MATERIALIZING  THE  POSTDIGITAL  at  the Museum of Arts and Design, NY.     http://madmuseum.org

Trying to keep up with technological advances is not easy for the over 50s but as, since 2002, my son-in-law is director of a very successful company http://di3D.com which is a world leader in 3D & 4D surface imaging, I try to learn.
And this show is educational to all. It looks at the way 3D digital scanning, printing and fabrication has exploded in the last 8 years. Forms, once impossible to make, can now be created. CNC (computer-numerically controlled) machining is all present.

Artists like Frank Stella, Maya Linn, Chuck Close, Anish Kapoor, Hiroshi Sugimoto and designers Marc Newson and architects Daniel Libeskind, Ron Arad & Zaha Hadid make use of it to create new work. Some of the work is amazing with new geometrics abounding: a diamond necklace, a laser-cut T shirt made of triangular polygons, a Bosch bike. The bike is the world's first 3D lightweight bike 3D printed in one piece.

But much is downright UGLY.  Ugly shoes, ugly necklaces, creepy chairs and weird nylon- looks like rubber-  Lady Gaga bodywear. However I was interested to see that many objects are entirely machine made, ("Out of Hand" is the 2nd bit of the exh title,) BUT are hand finished, hand polished, hand assembled.

There are 6 sections and "Remixing the Figure" focuses on digital manipulation and "reconceptualizing human figuration and the body."  It's good to tackle the limitless possibilities of emerging technologies. New director Glenn Adamson comes from London's V&A research dept. And the restaurant views of Columbus Circle & Central Park are the best!

This is me and an M&S cardigan translated into a circular creation frozen on screen for 3 seconds via a French interactive called KiLight.

I met a new friend in the restaurant - also former V & A, and she liked Belgian artist Wim Delvoye's Twisted Gothic Dump Truck made from laser-cut steel. Its mathematical symmetry and fine skeletal tracery is quite amazing