{"id":7121,"date":"2025-10-10T15:01:14","date_gmt":"2025-10-10T15:01:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/itp.nyu.edu\/ima\/news-itp-alum-ralph-borland-launches-the-art-toy-xox\/"},"modified":"2025-10-10T15:01:14","modified_gmt":"2025-10-10T15:01:14","slug":"news-itp-alum-ralph-borland-launches-the-art-toy-xox","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itp.nyu.edu\/ima\/news-itp-alum-ralph-borland-launches-the-art-toy-xox\/","title":{"rendered":"ITP alum Ralph Borland launches the art-toy XOX"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<p>The art-toy XOX, created by <b>ITP alum Ralph Borland<\/b>, is 3D-printed to order in plant-based non-petroleum plastic, with powerful neodymium magnet connectors. It&#8217;s a modular construction toy for building your own sculptures at home, part executive desk toy, fidget gadget, stress reliever and pop artwork.&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/urldefense.proofpoint.com\/v2\/url?u=https-3A__ralphborland.us19.list-2Dmanage.com_track_click-3Fu-3Dcb0e680390a1a2003c648bac3-26id-3D09be5193d0-26e-3D74c49f0ad4&amp;d=DwMFaQ&amp;c=slrrB7dE8n7gBJbeO0g-IQ&amp;r=0Umh6M8SX4T_phclHawyU8HL5QBYZMCqrP5icxjCXO4&amp;m=WVQTh8ljhkhOBQUafD-DRvdVvD2A7psSRd4elDxHuWPX9zIx4dheHYWkNar61s6q&amp;s=WMdQBxMy0CeueYRc2SiBjzKG18et2X9kO3aeWjwljYI&amp;e=\">See more and buy it here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"100%\" src=\"https:\/\/tisch.nyu.edu\/content\/dam\/tisch\/itp\/NewsEvents\/2025-2026\/XOX1.jpg\" alt=\"XOX\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<h3>XOX<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>&quot;XOX started life as a maquette (seen here in Fanta orange and cream-soda green with Lewis Kaluzi in Zim) for our large-scale sculpture project&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/urldefense.proofpoint.com\/v2\/url?u=https-3A__ralphborland.us19.list-2Dmanage.com_track_click-3Fu-3Dcb0e680390a1a2003c648bac3-26id-3D089eb6296d-26e-3D74c49f0ad4&amp;d=DwMFaQ&amp;c=slrrB7dE8n7gBJbeO0g-IQ&amp;r=0Umh6M8SX4T_phclHawyU8HL5QBYZMCqrP5icxjCXO4&amp;m=WVQTh8ljhkhOBQUafD-DRvdVvD2A7psSRd4elDxHuWPX9zIx4dheHYWkNar61s6q&amp;s=eAd9oIl8r8kKVp_eWHfCnO1NxLLs7wipjyuazf8D7Yw&amp;e=\">Hot Mesh<\/a>: a highly labour-intensive shadow-casting and space-making modular system that has elements of room divider, brise soleil, jali and mashrabiya. It&#8217;s inspired by architectural forms both ancient and contemporary, from the stonework of Great Zimbabwe to Mozambiquan breeze blocks and burglar bars.&quot;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"100%\" src=\"https:\/\/tisch.nyu.edu\/content\/dam\/tisch\/itp\/NewsEvents\/2025-2026\/XOX2.png\" alt=\"Lewis Kaluzi in Zim using XOX\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<h3>Lewis Kaluzi in Zim using XOX<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>&quot;We took it back into the streets of Cape Town for a photoshoot with&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/urldefense.proofpoint.com\/v2\/url?u=https-3A__ralphborland.us19.list-2Dmanage.com_track_click-3Fu-3Dcb0e680390a1a2003c648bac3-26id-3D96162b763f-26e-3D74c49f0ad4&amp;d=DwMFaQ&amp;c=slrrB7dE8n7gBJbeO0g-IQ&amp;r=0Umh6M8SX4T_phclHawyU8HL5QBYZMCqrP5icxjCXO4&amp;m=WVQTh8ljhkhOBQUafD-DRvdVvD2A7psSRd4elDxHuWPX9zIx4dheHYWkNar61s6q&amp;s=MydILPwd7koJQMPTqIcscmMQ0KUGvZFXGBcPE42uofo&amp;e=\">Tommaso Fiscaletti<\/a>. It&#8217;s our first foray into abstraction and functionality, made with a mix of human and machine processes. Thanks to Spier Arts Trust for supporting the process! We&#8217;re seeking further collaborators to apply the system as architectural intervention, interior design and sculpture.&quot;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"100%\" src=\"https:\/\/tisch.nyu.edu\/content\/dam\/tisch\/itp\/NewsEvents\/2025-2026\/XOX3.jpg\" alt=\"XOX large and on display on the streets of Cape Town\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<h3>Cape Town Photoshoot for XOX<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" align=\"left\" hspace=\"5\" src=\"http:\/\/tisch.nyu.edu\/content\/dam\/tisch\/itp\/NewsEvents\/2025-2026\/XOX1.jpg\" \/>XOX, the new art-toy by ITP alum Ralph Borland, is a modular construction toy for building your own sculptures at home, part executive toy, fidget gadget, stress reliever and pop artwork.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/itp.nyu.edu\/ima\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7121"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/itp.nyu.edu\/ima\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/itp.nyu.edu\/ima\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itp.nyu.edu\/ima\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7121"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/itp.nyu.edu\/ima\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7121\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/itp.nyu.edu\/ima\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itp.nyu.edu\/ima\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itp.nyu.edu\/ima\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}