Information
| Richard Nelipovich designercraftsman.com |
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Design Statement
I am writing code to grow objects. Starting with computation and natural mutation as sources for design
development, forms emerge through fractal evolution of complexity and self-similarity. Using text as
building blocks, my current work explores the translation between the virtual and the physical, utilizing the
visualization and prototyping tools of industry to make one-of-a-kind objects. Each form is unique, built
through an unfolding expression of potential, revealing semi-determinant authorship through similarities and
deviations.
By mapping the human genome, we engender an understanding of the world as the developmental
expression of underlying encoded structure. Utilizing mathematical structures that replicate variance in
nature, along with the continuous changeability of computer-controlled manufacturing systems, every object
produced has the potential to be an original, sharing characteristics and evolutionary history with its sibling
(same genetic code, different expression). Negotiating the space between control and chaos, allowing the
affordances of unpredictability to be a significant part of the process of form generation is akin to the
'happy accident' of craft: one cannot know the outcome until the process is complete.
The opportunity exists to integrate craft, product design, computer simulations, and natural algorithms to
engender a new vision for designing and making. I am working to bring the new tools of design into the
atelier, where the processes can be explored for their unique capabilities. The goal is to develop objects that
can only be made through rapid prototyping processes in a form language that could only emerge through
organic computation, ending with functional objects which expand the overlap between craft and design.
I am writing code to grow objects. Starting with computation and natural mutation as sources for design
development, forms emerge through fractal evolution of complexity and self-similarity. Using text as
building blocks, my current work explores the translation between the virtual and the physical, utilizing the
visualization and prototyping tools of industry to make one-of-a-kind objects. Each form is unique, built
through an unfolding expression of potential, revealing semi-determinant authorship through similarities and
deviations.
By mapping the human genome, we engender an understanding of the world as the developmental
expression of underlying encoded structure. Utilizing mathematical structures that replicate variance in
nature, along with the continuous changeability of computer-controlled manufacturing systems, every object
produced has the potential to be an original, sharing characteristics and evolutionary history with its sibling
(same genetic code, different expression). Negotiating the space between control and chaos, allowing the
affordances of unpredictability to be a significant part of the process of form generation is akin to the
'happy accident' of craft: one cannot know the outcome until the process is complete.
The opportunity exists to integrate craft, product design, computer simulations, and natural algorithms to
engender a new vision for designing and making. I am working to bring the new tools of design into the
atelier, where the processes can be explored for their unique capabilities. The goal is to develop objects that
can only be made through rapid prototyping processes in a form language that could only emerge through
organic computation, ending with functional objects which expand the overlap between craft and design.