Intent
The Lab draws its inspiration from a quote by American author and physician Oliver Wendell Holmes that ‘the mind, once stretched by a new idea, never returns to its original dimensions.’
Design
MAD Lab brings together people who dream with open eyes, share an undying enthusiasm for unconventional ideas, are averse to man-made boundaries and have a passion for exploration.
The Lab is run as a not-for-greed (NFG) collective that comprises creative planet-wide free agents who conceive, collaborate, curate and co-pilot MAD Lab endeavors.
The Lab covers a wide range of interests including, but not limited to: performance art, visual art, sound design, architecture, product design, transportation, environment design and urban planning.
CAAS: City As A Spaceship LAB
Logo designed by Callum Prockter
Photo credit KHOJ Art-Science Residency ‘The Undivided Mind’, 2015
Project Curators
Susmita Mohanty (Bengaluru) Barbara Imhof (Vienna) Susan Fairburn (Vancouver)
Point of Departure
We see the spaceship, and a space habitat as completely analogous to housing in the modern, densely packed, technology driven hyper-metros of tomorrow. Ideas and technologies for space can immediately impact the development of these cities. In return, we see these living, thriving, survival-challenging uber-cities as collections of self-contained, super-redundant microcosms that prove themselves to be reliable, and hardy over time to be directly translatable to the space colonies of the future. We think of a wonderful, and yet obvious symbiosis - tomorrow’s space ideas shape today’s cities, and investment in today’s cities serves as the vehicle and test bed to both subsidize and implement tomorrow’s space endeavors. “The earth as a spaceship,” is not merely a metaphor – it is a tangible, viable way for the future survival of mankind.
For more information, refer to the CAAS Website.
Beyond Gravity LAB
French choreographer and researcher, Kitsou Dubois has taken dance outside of the theater, onto the façades of buildings, under water, into factories. In 1989, she received the prestigious grant Villa Médicis hors-les-murs from the French government. Starting with the notion of microgravity, certain necessities became evident in her artistic work, such as the fundamental place of image (a witness and the body’s memory of weightlessness), a new way of looking at circus arts (taking away the apparatus to work just with the acrobat’s physical capacities) and the interdisciplinary element of her productions, with a mix of dance, visual arts, circus and new technologies.
Photo Credit Kitsou Dubois
Workshops by Kitsou Dubois offer an opportunity to explore the internal perception of the body and its movements under the new restraints that being in water provides. A different perspective emerges from the possible movement in weightlessness, pushing dancers to let go of their habitual artistic gestures and finding new ones.
Photo Credit Kitsou Dubois
Underwater Movement Workshop with French choreographer Kitsou Dubois
Photo credit Bhakti Nefertiti
Project Curators
Susmita Mohanty (Bengaluru) Mandeep Raikhy (New Delhi) Paushali Dutta (New Delhi) Annick Bureaud (Paris)
Point of Departure
When you float in weightlessness, the body seems to dilate out into space and can lose the sense of its own limits. Movement becomes infinite and fluid in a way one would never have dared imagine. It’s a state of grace, a real inner journey. Paradoxically, one also experiences a sense of total emptiness, which can provoke some anxiety. Without weight, one is totally disoriented. Gravity is essential for humans; it masks all the other forces. Our research is about not losing oneself; it’s about keeping one’s center, recreating limits.
Kitsou Dubois, "A Choreographer in Weightlessness", Le Monde
Project Brief
MAD Lab in collaboration with Gati Dance Forum organized and hosted an ‘Underwater Dance Workshop’ in New Delhi. Contemporary dancers signed up for this 3-day workshop held in New Delhi from 25-27 May, 2015.
The workshop had two components: lecture and interactive discussion at the Gati Studio in Khirkee village in Delhi and underwater sessions at a private swimming pool.
This was Kitsou Dubois’s first trip to India.The Indo-French Cultural Center Alliance Française de Delhi and Institut Francais en Inde graciously sponsored Kitsou’s travel and stay.
Kitsou Dubois has taken dance outside of the theater, onto the façades of buildings, under water, into factories. In 1989, she received the prestigious grant Villa Médicis hors-les-murs from the French government. Starting with the notion of microgravity, certain necessities have become evident in her artistic work, such as the fundamental place of image (a witness and the body’s memory of weightlessness), a new way of looking at circus arts (taking away the apparatus to work just with the acrobat’s physical capacities) and an element of interdisciplinary in her productions, mixing networks of dance, visual arts, circus and new technologies.
