Jul 17, 2023 Laurie Larson, Spring 2023 DM Graduate Fellow

Briefly describe your project and the challenges, lessons learned, and obstacles overcome in the execution of it. What were the professional, academic, and personal motivations underlying your project?

My research focused on creating a sculpture installation through which I tested a process of designing and digitally fabricating complex interlocking biomimetic objects in biocomposite materials. The artwork takes the extreme bodies of the Great Salt Lake ecosystem as the subject and aims to express the resilience and beauty of site-specific adaptation. The biocomposite materials used in the project were derived from lake-matter such as chitinous shrimp husks, biochar, algae and other organic materials. By combining these materials with a study of the morphological characteristics of lake-critters, I developed an assemblage of lake-bodies that represented the forces acting on the lake through its inhabitants.

The digital and material process which brought forth the artwork will expand into a study of modular architectural units such as evaporative cooling units, facade systems, structural supports, or furnishings. Generative digital techniques allow for more convincing and plausible biomimetic design. The shrinking gap between our digital tools and fabrication materials presents an opportunity to build upon the smooth, anesthetic, and efficient surfaces of modern design. Design works to ease the frictions of our various spaces into a seamless interface. Working with fabrication material through digital means allows for detail, complexity of structure, and beauty with which a sensitive rather than anesthetic design practice might be developed. Designers have been working digitally for decades, but translation from digital to material is a process which the discipline has rarely had its hands in directly until the widespread use of 3D printers, and CNC machines etc. The increasing accessibility of these tools is an opportunity for the machines we view as inhuman to work as more than a tool for efficient diagraming in the prowess of contemporary design production.

There have been several obstacles throughout the creation of this work that have both challenged and excited me as I complete the sculptural piece. The material irregularities of hand-made biocomposites are incongruent with the high fidelity and precision of digital models. This issue has tested the conceptual framework I hold as an artist and designer and the level of control I continuously seek to exert over material.

How did the Digital Matters Fellowship dovetail with your academic pursuits? What interested you in applying for this grant?

The Digital Matters fellowship allowed me to delve into the relationship between digital tools and their impact on our bodies and designed environments. I have an interest in investigating the connection between the digital-to-material-to-bodily interface, and working with Digital Matters provided me with the freedom to experiment with new processes without the fear of failure. The process test has resulted in an artwork that furthers the ambitions of the body of work I am developing. The expertise of the professionals at CrIS and the program’s rich history of innovative work by the faculty grants and fellows motivated me to apply for the graduate fellowship.

What insights have you gained in regard to your specific field as a result of your project and grant experience?

The development of tools and workflows has expanded my repertoire of digital techniques beyond graphic representation and diagramming. The more direct flow between design generation and fabrication using digital methods has brought to light nascent issues in my interdisciplinary practice, which lies at the intersection of visual arts & design with some biological theory and vital materialism serving as framework.

What would you tell potential Graduate Fellow applicants to help them shape their own digital scholarship project?

Digital Matters is uniquely situated between a set of humanities disciplines, which sets the program up for earnest interdisciplinary engagement. In my case, Digital Matters has transformed my scholarship by fostering an understanding of the challenges and connections between digital humanities and other fields. The work of my colleagues at Digital Matters influenced my thinking during the fellowship and going forward. The program provides excellent support and freedom, but it is the interdisciplinary nature of Digital Matters that truly sets it apart and makes it invaluable. I tell potential fellow applicants to look for ways to catalyze the interdisciplinary nature of Digital Matters.

What do you see as the upcoming important issues surrounding digital scholarship in your field? What areas/issues could students and scholars investigate to extend knowledge in this area?

Oftentimes biophilic approaches to design are a surface treatment: a buzzword that manifests in interior finishes with lots of plants. In what ways can the biomimetic approach be pushed to foundationally alter design and fabrication? Technological advancements which can directly print organic composites and other non-traditional printing materials create space for deeply intricate design work. How does programmable material change our conceptual framework as designers, artists, and craftspeople? In architecture, a lot of the work of the discipline is selecting and fitting pre-existing products and solutions. Custom solutions are exorbitantly expensive and oftentimes difficult or impossible to achieve at scale. Does the idea of programable material offer a way for custom, sensitive, solutions to be more accessible?