There is a poll going on at MocoLoco to choose a new interview question that they will add to their interviews of artists/designers. The questions were reader submitted and mine is one of the finalists. Follow the link and help my cause. My question is:
"The world is already full of stuff; why do you make/design more?"
I ask this question because in the pit of my stomach I feel I should be answering, "I probably need to stop making more stuff..." and that is a hard thing to come to grips with....
"I actually support adaptive reuse of existing buildings, and recycling of demo materials for this very reason. I also feel that it's very important that everything I do build new be the best that it can be, so that it can stay in use for as many years as possible and not torn down at the first change in ownership."
I voted for you too, anti, and think it's an excellent question. In fact it's kinda got me stumped, so I'm going to have to think up logical answer before I post more!
evolution, my dear watson, evolution. things die, ideas die, designs die, we die; i design and try to design things in order to survive and adapt to the ever changing landscape of shit.
another vote for your question..MUCH better than the other two!
my gut answer is that very rarely does recycling/reuse get noticed or widely recognized as progressive. it is more often percieved as nostalgic, and is therefore not necessarily the best route to seek change. so to achieve change (if that's the desire), then the new must speak out and agitate.
this doesn't necessarily apply to design fields alone
my answer is something I've been pondering for a while and I am hoping to publish a border perspective on what your suggesting in your question in the near future here on archinect. but a short comment to what I've been thinking about would be that we all have to be very aware of what are needs are as individuals, but also how much we are actually consuming in the context to our border global relationships.
another interesting perspective that I heard recently, was about a study on low caloric intake--where the subjected mice who ate less actually lived much longer than the ones who ate what ever they wanted to and at any time they wanted to. strangely this idea spurred me into a deep memory of my brothers comic collection. ironically, to the character spawn in particular, the antihero from hell, well if you know spawn he has an embedded counter linked to his special brimstone superpowers and the more he uses these powers the faster his life ends and he goes back to hell... anyway, in this context perhaps we all have our own interior counters of what we consume...so when I get these ideas formatted better I'll post it up...
Dec 7, 06 1:52 pm ·
·
Q: "The world is already full of stuff; why do you make/design more?"
A: "The form of a virtual museum of architecture follows the function of a virtual museum of architecture."
Q: "So why are there no Quondam T-shirts?"
A: "Less really is less."
john:
I am looking forward to your broader work...the spawn connection is clever
Rationalist:
That is one of the few answers I would like to be able to respond with, unfortunately it is not an easy one in our industry...are you able to live that response? If so, my hat is off to you...
Where some people are very wealthy and others have nothing, the result will be either extreme democracy or absolute oligarchy, or despotism will come from either of those excesses.
-Aristotle
Everything in excess is opposed to nature.
-Hippocrates
I voted for ya. Great question. I do believe that every era/cycle or whatever you want to call it has intrinsic values that differ from the previous. Designers/artists/creative types are necessary to make sense of it. There will never be a lack of want for more new things. We just need to make new things that can go away a lot more cleanly and elegantly. You should check out Bruce Sterling's book "Shaping Things." The spime may be a solution to this dilemma.
I voted for you. Great q. But damn I hope no one ever asks me that question. Also the second one is tough - but much less stumpy. The third is turd. Ok I only typed that for rhyming's sake.
Yeah you got me stumped. I maybe be with quondom on this.
actually i think about the third a lot, as i consider how to wean clients from easy inventory of the things they want and what style to 'pick'. reminds me of the mumford quote cited in dwell recently. i'll have to find that....
That's a great question, anti. It is tough, but I suppose my answer might be:
- because not everything made today truly serves our needs or desires. (does this suggest that I think I'm better than the average designer...???)
- why do I make/design more? well, I enjoy designing, period. I'd probably be just as happy if I spent more time designing fewer, better things instead of pumping out all the stuff capitalism wants from me (so long as I get paid either way).
Dec 8, 06 9:47 am ·
·
Latest addition to the Working Title Museum:
The nice thing about virtual books is that they can morph so easily. For example, Infinite Ways to Stuff Stuff could just as well be How to Turn Every Corner of Your House into an Art Installation.
From Shaping Things-
"SPIMES are manufactured objects whose informational support is so overwhelmingly extensive and rich that they are regarded as material instantiations of an immaterial system. SPIMES begin and end as data. They are designed on screens, fabricated by digital means, and precisely tracked through space and time throughout their earthly sojourn."
A spime is simply a way of thinking about objects as ideas made physically real. It also holds the designer responsible for that physical manifestation.
Dec 9, 06 4:17 pm ·
·
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interview question: help a 'necter out
Greetings all,
There is a poll going on at MocoLoco to choose a new interview question that they will add to their interviews of artists/designers. The questions were reader submitted and mine is one of the finalists. Follow the link and help my cause. My question is:
"The world is already full of stuff; why do you make/design more?"
http://mocoloco.com/archives/003511.php
what is your answer to this question you have posed? i have my answer to this. but you have to have an opinion if you were wanting an answer?
I ask this question because in the pit of my stomach I feel I should be answering, "I probably need to stop making more stuff..." and that is a hard thing to come to grips with....
What is your answer?
I voted for you
thanks; what would be your answer to this question?
