bēstia
We are the dreamers. We are the instigators. We are the obsessed. Ours is a laboratory for symbiotic life-machine exploration: our future, our way. Our interests are an erotics of wildness, the spirit of humanity, nature and intelligent machines.
J.travis Russett
J.travis Russett, founder of bēstia—a laboratory for symbiotic life-machine exploration, imbues his works with an erotics of wildness, the spirit of humanity, nature and intelligent machines. Since 2016, J.travis has lead bēstia to embody a culture of interdisciplinary fabrication and rapid prototyping, evident in developing works: dìshūBot, a self-learning robot that paints Chinese calligraphy in water (featured in the 2017 Bay Area Maker Faire) and Pure Imagination, plant fed microbial fuel cells that will power our homes and much more.
J.travis holds a Master Degree in Architecture from the University of California - Los Angeles (UCLA) Department of Architecture and Urban Design where he studied one year under visionary architect Thom Mayne. He worked in Los Angeles and New York professionally as an architect and artist in many critically acclaimed studios before moving to China in 2008 when he was invited to work with Ma Yansong at Beijing-based Mad Architects. Inspired largely by the work of Neil Gershenfeld and hacker culture, J.travis returned to intensive study and earned his diploma in the 2017 Fab Academy. His work has been published and exhibited worldwide, notably Madrid Now, an investigation of the new Spanish town model, Jorya Design Center, an office mid-rise with vertically integrated gardens that boldly redefine sustainable architecture (currently under construction, Xiamen), and Stranger than Paradise, a gentle call to Wildness.
J.travis Russett，是致力于探索生命与机器共生模式的bēstia实验室创始人。其作品充分彰显他的研究兴趣：以人文精神、自然精神和机器精神三者，来共同展现不羁野性的原始魅力。自2016年以来，J.travis引领bēstia实验室创作了体现“跨学科数字智造”和“快速成形技术”精髓的作品：dìshūBot 地书机器人—— 能以水性涂料书写中国书法的自我学习型智能机器人（2017年旧金山湾区Maker Faire特别精选作品）；以及 Pure Imagination 纯粹的想象力—— 能为人类家园提供电力的纯植物喂养型微生物燃料电池。
J.travis硕士期间师从富有远见的建筑师Thom Mayne，获得UCLA美国加利福尼亚大学洛杉矶分校建筑与城市设计系的建筑硕士学位。他在2008年受邀来到中国，与中国建筑师马严松共事于MAD建筑事务所。在此之前，他在洛杉矶和纽约许多备受赞誉的工作室中担任职业建筑师和艺术家。最近一年，由于受到Neil Gershenfeld和骇客文化的启发，J.travis重回深入研究并获得2017 Fab Academy学位证书。他的作品已在世界各地发表并展出，特别是洞察西班牙新城镇模式的 Madrid Now 当代马德里，大胆重新定义可持续建筑概念的花园垂直整合型中高层办公建筑 Jorya Design Center 厦门欣贺设计中心（目前正在建设中）和温柔呼唤野性的 Stranger than Paradise 比天国陌生。
Fab Academy
The bestia.io project started in the 2017 Fab Academy. Led by Neil Gershenfeld, Fab Academy is a globally distributed educational model teaching people to turn code into things. The session 1 assignment was to create a documentation blog and document the process of doing so within that site. This site. Documenting work comes with many benefits. Describing how something works helps to understand that thing from foreign points of view. Sharing work online helps people in their own work and invites collaboration. Posting work online makes it available anywhere, anytime. Etc.
Saverio Silli, my Fab Academy local instructor continues to be my invaluable mentor. Without his patience and dedication, these works do not exist. Thank you, Saverio.
Junfeng Jeff Ding leads Fab Lab O in Shanghai. His efforts in building and spreading Digital Fabrication networks, curriculums and communities across China are astonishing.
This is version 1 of this bestia.io, the final submittal for Fab Academy 2017.
CS50
Harvard's Computer Science 50 is an intensive introductory dive into coding C, Python, SQL, Javascript and more. The development of the weekly assignments and final project will be documented within the pages of bestia.io.