{"id":78,"date":"2013-10-17T15:11:16","date_gmt":"2013-10-17T22:11:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/research.ecuad.ca\/associatedprojects\/?page_id=78"},"modified":"2014-01-30T21:35:37","modified_gmt":"2014-01-31T05:35:37","slug":"darwin","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/research.ecuad.ca\/associatedprojects\/projects\/darwin\/","title":{"rendered":"Darwin"},"content":{"rendered":"

DARWIN<\/strong>\u00a0is a project that celebrates the slippage between form, surface, and identity. Collaboratively designed and produced by students and faculty of the Illustration program at Emily Carr University, it employs industrial ceramic processes but adopts the aesthetics and collaborative dynamics characteristic of the explosive \u201cUrban Vinyl\u201d subculture. As a generic figurative form that lacks detail and invites transformation through surface design,\u00a0Darwin<\/em>\u00a0appropriates the strategy of the designer toy \u201cplatform\u201d, popularized by Toy2R\u2019s\u00a0Qee<\/em>\u00a0and KidRobot\u2019s\u00a0Dunny.<\/em>\u00a0Unlike the vinyl toys that inspired them, the\u00a0Darwin<\/em>\u00a0figures are conceived and presented as an inquiry\u2013<\/em>\u00a0an invitation to investigate our adaptive and\/or conditional nature. Though the project employs a formal vocabulary derived from plastics and animation, a much older lineage of allegorical figuration is evoked by its translation into ceramic material.<\/p>\n

The project aims to investigate how the collective and potentially disparate concerns of a group (in this case, a group of researchers) might be manifested symbolically or allegorically. This research project centers on how a collection of objects can communicate through their interrelation; a collection that does not strive for clarity or fixed meaning, but rather aims to act as a multiplicity of ciphers or intuitive triggers through which we might continuously revisit the complexities of a given question.<\/p>\n

Process
\n<\/strong>The glazed ceramic \u201cblanks\u201d provide an ideal opportunity for collaborative experimentation tied to the conference. Like his namesake,\u00a0Darwin<\/em>\u00a0is all about adaptation.\u00a0 Any image can be translated into surface design, then be applied and kiln-fired onto the form with specialized ceramic decals.<\/p>\n

For more information on the Darwin project, visit the Centre for Applied Arts and Material Production (CAAMP) blog at http:\/\/blogs.eciad.ca\/caamp\/<\/a><\/strong><\/em>.\u00a0 Emily Carr University\u2019s new\u00a0Centre for Applied Art and Material Production<\/a>\u00a0(CAAMP) is an initiative dedicated to cultural inquiry regarding the contemporary circulation of images and objects. CAAMP proposes to participate in the upcoming\u00a0Re\/Search<\/em>\u00a0symposium with an experiment in the production of knowledge through the collaborative design and manufacture of objects, with the added challenge of integrating academic investigation with the mass appeal of collectibles, character design, and the entertainment industry.<\/p>\n\n\t\t