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
- Semi-permanent, Auckland, August 2008
- Lovebytes International Arts Festival 2008, Sheffield, May 2008
- FMX 2008 conference, Stuttgart, May 2008
- Kitchen Budapest Social, Budapest, January 2008
- London Flash Platform User Group, October 2007
- Information Aesthetics Symposium, TodaysArt festival, The Hague, 2007
- Mediamatic, Amsterdam 2007
- BD4D, ICA London, 2007
- CyberSonica, CyberSalon/Dana Centre, London, 2006
- CyberSonica, CyberSalon/Dana Centre, London, 2005
- Soundtoys, Watershed/dshed, Bristol, 2005
- MediaRuimte, Brussels, 2004
- Sonar, Barcelona, 2004
Workshops
- Ad-hoc interactive workshop in Auckland with Joel Gethin-Lewis, Auckland, August 19, 2008
- Tinker.it H3: Arduino & Processing workshop (with Spencer Roberts), London, December 8-9, 2007
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
- Creative Review, 3-page feature, 11/2008
- Design Week, Rising Stars feature & interview, 10/2008
- Creative Review, Faber Finds feature (print & online), 08/2008
- Print magazine Cover design & main feature, August 2008 issue, 08/2008
- Creative Review, Nokia Friends feature, 07/2008
- Unlimited magazine interview, New Zealand, 07/2008
- Eye Magazine, issue 65, Lovebytes feature, 10/2007
- Processing book contribution, MIT Press, USA, 09/2007
- Page Magazine: 6 page interview and feature about Processing, Germany, 09/2007
- Boards Magazine, online/print edition: interview about Processing in Motion Graphics, Canada, 08/2007
- Grafik magazine, Lovebytes feature, London, 05/2007
- Built with Processing book, artist feature, Japan, 05/2007
- IdN Magazine (issue v14n1) feature as part of 15 degrees series, Hong Kong, 02/2007
- Tres Logos contribution to logo compendium book, DgV, Germany, 11/2006
- MacPeople feature, Japan, 2006
- A Book Designed To Help, DgV, Berlin, 2005
- XFUNS feature as part of Processing article, Taiwan, 2004
- Neural.it, Online/Paper edition,Italy, 2003
- Cre@teOnline, 2 page interview and feature about Coming soon, UK, 2003
- E-Projects, Vol.2 book feature, HBI, Taiwan, 2002
- Director 8.5 Studio co-author and book outline, Friends Of Ed, UK, 2001
- Anime 72dpi, book & DVD, DgV, Berlin, 2001
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
