Ja Ja Bolivar & Freddy Clarke
There was a nice flow to QuestPoints’ Appreciation & Rejuvenation reception at the Green Zebra Environmental Action Center last week. In celebration of Earth Day, QuestPoint invited a cross section of people interested in the green movement to share in Enkidu’s Wines new release: Rosso Fazekas, a blend of Sangiovese and Pinot from Napa Valley. A wine that has a rich, sexy fruit with a seamless balance and a long finish. Bay area guitarist Freddy Clarke entertained an eclectic turnout. All attending also received a CD of QuestPoint audio interview of Green Zebra’s Anne Vollen thoughts on going green which was reproduced by San Francisco’s Digital Revolution.
Founder and publisher of QuestPoint Solar Solutions, Richard Andrews announced a new event and speakers series to begin on June 17th, 2010. Look for details to follow.
Rissa Watson & Tim Ryan working up energy
Founder and publisher of QuestPoint Solar Solutions, Richard Andrews announced a new event and speakers series to begin on June 17th, 2010. Look for details to follow.
Paul Grippaldi & Joy Adams checking in.
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The Way Beyond Art: Sunny Memories
Solar panels are no longer just shiny boxes on roofs. With a new generation of solar cells capable of harnessing the energy from the sun through flexible, colored surfaces, there are now endless possibilities for solar innovation at the crossroads of design, engineering, and architecture. This innovation is on display in the exhibit, Sunny Memories, supported by EPFL+ECAL Lab and swissnex San Francisco and showing at the California College of the Arts’ Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts from April 16 to 24, 2010.
Sunny Memories presented students at four leading design schools with the opportunity to explore the broad new realm of technology, energy, and design made possible by new solar dye cells. Called Graetzel cells for the professor who invented them, Michael Graetzel of the Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), in Switzerland, the cells are inspired by photosynthesis in nature and use dyes to help transform the sun’s light into electricity. Initiated and led by the EPFL+ECAL Lab, Sunny Memories workshops took place at the University of Art and Design Lausanne (ECAL), California College of the Arts (CCA) in San Francisco, the Royal College of Art in London (RCA), and the Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Création Industrielle in Paris (ENSCI). Under the tutelage of design leaders such as Yves Béhar from San Francisco’s fuseproject, Jean-François Dingjian of Paris’ Normal Studio, Sam Hecht from London’s Industrial Facility, and Swiss designer Jörg Boner, the students were given the task of dreaming up solar goods that could be made using the flexible, colorful cells.
The 28 products they created included an energy-producing portable speaker, public park bench that glows at night, sensor-based mailbox that sends SMS when full, and a refrigerator that keeps cool off the grid. “Sunny Memories signals a new relationship between technology and design: designers have the freedom to explore the multiple meanings that a new technology can bring about, and transform it into real user-centered experiences,” comments Nicolas Henchoz, Director of EPFL+ECAL Lab.
Public Events, Dates, Hours
April 16 – 24, 2010 – The Way Beyond Art: Sunny Memories
Kent and Vicky Logan Galleries (2nd floor) at CCA’s Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts*
Tues. and Thurs., 11 am – 7 pm;
Wed., Fri., Sat., 11 am – 6 pm
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