Digital Young

Maybe you will find this question a little bit stupid. But then, if you start to think about it, it might not appear like that. Objects around us touch us in an emotional way.

Again, Donald A. Norman writes a great book. That he talks about at: http://www.jnd.org/books.html#E&Dbook_notes.

As he puts it, objects are about loving or hating them. We don’t choose an object if we don’t like it. It is the natural way. Things have an emotional design; those that are attractive work better and make sense for us.

Collected things are emotional. Again, Norman gives the example of Carelman’s teapot. It is, by intent, impossible to use. But, do we use the collected things? How does the attachment to objects is constructed?

“I value my teapots not only for their function for brewing tea, but because they are sculptural work. I love standing in front of the window, comparing the contrasting shapes, watching the play of light on the varied surfaces.” (Norman, 2004:4). Yes, we do like objects because of their utility, functionality, but also (or mostly) for their design. Ask a friend or a colleague to tell you what’s his favorite object from his house and he will definitely say that object’s story.

As Norman says, “the story of teapots illustrates several components of product design: usability (or lack thereof), aesthetics, and practicality.” (Norman, 2004:4,5). And continues: “But what many people don’t realize is that there is also a strong emotional component to how products are designed and put to use.” And he argues that exactly this emotional component is the factor for an object’s success than its practical elements. Meaning if you want, the story behind the utility.

And I will finish with another quotation: “…three different aspects of design: visceral, behavioral and reflective. Visceral design concerns itself with appearances (…). Behavioral design has to do with pleasure and the effectiveness of use (…). Finally, reflective design considers the rationalization and intellectualization of a product. Can I tell a story about it?” (Norman, 2004:5).

So, which one are you? What do you like about an object? And why does that particular object, that you liked all your life, starts to annoy you one of a sudden? These are questions that can be asked when thinking about our grandma’s obsession with putting a lot of things in her room or her house, or when I think about our parents’ obsession with putting in the library gewgaws, like this:

And…

Spring came and with it, all sorts of fairs in Bucharest where you can sell handmade accessories like earrings, necklaces, purses, personalized t-shirts, dresses etc. Fairs which are organized for a niche category of public, sign that the campaign is made only through blogs: www.craftybusiness.wordpress.com, www.kittenwear.blogspot.com, www.cerceiunici.blogspot.com.

All in the same weekend, this one. The places where these fairs are organized are special also: old Bucharest houses, with a retro image, in a perfect match with the ideology of people who make these items. These are a new cultural presence, reality in Bucharest; and maybe not only. The need for a personal aesthetics, a personal image and a specific one made young people to become bricoleurs, to make themselves objects. It is not a strange thing what they make. In a very commercial world, it should be and it is very healthy and normal to be also an anti reaction. Therefore, these are the young people who CREATE.

They are the new urban bricoleurs, the urban artisans. Here are some pictures from the artisans fair from this weekend. This first picture is a display of accessories of one of the artisan present there. You will see that every one of them makes something special and unique.

The fair took place in a backyard of a typical ancient Bucharest house. Here are the stands.

In this picture, you can see one of the artisans, a girl who made purses, like the one you see on her. And now, just some snapshots of people who came at this fair.

Now, the organizers served also lemonade and home made cookies. Here are some pictures of the table and how it was arranged.

In this picture, you can see an iron made from iron… Between lemons, cookies and flowers, you can see this iron which is very old and which functioned, not a very long while ago, with coals. Also, people played twister and felt really good.

Oke, and now, what about the objects they made? Here are some of the things they made by themselves and sold at this fair. First, special cards. Cards with different shapes, made from organic materials like basil, coco nut, so organic materials that smell nice.

And now accessories: earrings, necklaces. Made from cooked plasticine and let to cool down. The artisan made various shapes from plasticine and after that she put those ones in the cooker, and after that, the plasticine became solid. Here are some examples.

Beside plasticine, I encountered at this fair other artisans who made their accessories from clay and wood. It seems like finding unusual materials to make objects from is a challenge and also, the mark of an artisan.

Here are some paintings made by the two boys you will see in these pictures.

And just for you to see the bigger picture, here are some pictures with the house and the little balcony filled with flowers. It was a very beautiful day today in Bucharest.

If you are not bored, I will continue to research this subculture and community of practices and get deeper in their ways of fabricating these items, their influences and the representations they have towards their handicraft. And, by the way, the fair was called Crafty Business.

How do we define ourselves inside a generation? When do we become aware of the fact that we were a part of a generation? What do we say about “our generation”? These are questions that I want to try and answer through personal memories during communist period. My hypothesis (proved through several discussions with people from the same generation) is that during communism, as we all have access to the same objects and our parents purchasing the same items, our childhood was populated by the same “stuff”: same puppets, a little toy piano etc. In function of social dynamics, other items “appeared”, like colorful pencils and nice smelling raisers. As little children, I and my friends really had the same objects. I want to see how you think objects around you and what role do they have in your life.