Objectivity: hacked notebooks and other objects

13 May 2011

Moleskine, an icon of the analog world, joined with Eyebeam - a digital art center based in New York - for a day of meetings and celebration set against a backdrop of Moleskine's new writing, reading and travel products. Name of the event: "Objectivity." The day's program included workshops on notebook hacking, that is the art of hacking, creating and designing notebooks, an exhibition of redesigned and customized Moleskine objects and a closing party.

Objectivity coincided with the 23rd International Contemporary Furniture Fair in New York, North America's premier contemporary design event, and Moleskine was there with its new Writing, Travelling and Reading collections.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:
• Electroluminescent Moleskine Notebook Hacking Workshop ( by Diana Eng, Fashion Designer and Eyebeam Alum)?
In this workshop, participants designed and built their own illuminated Moleskine notebook by creating designs with electroluminescent materials, installing these materials directly on the cover of their notebook with drivers. A kind of Tron-style Moleskine of the future. The prototypes were displayed during an evening reception following the workshop.

• SHIFT - A Collaborative Drawing Workshop (by Mark Parsons, Pratt Institute of Architecture) ?
In this workshop, participants attended a 3-hour group drawing session to explore how value systems shift as you travel within city spaces. Layers of images in continuous evolution.

• Figurative Drawing Device (by Nova Jiang)
The human form scanned and copied onto paper, combining technology and manual dexterity. The installation involved the viewer. Like a psychological diagram, the drawing revealed the interaction between participants.

• A vocabulary of objects
On display were objects from the Writing, Travelling and Reading collections interpreted by artists and designers as tools of free expression. The artists included students from the Parsons School of Design, pictured here while working on the Messenger Bag.