Making Mobilities – Sydney Design Festival

When
Wed, 6 March 2019
6:00 pm – 8:00 pm AEDT

Location
The Studio, Level 6
Sydney Startup Hub
11 – 17 York St, Sydney
NSW 2000 Australia

Making Mobilities Sydney is an exhibition of wearable technology, interactive media and smart textiles created by UNSW artists, designers, scientists and engineers. The event includes an evening of presentation of the works on display.

Design is in discourse with contemporary issues in this outside-the-box approach to designing our future. From critical and speculative to functionally-focused prototypes, this exhibition presents design thinking that grapples themes like sustainability, biodiversity, technogenesis and self-sustaining energy systems for life off the grid. We live within the Internet of Things and Smart Cities are becoming reality. No longer are we tethered to our tech through power cables – wearable technology enables freedom of movement. Technology is embedded in our bodies and the very fabric of clothes, augmenting our bodies, enabling mobility. The mobilities paradigm is reframing our future. Mass markets are rapidly adapting and transitioning from portable (mobile phones, tablets) to wearable (Google glass and motion sensors) devices. The absorption of technology into the very fabric of clothes, accessories and even bodies begins to dilute boundaries between physical, technological and social spheres and has potential implications for human evolution.

Amongst the many works, you will see a survivalist light jacket: performance enhancing running tights; a dress that alerts users of dangerous levels of pollution; and environmental data driven approaches to sustainable dying systems.

This project is funded by UNSW Art and Design, The Australian Government New Columbo Plan, with kind support from The Woolmark Company, Seeed Studios, E Sun Engineering, The Mills, in collaboration with Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong City University, Tsinghua University, Moonshot Academy, Dim Sum Labs and Chaihuo Makers.

This project is established by Dr. Patricia Flanagan

The exhibitors are:

• Alisa Liu
• Andrew McMenemy
• Benjamin Delany
• Callum Graydon
• Chanel Bragg
• Chengyao Liu
• Courtney Tier
• Dylan Brown
• Evangeline Jeffrey
• FanFeng
• Jennifer Hofer
• Lyujun Tan
• Natalie Hua
• Shaomin Guo
• Songyuan Xiao
• Thomas Northall-Little
• Yupan Xu
• Maja Sieczko