Living and Dying, Wellcome Trust Gallery, British Museum

Photograph of section of knitwear by Susie Freeman showing tablets consumed during an average life span.

The Living and Dying Gallery at the British Museum is always interesting to look at as it combines elements to shock, beautiful cultural symbols and rituals, clever presentation with quite shocking facts.

The most shocking exhibit is the innovative knitwear display by Susie Freeman demonstrating the 14,000 tablets of medication we in the west consume in an average lifetime.  It is in a huge display case and along the sides of the two pieces, one depicting a man's life and the other a woman's typical usage are the items used in daily life.

Abstract Photograph

Another light photograph, but this time in a composition...again I'm not going to reveal what it is.

Professor Tom Barker, Smart Slab Ltd - Interactive Architecture

Professor Tom Barker (RCA) talked about interactive architecture and his company Smart Slab Ltd that he set up in 2000.  An impressive and tenacious person he has created a very innovative and interesting product.

Smart Slab was devised during a night out with a drawing on a napkin.  Nine years later they are now working on the Axis building in Manchester due for completion in October 2009.  The skyscraper's facade will be covered in tv screens from the ground up and will be showing a selection from the BBC archive.  

Smart Slab is a very versatile product that can be used internally or externally and it's also very durable.  It is part of the 2.0 revolution with the public creating their own content.  For instance, they have designed a Community Cube in Tokyo, Japan.  It's a 4.8 metre cube which for most of the day shows advertising, but for two hours a day it will show Youtube style films.

Smart Slab is simply a way to cover an area internally or externally with interactive architecture that responds to people.  Advertisers are very keen to use it as technology has now developed so that it can tell whether people are looking at it or not using eye tracking with infra red.

The inspirations for this product came from the Tom Cruise film Minority Reports.

Fabrican Ltd - Dr Manel Torres

Dr Manel Torres gave an inspiring and enthusiastic talk about his spray on fabric-in-a-can product that is now manufactured and sold under Fabrican Ltd.  This is a very innovative and intriguing product that has varied applications from fashion, consumer household and cleaning, automative, petcare to medical uses and it has even been used in films to create costumes. 

Formerly a fashion designer the inspiration for his spray on fabric came from silly string at a party!  Now Dr Torres uses fashion to demonstrate the product in the most interesting and engaging way.  

Not only is it an innovative product, but the application of creativity and science to create something extraordinary is very inspiring.  Science really needn't be boring...

Dr Torres was also an encouraging and enthusiastic speaker describing his journey, his failures, dead-ends and successes and final triumph stating that, "When you really have an interest then things happen".

Yellow stripe

These railings are pretty cool and they've been used in a Nike advert before now too.

Viewpoint and composition

Spring Viewpoint

Another look at viewpoints, this time simultaneously bending down and looking up to create a different viewpoint...