Website
Workshop poster courtesy of GATI dance forum
French choreographer and researcher, Kitsou Dubois has taken dance outside of the theater, onto the façades of buildings, under water, into factories. In 1989, she received the prestigious grant Villa Médicis hors-les-murs from the French government. Starting with the notion of microgravity, certain necessities became evident in her artistic work, such as the fundamental place of image (a witness and the body’s memory of weightlessness), a new way of looking at circus arts (taking away the apparatus to work just with the acrobat’s physical capacities) and the interdisciplinary element of her productions, with a mix of dance, visual arts, circus and new technologies.
Photo Credit Kitsou Dubois
Workshops by Kitsou Dubois offer an opportunity to explore the internal perception of the body and its movements under the new restraints that being in water provides. A different perspective emerges from the possible movement in weightlessness, pushing dancers to let go of their habitual artistic gestures and finding new ones.
Photo Credit Kitsou Dubois
Underwater Movement Workshop with French choreographer Kitsou Dubois
Project Curators
Susmita Mohanty (Bengaluru) Mandeep Raikhy (New Delhi) Paushali Dutta (New Delhi) Annick Bureaud (Paris)
Point of Departure
When you float in weightlessness, the body seems to dilate out into space and can lose the sense of its own limits. Movement becomes infinite and fluid in a way one would never have dared imagine. It’s a state of grace, a real inner journey. Paradoxically, one also experiences a sense of total emptiness, which can provoke some anxiety. Without weight, one is totally disoriented. Gravity is essential for humans; it masks all the other forces. Our research is about not losing oneself; it’s about keeping one’s center, recreating limits.
Kitsou Dubois, "A Choreographer in Weightlessness", Le Monde
Project Brief
MAD Lab in collaboration with Gati Dance Forum organized and hosted an ‘Underwater Dance Workshop’ in New Delhi. Contemporary dancers signed up for this 3-day workshop held in New Delhi from 25-27 May, 2015.
The workshop had two components: lecture and interactive discussion at the Gati Studio in Khirkee village in Delhi and underwater sessions at a private swimming pool.
This was Kitsou Dubois’s first trip to India.The Indo-French Cultural Center Alliance Française de Delhi and Institut Francais en Inde graciously sponsored Kitsou’s travel and stay.
Kitsou Dubois has taken dance outside of the theater, onto the façades of buildings, under water, into factories. In 1989, she received the prestigious grant Villa Médicis hors-les-murs from the French government. Starting with the notion of microgravity, certain necessities have become evident in her artistic work, such as the fundamental place of image (a witness and the body’s memory of weightlessness), a new way of looking at circus arts (taking away the apparatus to work just with the acrobat’s physical capacities) and an element of interdisciplinary in her productions, mixing networks of dance, visual arts, circus and new technologies.
Sidley & Pooth (S&P) Sound LAB
Final assembly of the 1st Sidley & Pooth (S&P) production model S&P X1
Sid working on the S&P X3 model in their living room in Bangalore, which from time-to-time transforms into a workshop
Sound Equipment Design, Prototyping Testing Experimenting with ‘multi-way dipoles’
Project Curators
Siddharth Das, Drummer + Sound Expert, Bangalore Saleem Bhatri, Industrial Designer + Architect, Mumbai René Waclavicek, Architect + Sound Expert, Vienna Andrew Putman, Industrial Designer, San Francisco
Point of Departure
After years of buying audio equipment, Sid realized that they are technologically pretty much alike. The differences among them are merely cosmetic. The state-of-the-art in sound reproduction is prohibitively expensive for commercial enterprises to implement because of the science involved. Sid therefore decided to build his own.
Project Brief
The design principle of choice for S&P is ‘multi-way dipoles’. Properly implemented, they can yield astonishingly natural and low distortion sound. Active dipole designs can be difficult to both implement and sell commercially. However, in choosing to pursue the pinnacle of sound reproduction, the possibilities rather than the difficulties are the focus for S&P.
Progress
2006-08, San Francisco Inspired by Siegfried Linkwitz’s Sid started experimenting with electro-acoustics. He teamed up with a young designer Andrew Putman, and started experimenting with the ‘industrial design’ aspects of the creations of Linkwitz Labs. The first experimental mock-ups of the speaker panels were fabricated.
