Design and the Elastic Mind

February 24, 2008 1:04 PM

Design and the Elastic Mindis a MOMA exhibit of cool objects, gadgets, websites and ideas. Some personal favorites are The PainStation, The Religious Helmet, Body Modification for Love, The Minutine Space and Lightweeds.
posted by Kattullus (13 comments total)

Caveat: this web site will make more sense if you are a robot.
posted by pwally at 1:36 PM on February 24, 2008 [1 favorite]

The PainStation game reminds me of the surprisingly suspenseful game Shocking Roulette. Which is sort of interesting, but I'm always fascinated when artists pick up a sort of lowbrow idea that's a few years old and present it as cutting edge.
posted by The Loch Ness Monster at 1:44 PM on February 24, 2008

Why is this site screaming at me? The things on it are so cool, but it hurts so.
posted by lauranesson at 1:49 PM on February 24, 2008

On second look some of that stuff is pretty cool: Snow World (VR helmet to distract burn patients from the pain of their bandage changes), Play Pump (kids' merry-go-round that pumps water as they play-- an old idea, but still).

User of the SoMo4 (mobile phone) knocks on the phone to communicate the urgency of the call

I had a boss who did that.
posted by The Loch Ness Monster at 2:08 PM on February 24, 2008

I love the cootie catcher/remote control.
posted by maryh at 2:39 PM on February 24, 2008

Augh... interface... too... much... art!
posted by Faint of Butt at 3:33 PM on February 24, 2008

Just loads a black screen for me. Drat!
posted by vronsky at 3:34 PM on February 24, 2008

Really, really terrible site design. Which is ironic, considering that so many of the projects on it are about making data more accessible and easier to understand.
posted by oneirodynia at 4:40 PM on February 24, 2008

I find it's much better when I don't try and read anything on that massive page, and I just click somewhere, and then see what I got. Once I let go like that, I enjoyed this site more. (Kinda like the early web.)

I'm still not sure what I'm looking at or where it's taking me, though. But I just got the LED Dog Tail Communicator, then clicked on "interfaces" and it took me to Living Sensors. Why, I dunno, but both exhibits (?) are cool and weird nonetheless.
posted by not_on_display at 5:03 PM on February 24, 2008

Metafilter Meetup?
posted by onalark at 7:22 PM on February 24, 2008

Went to it today. A lot of great pieces and very bad exhibit design. There was a bit of a crowd, but moved agonizingly slowly because of bad sign placement and flow control. I'd wait until the initial rush dies down and avoid the crowds.

I really liked the concept of AfterLife.
posted by xthlc at 7:44 PM on February 24, 2008

My sea level rise maps are part of this exhibition. MOMA's web-site sure it Flashtastic, though.
posted by mr. strange at 1:00 AM on February 25, 2008

LOADING INTERFACE LOADING ASSETS

....

LOADING INTERFACE LOADER

...

LOADING INTERFACE ASSETS

...

LOADING INTERFACE

...

(sits to attention)

...

...

LOADING ASSETS

...

LOADING OUTLINES FOR LETTER 'F'

...

LOADING A NICE CUP OF TEA, BE RIGHT BACK

(ctrl-w)
posted by davemee at 2:44 AM on February 25, 2008