Zoe Romano

Meeting at the makerspace with living-textile inventor: Lining Yao

Zoe Romano
In the last years a new generation of researchers see objects and materials through a multiplicity of properties and features which open different ways to interact with them. They’ve realized that most of the matter is able to respond to energy sources. Lining Yao and her Tangible Media Group at MIT Media Lab have been growing Natto bacteria and exploring how they can be used as bio-actuators - making textile become “alive” reacting to a change of the environment.... READ MORE...
ArticlesScience

Art, activism and making with Caroline Woolard

Zoe Romano
Caroline Woolard, co-founding and co-directing resource sharing networks OurGoods and TradeSchool, makes art and infrastructures for the solidarity economy. She's a cultural producer whose interdisciplinary work facilitates the intersection of art, urbanism and political economy, also tries to promote collaboration between artists and people... READ MORE...
ArticlesDesign

Indie videogames are going big, some voices from Italy

Zoe Romano
These are the words of one of the main characters of the Sundance-Festival-acclaimed documentary Indie Game, describing his relationship with his job, or better say, his mission. The two filmmakers (but also authors, producers, distributors), after to rounds of Kickstarter, went through 300 hours of shooting distilling the stoires of some indie videogamers in the effort of having a dream come true: release their game at the risk of sacrificing their money, health and mental balance.... READ MORE...
Articles

You’re Doing What? Make A Living Inventing Your Job

Zoe Romano
The (long) way heading (by subway) to the New York Science Hall, hosting the World Maker Faire in Queens, gives me time to read some free presses and resume an article of the sunday NYTimes I haven't finished yet. It's a long piece about the twilight of the US manufacturing sector, started from the 50's to nowadays [1], and about the definite takeover of China.... READ MORE...
ActivismArticlesDigimag - Issue 68, October 2011

Sparkle Labs. The Sparkle Of Creation

Zoe Romano
In this scenario new actors are embodying the sharing of knowledge as a full time occupation and thousands of new followers are thrilled by interactive electronics. One of these actors is worth highlighting is called Sparkle Lab, a duo of designer and teacher, Amy Parness e Ariel Churi, based in New York City. Sparkel Lab, born some years ago, is a special mix of art, craft, science and cuteness enabling the disclosure of the little engineers hiding inside all of us. Pastel colors, iced icons make us easily forget we are dealing with circuits, leds, electric threads and suddenly we learn the basis of electronics.... READ MORE...
ArticlesDesignDigimag - Issue 64, May 2011