maya ben david: 'save as [ ]'

‘fragile desire’. designed by umur sener .

the concept of collective memory is under constant flux. the broad use of digital technologies for recording and sharing experiences added new layers to this ongoing change. social technologies (e.g facebook, twitter, google+ etc) together with new abilities to share and generate content( e.g youtube, vimeo, blogs etc) is increasing our connectivity and our ability to experience and share experiences. due to the web, we now share a wider image of our past, of our memory. in that sense the web expended our sense of social collective and increased our empathy. as we witnessed in the recent revolution in egypt where social online communications affected the daily life of millions, we are entering an era where the virtual and the physical are defusing one into the other shaping new realities.

‘save as ’ online platform is aimed to engage designers with this upcoming reality. the platform responds to events happening around the globe by calling designers to fill the gap between the parentheses and create their own ‘figures of memory’. the current collection is focus on the recent arab revolution wave that is come to be known as the ‘arab spring’. starting with tunisia, egypt, yemen, libya etc this wave inspired people all over the world. it expresses the changing nature of our time and marks the upcoming dynamics between the virtual and the physical world.

the project participants were asked to correspond to ‘the arab spring’ (as a phenomenon or a singular event) and design their own ’figure of memory’ considering 3-d printing technologies as the medium of creation.

‘save as ’ process follows 5 steps: capturing / editing / designing / producing / exhibiting.

capturing – when event happens, people capture and share content online.

editing – participants filter and select their favorite online sources and upload them to save as ‘source cloud’. this cloud is constantly designed and edited by save as editor. the editor’s role is to bring different medias together to form a stimulating edited image which function as a design brief.

designing – designers are invited to design objects which embody their online experiences from the event. these objects designed for 3d printing technology and uploaded as a digital file to ‘save as’ platform. the design process is stimulated by ‘save as’ source cloud when each designer feeds back the source cloud with his own relevant links, so the source cloud is a growing feature curated by participants. the submitted objects perform as a kind of hyper-objects, explored in the context of their online sources.

producing – the general public can explore the objects and the source cloud online and print their chosen object using 3-d printing technology. the act of printing shifts from mere production to a personal moment of choice and creation.

exhibiting – the uploaded objects will also be curated to form a collection. this collection will be printed and exhibited to the public. by exhibiting ‘save as’ is aiming to diffuses the virtual with the physical in a way that hopefully will reflect our contemporary way of experiencing.

participants:

dan hochberg and roi vaaspi yanai – israel david bizer – germany jon stam – canada / netherlands umur sener – germany jo szczepanska – australia maya ben david – israel

added credits:

objet ltd advising and sponsoring the production of this project.

‘tahrir roling’. designed by dan hochberg and roi vaspi yanai .