"I actually support adaptive reuse of existing buildings, and recycling of demo materials for this very reason. I also feel that it's very important that everything I do build new be the best that it can be, so that it can stay in use for as many years as possible and not torn down at the first change in ownership."
I voted for you too, anti, and think it's an excellent question. In fact it's kinda got me stumped, so I'm going to have to think up logical answer before I post more!
evolution, my dear watson, evolution. things die, ideas die, designs die, we die; i design and try to design things in order to survive and adapt to the ever changing landscape of shit.
I voted for you, too. (Who cares what "design period" we are currently in??? Seriously. Does anyone really care about that?)
another vote for your question..MUCH better than the other two!
my gut answer is that very rarely does recycling/reuse get noticed or widely recognized as progressive. it is more often percieved as nostalgic, and is therefore not necessarily the best route to seek change. so to achieve change (if that's the desire), then the new must speak out and agitate.
this doesn't necessarily apply to design fields alone
I voted for you, but I would've voted for your question anyway, anti.
yep those other two have been asked, and answered and not worth consideration....
The world is full of stuff that does not function indefinitely.
Said stuff needs to be repaired, replaced, updated, and improved.
..and I voted.
(The "stuff" question has 40% of the vote.)
my answer is something I've been pondering for a while and I am hoping to publish a border perspective on what your suggesting in your question in the near future here on archinect. but a short comment to what I've been thinking about would be that we all have to be very aware of what are needs are as individuals, but also how much we are actually consuming in the context to our border global relationships.
another interesting perspective that I heard recently, was about a study on low caloric intake--where the subjected mice who ate less actually lived much longer than the ones who ate what ever they wanted to and at any time they wanted to. strangely this idea spurred me into a deep memory of my brothers comic collection. ironically, to the character spawn in particular, the antihero from hell, well if you know spawn he has an embedded counter linked to his special brimstone superpowers and the more he uses these powers the faster his life ends and he goes back to hell... anyway, in this context perhaps we all have our own interior counters of what we consume...so when I get these ideas formatted better I'll post it up...
Q: "The world is already full of stuff; why do you make/design more?"
A: "The form of a virtual museum of architecture follows the function of a virtual museum of architecture."
Q: "So why are there no Quondam T-shirts?"
A: "Less really is less."
touché, but you do have a book stephen
...which is best consumed digitally.
so are the tee shirts
anti, I also voted.
john:
I am looking forward to your broader work...the spawn connection is clever
Rationalist:
That is one of the few answers I would like to be able to respond with, unfortunately it is not an easy one in our industry...are you able to live that response? If so, my hat is off to you...
because this is america
and we need more stuff
will i be the man to give it to them?
you betcha
the world is full of stuff. but it isn't full of vado stuff.
-Aristotle
Everything in excess is opposed to nature.
-Hippocrates
if the world was full of vado stuff, would we live in a utopia or some deranged nightmare?.....
Three print-to-order books, of which very few actually exist.
Perhaps I will stop further production altogether. You know, keep it rare.
At least Medium Rare
Now we're cookin'!
Anyone up for a good old-fashioned BYO book burning party?
And what would that be a reenactment of? The obvious, or something more obscure?
Obviously the burning of the library of Alexandria. Extra, extra rare.
Extra, extra quondam, too!
I voted for ya. Great question. I do believe that every era/cycle or whatever you want to call it has intrinsic values that differ from the previous. Designers/artists/creative types are necessary to make sense of it. There will never be a lack of want for more new things. We just need to make new things that can go away a lot more cleanly and elegantly. You should check out Bruce Sterling's book "Shaping Things." The spime may be a solution to this dilemma.
I voted for you. Great q. But damn I hope no one ever asks me that question. Also the second one is tough - but much less stumpy. The third is turd. Ok I only typed that for rhyming's sake.
Yeah you got me stumped. I maybe be with quondom on this.
actually i think about the third a lot, as i consider how to wean clients from easy inventory of the things they want and what style to 'pick'. reminds me of the mumford quote cited in dwell recently. i'll have to find that....
but, yeah, anti's question is better overall.
The spime may be a solution to this dilemma.
Hey Steven, is there a typo in that sentence, or do I just not know what you are saying?
i don't know nothin bout no spime. that was geimanj.
That's a great question, anti. It is tough, but I suppose my answer might be:
- because not everything made today truly serves our needs or desires. (does this suggest that I think I'm better than the average designer...???)
- why do I make/design more? well, I enjoy designing, period. I'd probably be just as happy if I spent more time designing fewer, better things instead of pumping out all the stuff capitalism wants from me (so long as I get paid either way).
Latest addition to the Working Title Museum:
The nice thing about virtual books is that they can morph so easily. For example, Infinite Ways to Stuff Stuff could just as well be How to Turn Every Corner of Your House into an Art Installation.
Which could just as well be "The dog laps the boiling water from the cauldron."
Perhaps it all boils down to "too many cooks in the kitchen."
Only you can prevent forest fires.
go fiddle
on the roof
From Shaping Things-
"SPIMES are manufactured objects whose informational support is so overwhelmingly extensive and rich that they are regarded as material instantiations of an immaterial system. SPIMES begin and end as data. They are designed on screens, fabricated by digital means, and precisely tracked through space and time throughout their earthly sojourn."
A spime is simply a way of thinking about objects as ideas made physically real. It also holds the designer responsible for that physical manifestation.
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