero4 black

eric woodman, who founded gopro, the miniature camera company, in 2002, said on sixty minutes that “it has revealed the hidden perspectives of human life.” yes, he had a stock to sell, and we expect boasts of profound impact for their products from entrepreneurs post steve jobs of course, but that is a surprisingly profound insight.

the gopro allowed people to record and share their best waves in surfing, their wildest leaps in mountain biking –and now their adventures driving.

above> photographer eric sterman using a phantom drone and hero 3+ shoots surfing the bonzai pipeline last december 2013.

gopro is helping to bring the dashboard camera into the main stream. bmw and mini now allow for control of the gopro camera from the vehicle software. the gopro seems on the verge of making the great leap that navigation units did a few years ago, from techie accessory to next cool thing. and they may fundamentally change the way we drive and think about driving.

the story of popular dash cams in the us begins with the meteorite that exploded near the russian city of chelyabinsk on february, 15, 2013. it injured 1500 people, caused millions of rubles of damage and made americans aware that many russians had dash cams in their cars–for their own protection. not only did the cameras record celestial events, it turns out, but misdeeds by other drivers and law enforcers, posted online.

video from dash cams has a vast life online. in the u.s. it was mostly police imagery: bizarre driver responses to being pulled over and humorous dancing field sobriety tests. no wonder woodman regards the real product of the go pro corporation not as cameras, not even as compilations of video made with the cameras but as the social media surrounding the compilation of the clips. by letting us record moments of adventure, on the road, or entire journeys and sharing them with other people, dash cams could have the same effect on the experience of driving .

some drivers will want to record episodes of horror or humor, others to document rapid or romantic stretches of road. there is a long tradition of filming drives, but you pretty much had to be a professional movie maker to do it. the most famous example is the cult film of a high speed early morning run through paris made in 1976 by director claude lelouch—director of a man and woman–the high-speed short film c’était un rendez-vous.

it is a very french film and often the flavor of dash cam compilations reflects personality and nationality. the russian compilations suggest the wild west quality of its highways. japanese compilations, by contrast, include terrifying tsunami footage and accidents, maintained by japanese trucking association for safety warnings. but the japanese counterpart of russia’s flying cows is different: the japanese news service asahi shinbun reports that dora dora douga website draws 160,000 monthly viewers to a “beautiful landscape” and “unique scenery” site. the dawn of gifu, a landscape view of gifu prefecture, is most popular.

another use for go pros has recently been proposed. officials all the way up to president obama have suggested issuing body cameras to police officers to help reduce mistaken shootings. but here too the disruptions of the innovation may surprise: won’t these cameras emphasize the point of view of the police officer more than that of the victim?

gopro equipped phantom drone used by police in east harlem building explosion in new york city summer of 2014

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The ICFF and attendant events. ICFF 2013.

May 20, 2013

Really doing one of these shows decently is a matter of putting some hours of thought into it alas.

Many of the firms showing at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair also have showrooms in SoHo or other areas downtown from its site, the Javits Convention Center. But while Vitra, Artek and many others chose to take space at the fair as well, American stalwarts Herman Miller and Knoll were not to be found. Such absences suggest that despite some 600 attendees, the fair celebrating its twentieth fifth anniversary is somehow still not yet mandatory attendance.

The ICFF and attendant events all over town were packaged this year as NYC X Design, which meant official city support for the idea of a design week promoted in previous years. The idea of a Milano Manhattan style remains elusive however.

parabola chair | carlo aiello | 2013

Even before the show opened, Carlo Aiello’s Parabola chair has emerged as the ICFF’s star: it suggests a cerebral cousion of Harry Bertoia’s diamond chair, mapping out the space time continuum for Star Trek. Or is it Mr. Spock’s shopping cart?

At ICFF, Molo’s stand, all of brown paper, caught attention. Inside were some of the company’s cloudlike, pleated paper lighting elements.

In an era dedicated to innovation, the classics face a challenge in mixing novelty with durability… Artek offered up new editions of its Aalto stool, much as Converse keeps producing new graphics for the Chuck Taylor All-Star. Carl Hanson celebrated the anniversary of the Wegner Shell chair with new fabrics. (Wegner is 93, the chair is 50.)

stool 60 | mike meiré | 2012

In addition to ICFF, several smaller gatherings and many open houses, parties and panels were part of the event.

Wanted 2013 is the name of a rival gathering of designers in the huge, solidly build brick warehouse downtown near the river called rather ominously Terminal Stores. It showed a more experimental and informal air than ICFF.

Intramuros magazine showcased a homage to Cappellini, who would otherwise be expected on the floor of ICFF at the Javits Center. Bright red examples of Cappellini products sat isolated silver lined booths with a vaguely pornographic mood to them. The Istanbul and South American delegations were impressive.

hai lounge chair | luco nichetto | one nordic furniture company | 2013

Some eyes were caught by One Nordic Furniture Company, from Helsinki, with its lovable Bento chair. Also at Nordic was Luca Nichetto’s Hai chair, which channeled the spirit of Gio Ponti. (Ponti, was also evoked at Vitra, with the Repos wing back chair by Antonio Citterio. Ponti also seemed an inspiration for Toshiyuki Kita’s “@” chair for Ligne Roset. Gio Ponti is the subject of a show to come this spring [ Living “Alla Ponti” ] at Molteni in SoHo.

In this, its second year, it hosted talks and such events as the School of Visual Arts Products of Design program’s meta design interpretation of the show. (url.)

pixel chair | valerie chin | 2013

There was student work, as at ICFF. The Rhode Island School of Design dispatched the alumni show originally curated by its chief, John Maeda, for the Milan fair. One witty example was Valerie Chin’s “Pixel” chair.

The curatorial group Sight Unseen produced a showcase at The Standard Hotel. This year, the American Design Club returns to Noho with its ninth group showcase, entitled Trophy: Awards We Live With. The group’s organizers explain: “A trophy is a memento, token, or symbol, used to commemorate an achievement or victory. Whether they are awarded, stolen, or created, trophy objects can come in many forms.”

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