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6/30/2018

"No apartment was meant to be better than any other"
Description of the Biljmermeer

In the theory of Design Research there is a definition of a process that proves the rigor in which designer achieve their insights. But this has obviously brought up arguments. "Is post-its really going to lead me to a ingenious idea, or did I have that idea all along because I have years of experience and a one hour waste of paper sticky's is just a visual representative to prove to these business people (men) that my knowledge has value?" Let me reword, is design research a visual symbol of value of creativity?

I might argue that what designers do is empathize with need, and that should be instinctual, not manufactured through grouping post its. Not to say it can't ever be useful, I think sometimes as creators the brain can work in such intuitive leaps that a visual representation of that thought process can help us to rationalize what can seem like irrational intuition. Most important in this "empathization" is putting one's mind in a state of struggle. When I look at examples of innovative design, I see how "these projects have grown out of a culture of scarcity" (99% Invisible talking about Chile's Elemental's solution to the housing crisis after the earthquake). It's not simply understanding someone's problems, it is the need to understand someone's limits. And I think in that manner, one can also understand the concept of time in a better manner.

Time I see as a very crucial aspect of design, that is perhaps not pursued in-depth in design theory (that I have seen so far). The question of the life-time of a design, the death of a design (although this is now being tackled through sustainable design, one example being the UN's guidelines that countries planning to put objects in space must have a plan on how to retire them within 25 years due to the vast amount of space "junk"). Where I see "Half a House" succeeding over "Biljimermeer" is a sense of humility and a sense of time, and through that a manifestation of true user-participatory design in a manner that does not disregard either party's (designer versus user) necessity to the equation. It brings to mind the cliche quote "Give a man person a fish and they eat for a day, teach them how to fish and they can feed themselves for life"

A very opposite mindset to a business theory: destroy the fishes population by mass marketing and then make fish such a luxury that even those who know how to fish have no access to it.

References:

Half a House
Biljmermeer

The Hero's Journey versus Falling Down the Rabbit Hole

5/19/2018

To be added to.

I feel it important to say, I believe "opposites" are merely things that are the same that exhibit different traits based on time.

These two archetypes of stories seem to reflect ideas of masculinity versus femininity, action versus creation, extroversion versus introversion. The Hero's Journey is an exploration of the world, with aspects almost a kin to manifest destiny. "Rid the world of evil" which throughout human explorative history seems to be a metaphor for turning the unknown into familiar (often through the extermination of anything non-familiar). But "falling down the rabbit hole" stories, which I use to name stories of characters, predominantly adolescent women, who unknowingly "fall" into another world, seems to be a metaphor of the exploration of oneself. An inward journey in contrast to outside journey.

Deep Ecology & Shallow Economy

5/15/2018

"[Today's society] demands that we make consumption our way of life, that we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals, that we seek our spiritual satisfaction, our ego satisfaction, in consumption...we need things consumed burnt up, worn out, replaced, and discarded at an ever increasing rate." Victor Lebow

If pleasure sells (sex sells) then that pleasure is considered a form of consumption. Is it even possible to rewire that kind of addictive desire. And how much responsibility should we except for our masturbation?

Escape Artist

5/12/2018

Internet of Non-Things

5/8/2018

Can IOT help us to create comfort or the essence of the Danish "Hygge". Or does the structural time dependent quality of the IOT prevent this idea? Can technology help us to break away from technology?

Is the ability to coordinate everything through technology promote more stress in our lives? The constant ability to work prevents us from isolation from triggers of stress.

Consciousness through Others

4/29/2018

"Consciousness is a maze, a journey inward" Westworld

When do we feel like the natural world is real? How does perception play into levels of reality? What might a scale of reality look like?
Can art be a mirror for it? I could theorize that for something to be considered more than less real it needs to make an impression, and that is why an impressionist painting can feel more real than a photograph.

Alongside that what is the connection between uniqueness and consciousness?

These are the questions I've arrived at after reading about Integrated Information Theory (ɸ) and looking at the debates of the Internet of Things, how "Insert Female Name of a service device" live among us, and of course from watching Westworld on top of Black Mirror, Altered Carbon, and the Matrix. Stories that help us to question our relationship with our creations.

Moods of a Habitat

4/27/2018

"The Starry Sea table by designer Alexandre Chapelin appears like a cross-section of the Caribbean Sea by day which magically metamorphoses into a starry sky in your living room at night."

This seems like an artistic alternative to smart objects, a table that changes its appearance through wifi to reflect time or mood (the contrast of day and night). How might we best design objects that are flexible to change how we interact with our atmosphere. What if these objects changed to emotional stress? Would that be unnerving or soothing? As if your habitat was your therapist?

Sheep Stomachs and Mass Production

4/26/2018

Julia Lohmann

Are artistic unique designs necessary? Can they inspire change and action more than a new design, on top of a new design. And which is better for the ecology and the (entire) society. Julia Lohmann's sheep stomach lamps show the potential of beauty out of the undesirable. It works as a good metaphor for the parts of nature that capitalism views as useless due to their lack of monetary value. But does this piece need to exist and where does it exist in our web.

Currently I am stuck between creating, and the friction of production. Can we make better things without making more things? Our is mass production of design better because of the accessibility of things. Does that prevent things from being indispensable? If mass production ends does that end aspects of design? And should design be done through optimization by engineering?
In nature, I see design as a feat of evolution, not aesthetics. But aspects of beauty came from that desire to procreate as well. In that manner, design that isn't engineering is creating communication. It always seems to come back to that. Communication.

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