131. Yoshitomo Nara + Drawing Studio View Camera
atelier ying, nyc.
The artist Nara has created an oeuvre of paintings of cute isolated marginalized kids (this is just my interpretation).
His exhibitions also contain intimate drawing spaces that one can visit, these little studios are a part of his drawing process (along with punk music and beer).
This proposed design for a few camera unifies all these with a drawing in the style of an Aldo Rossi structure in Castellanza.
I've made modifications for both use as a portable laptop desk (or its modern counterpart, the drawing studio) and as a view camera to take portraits of young adults. Two arcades of row houses, probably a Rossi typology, are actually alternating mini refrigerator units for beer bottles and stereo loudspeakers. The camera splits open and fans out to become a tiny drawing studio whose interior is the design of an opera house (my departure from Rossi's original design). The actual drawing table is the opera orchestra's pit, concealing a collection of colored pencils and crayons, Nara's tools of choice for drawing.
When in use as a camera, the floor opens and a lens box is installed from underneath. This lens camera enclosure contains a Lumix Micro 4/3 and a Petzval portrait lens.
The viewfinder concept is in two parts: the dollhouse window used in the drawing studio is the main viewfinder. When the subject is composed the lens box is now installed (in the manner of inserting a film holder into a traditional view camera) to take the photo. Note that an interesting innovation of this viewfinder is that the backdoor entrance to the studio is kept closed all the time and the photographer as a voyeur peers through the back door window at the digital camera's LCD which he controls by a remote. This recalls the experience of a Nara gallery exhibition. An external audio port on the side of the camera brings in music from any mobile device.
Design, text and drawing are copyright 2013 by David Lo.
131. Yoshitomo Nara + Drawing Studio View Camera
atelier ying, nyc.
The artist Nara has created an oeuvre of paintings of cute isolated marginalized kids (this is just my interpretation).
His exhibitions also contain intimate drawing spaces that one can visit, these little studios are a part of his drawing process (along with punk music and beer).
This proposed design for a few camera unifies all these with a drawing in the style of an Aldo Rossi structure in Castellanza.
I've made modifications for both use as a portable laptop desk (or its modern counterpart, the drawing studio) and as a view camera to take portraits of young adults. Two arcades of row houses, probably a Rossi typology, are actually alternating mini refrigerator units for beer bottles and stereo loudspeakers. The camera splits open and fans out to become a tiny drawing studio whose interior is the design of an opera house (my departure from Rossi's original design). The actual drawing table is the opera orchestra's pit, concealing a collection of colored pencils and crayons, Nara's tools of choice for drawing.
When in use as a camera, the floor opens and a lens box is installed from underneath. This lens camera enclosure contains a Lumix Micro 4/3 and a Petzval portrait lens.
The viewfinder concept is in two parts: the dollhouse window used in the drawing studio is the main viewfinder. When the subject is composed the lens box is now installed (in the manner of inserting a film holder into a traditional view camera) to take the photo. Note that an interesting innovation of this viewfinder is that the backdoor entrance to the studio is kept closed all the time and the photographer as a voyeur peers through the back door window at the digital camera's LCD which he controls by a remote. This recalls the experience of a Nara gallery exhibition. An external audio port on the side of the camera brings in music from any mobile device.
Design, text and drawing are copyright 2013 by David Lo.