Isabella Hong – Looking Outwards 10

For this week’s post, I decided to focus on designer, educator, and creator Rachel Wingfield. Wingfield attended the Royal College of Art and studied responsive environments that are inspired by living systems. Her concentration in school is still evident in the work she has produced throughout her professional career.

In 2003, Wingfield founded Loop.ph, a crafting space and laboratory that focuses on incorporating living materials and technology into public environments. As the founder of Loop.ph and as a designer, researcher and educator, Wingfield encourages designers and the public to intervene on an urban scale, to turn living materials into visual experiences and environments.

A project that incorporated these fundamentals was Brainwaves: Faster than Sound. The project was done in collaboration with Loop.ph, the contributing artists being Wingfield, Mathias Gmachl, Professor Vincent Walsh, Mira Calix, Anna Meredith, and The Aurora Orchestra, Joana Seguro – Lumin. The installation was constructed of dead trees that were arranged into a highly intricate grid of electro-luminous strings that worked in tandem with the positions of the musicians in the space. While the musicians performed, MRI images and slices of Malthius’ skull would be projected, demonstrating the intricacies of neural functions in action.

I particularly admired this project for it’s unique output – the final installation incorporated biology, music, and technology to create this immersive and very futuristic experience. I think that what Wingfield is doing as an artist is constructing a bridge between science, technology, and the arts even further.