About PostSpectacular

PostSpectacular is a small London based design studio and consultancy founded by Karsten Schmidt to actively explore the growing possibilities at the intersection of various design disciplines, art and software development in a multitude of contexts.

Working cross-disciplinary with a network of other creatives, our design approach is based on treating ideas as software at the heart, which in turn informs all other facets of each project. We are using code as primary design tool to build unique, highly adaptable platforms, installations, services and systems for some of the world's most respected & innovative brands. Read more about this in the manifesto.

Bio

Karsten Schmidt (aka toxi) is a software developer, designer and artist with particular interest in computational design. For the past 15 years he's been laterally involved in a wide range of digital disciplines. With his studio PostSpectacular, he is actively exploring possibilities at the intersection of design, art and software development. Collaborating cross-disciplinary with other creative minds, Karsten’s design approach is based on treating ideas as software at the heart, which in turn informs all other facets of each project. When not creating, he travels the world consulting companies and developer & designer communities about open source and employing collaborative tools. Karsten has been a key contributor to the Processing.org project and to various books about programming and graphic design, and his work has been featured in the press and exhibited internationally, including the MoMA, New York.

Talks

Workshops

Exhibitions

  • Processing Light @ Maxalot, TodaysArt Festival, The Hague, 2008
  • Advanced Beauty @ Lovebytes, Sheffield, 2008
  • Generator @ San Francisco International Film Festival, 2008
  • Design & The Elastic Mind @ Museum Of Modern Art, New York, 2008
  • Information Aesthetics 2 @ TodaysArt festival, The Hague, 2007
  • FURTHER PROCESSING, Medienturm, Graz, 2006
  • Transposition, Ars Virtua Centre, Dowden (SecondLife), 2006
  • FILE2005, Sao Paulo, 2005
  • Web3dArt, SIGGRAPH, LA, 2005
  • CyberSonica, CyberSalon/Dana Centre, London, 2005
  • Soundtoys, Watershed/dshed, Bristol, 2005
  • Cimatic Festival, Brussels, 2004
  • MRini / Organic*ram, MediaRuimte, Brussels, 2004
  • Web3dArt, SIGGRAPH, LA, 2004
  • Sonar, Barcelona, 2004
  • Digital Showcase, AMODA, Austin, 2004
  • Coded Cultures, Super5, Vienna, 2004
  • Test-Portal, NSDM, Amsterdam, 2003
  • CyberSonica, CyberSalon / ICA, London, 2002

Books & press

About the name

“Understood in its totality, the spectacle is both the result and the goal of the dominant mode of production. It is not a mere decoration added to the real world. It is the very heart of this real society’s unreality. In all of its particular manifestations — news, propaganda, advertising, entertainment — the spectacle represents the dominant model of life. It is the omnipresent affirmation of the choices that have already been made in the sphere of production and in the consumption implied by that production. In both form and content the spectacle serves as a total justification of the conditions and goals of the existing system. The spectacle also represents the constant presence of this justification since it monopolizes the majority of the time spent outside the production process.”

Guy Debord, The Society of Spectacle, Thesis n° 6
Last modified: 2008/10/24 04:48