2008, Vienna On his annual trip to Vienna, Sid refined those early designs in collaboration with René. Sid and René continue their refinements on Sid’s subsequent visits to Vienna and René’s visits to India.
2009-14, Mumbai Sid started working with Saleem at Saleem’s workshop in Andheri (Mumbai) to build the 1st production model S&P X1. In November 2012, Sid and Saleem began work on the 2nd production model S&P X2. In 2012, the first production model of S&P X1 was completed. It’s first home was Sid and Suz’s home in Mumbai. In 2015, it was shipped to New York and it now occupies pride of place at their friend Asha Banker’s residence in Park Slope, Brooklyn.
Work commenced on the next model S&P X2, but it was eventually abandoned as it was proving to be too bulky and voluminous. Work on a new, slender and elegant S&P X3 began, based on the Siegfried Linkwitz’s LX521. In March 2014, when Sid and Suz moved to Bangalore, the svelte S&P X3 model who had been partially completed was shipped to Bangalore and is currently in prototype phase in Sid and Suz’s living room, which from time to time transforms into a workshop – as is evident from the photographs.
2014-19, Bangalore Sid is working on completing the S&P X3 model. He has implemented the FIR filters, and hopes to get the structural panels finished and polished by the end of the year when Sid and Suz move to their new home in Indiranagar. The sequel to S&P X3 is also in the works. Stay tuned.
Sidley & Pooth (S&P) Sound LAB
Sid working on the S&P X3 model in their living room in Bangalore, which from time-to-time transforms into a workshop
Sound Equipment Design, Prototyping Testing Experimenting with ‘multi-way dipoles’
Project Curators
Siddharth Das, Drummer + Sound Expert, Bangalore Saleem Bhatri, Industrial Designer + Architect, Mumbai René Waclavicek, Architect + Sound Expert, Vienna Andrew Putman, Industrial Designer, San Francisco
Point of Departure
After years of buying audio equipment, Sid realized that they are technologically pretty much alike. The differences among them are merely cosmetic. The state-of-the-art in sound reproduction is prohibitively expensive for commercial enterprises to implement because of the science involved. Sid therefore decided to build his own.
Project Brief
The design principle of choice for S&P was ‘multi-way dipoles’. Properly implemented, they can yield astonishingly natural and low distortion sound. Active dipole designs can be difficult to both implement and sell commercially. However, in choosing to pursue the pinnacle of sound reproduction, the possibilities rather than the difficulties are the focus for S&P.
Progress
2006-08, San Francisco Inspired by Siegfried Linkwitz’s Sid started experimenting with electro-acoustics. He teamed up with a young designer Andrew Putman, and started experimenting with the ‘industrial design’ aspects of the creations of Linkwitz Labs. The first experimental mock-ups of the speaker panels were fabricated.
2008, Vienna On his annual trip to Vienna, Sid refined those early designs in collaboration with René. Sid and René continue their refinements on Sid’s subsequent visits to Vienna and René’s visits to India.
2009-14, Mumbai Sid started working with Saleem at Saleem’s workshop in Andheri (Mumbai) to build the 1st production model S&P X1. In November 2012, Sid and Saleem began work on the 2nd production model S&P X2. In 2012, the first production model of S&P X1 was completed. It’s first home was Sid and Suz’s home in Mumbai. In 2015, it was shipped to New York and it now occupies pride of place at their friend Asha Banker’s residence in Park Slope, Brooklyn.
Work commenced on the next model S&P X2, but it was eventually abandoned as it was proving to be too bulky and voluminous. Work on a new, slender and elegant S&P X3 began, based on the Siegfried Linkwitz’s LX521. In March 2014, when Sid and Suz moved to Bangalore, the svelte S&P X3 model who had been partially completed was shipped to Bangalore and is currently in prototype phase in Sid and Suz’s living room, which from time to time transforms into a workshop – as is evident from the photographs.
2014-19, Bangalore Sid is working on completing the S&P X3 model. He has implemented the FIR filters, and hopes to get the structural panels finished and polished by the end of the year when Sid and Suz move to their new home in Indiranagar. The sequel to S&P X3 is also in the works. Stay tuned.