Lecture by Scott Summit, Co-Founder of Bespoke Innovations
Enjoyed a lecture by Scott Summit at the California College of the Arts yesterday evening. Being a huge fan of the lecture series at CCA, I love the fact that the artist talks are open and free to the public. If you find yourself in San Francisco, it’s definitely great to take advantage of these events (especially if you want to keep yourself apprised of art and design). Above, I posted Summit’s TedxCambridge Talk. Although last night’s lecture was geared towards budding industrial designers, I found it extremely informative and learned some new things (i.e., additive fabrication/manufacturing). Overall, it was fascinating to see concepts designed virtually and brought to fruition through additive fabrication (aka 3D modeling). Having a profound interest in the translation between virtual to physical (and vice versa), the presentation was pretty enthralling. As for some of the conceptual and creative aspects of industrial design, Summit stated the importance of the following in the design process.
Create uniqueness
Design like Nature
Create for the Body
Increase Complexity to Reduce Cost
Start a product company with no upfront cost
Really (Truly) Optimize – Perform, Feedback, and Revision
See things you couldn’t see before
Low Power Consumption
Self Replication – The machine’s ability to print itself
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Dorothy R. Santos
Dorothy R. Santos (she/they) is a Filipino American writer, artist, and educator whose academic and research interests include feminist media histories, computational media, critical medical anthropology, technology, race, and ethics. She is a Ph.D. candidate in Film and Digital Media at the University of California, Santa Cruz as a Eugene V. Cota-Robles fellow. She received her Master’s degree in Visual and Critical Studies at the California College of the Arts and holds Bachelor’s degrees in Philosophy and Psychology from the University of San Francisco. Her work as been exhibited at Ars Electronica, Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, and the GLBT Historical Society.
Her writing appears in art21, Art in America, Ars Technica, Hyperallergic, Rhizome, Vice Motherboard, and SF MOMA’s Open Space. Her essay “Materiality to Machines: Manufacturing the Organic and Hypotheses for Future Imaginings,” was published in The Routledge Companion to Biology in Art and Architecture. She is a co-founder of REFRESH, a politically-engaged art and curatorial collective and serves as the Executive Director for the Processing Foundation. She is an advisor for Brooklyn-based arts and tech organization POWRPLNT and Bay Area-based arts organization slash arts.
4 responses to “Lecture by Scott Summit, Co-Founder of Bespoke Innovations”
I am amazed yet not surprised that Dorothy got so much out of that short lecture. Her views are indeed multi-dimensional, fueled by sensitivity and compassion.
I haven’t been impressed by anything like that since fractals. This guy’s a hero in his sphere just like Steve Jobs was at his.
I definitely believe artwork that addresses human need and helps solve a complex problem (in this case, helping amputees showcase something different in such a beautiful way). Summit stated during his lecture that Bespoke is not trying to re-create a human leg but to showcase the difference in such a way where the fairing serves as a memorial and sculpture. I like that idea and it was wonderful hearing him talk about something he is very passionate about.
I’m glad he mentioned that because that’s a point that, I think, could be easily missed. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if there were tears present…
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