Following to the "Craft Punk" project in Milan during last April Salone del Mobile, the Design Performance program, launched in 2007, continues to showcase "design in action" and to allow Design Miami visitors to gain appreciation for the process underlying the creation of experimental design. For "Craft Punk" Design Miami invited ten designers and studios to create craft-based work in front of live audiences inside Spazio Fendi, commingling radical design with fashion, music and video. For Design Miami 2009, the project with Fendi advanced even further by presenting an exciting collaboration between tech-designer Moritz Waldemeyer and pop-sensation Ok Go.

Moritz has intervened upon the selection of Gibson guitars, customizing them with laser lights and Fendi materials, merging the handcraft tradition of the Fendi brand with futuristic, luminous elements. When played, the guitars’ lasers interact with a video wall and leave traces that illustrate the music in real time. The lasers emulate the strings of the guitar and the vibrations transmit beautiful visual interpretations of the sound, extending the performers’ musical expression into the space around them. The guitars become like musical paintbrushes that produce synesthetic experiences for viewers. This project stands as an exemplar of the ways in which the fingers of contemporary design extend without boundaries into every field of cultural production. Ok Go will perform onsite during the show, experimenting with the instruments for the first time. After the show, the guitars will be given to Ok Go to use on their upcoming tour.

Photos James Harris and Credit Red Eye Productions