analecta romana instituti danici xxxiv - Det Danske Institut i Rom
analecta romana instituti danici xxxiv - Det Danske Institut i Rom analecta romana instituti danici xxxiv - Det Danske Institut i Rom
22 Sisse Tanderupgets his existence through the objects thatthe city throws out. In the process of collectingthe rag picker catalogues what hasbeen lost and forgotten. 4 In his GesammelteSchriften Benjamin explains that the ragpicker does not collect at random. The ragpicker shows loyalty to individual objectsthat have been collected and saved by him.Through his act of collecting he expressesa protest against the typical, all which canbe classified. Walter Benjamin explains that“collecting is a kind of practical memory”. 5In Das Passagen Werk Benjamin describeshow he sees the rag picker as a magicianwho sees through the collected objects andinto their past and history. To him collectingis a primitive form of studying. The collectorcan assume various guises: child, memoirwriter, researcher, antiquarian or flaneur.What characterizes the collector is that hehas a special eye for things. With his sensitivitytowards things he promotes a profoundlydemocratic attitude to the materialworld because no objects stand above otherobjects. This can only be seen as a critiqueof what is. 6 When Humberto and FernandoCampana remind us of the back side of culture,of the forgotten people – the poor people,by transforming it into design we as usersbecome aware of what we tend to forget.A designer can thus work as a kind of collectorin his design process through his sourcesof inspiration. In a Benjamin-sense, a collectionfirst gains meaning when designersthrough their design pass on stories that canbe recognized by the user, provoking a largerawareness. Tim Dant writes that “Collectingis a passionate rather than a functionalform of possession”. 7 He cites Belk:Collecting is the process of actively, selectively,and passionately acquiring andpossessing things removed from ordinaryuse and perceived as part of a set of nonidenticalobjects or experiences. 8If a nest is moved from a tree and into ourliving rooms it is deformed. It is no longercapable of protecting eggs. It is apparentlyintended to function as a fruit basket. However,it no longer hides and protects its contents.It reveals and exhibits it. In this waythe functional aspect is set aside in favour ofthe reflective aspect in the design process.Donald A. Norman writes in his book Emotionaldesign (2005) that:Reflective design considers the rationalizationand intellectualization of a product.Can I tell a story about it? Does itappeal to my self-image, to my pride? …A favourite object is a symbol, setting upa positive frame of the mind, a reminderof pleasant memories, or sometimes anexpression of one’s self. And this objectalways has a story, a remembrance, andsomething that ties personally to this particularobject, this particular thing. 9... Reflective design covers a lot of territory.It is all about the message, about cul-
The Georg Jensen and Alessi Design 23ture, and about the meaning of a productor its use. For one, it is about the meaningof things, the personal remembrance somethingevokes. For another, very differentthing, it is about the message a productsend to others. 10However, Norman is mistaken when he assumesthat a favourite object only evokespositive memories. The fruit basket is morecomplex in its duplicity. It evokes a culturecriticalconsciousness in the user if it is interpretedas a protest against the fact that we, inthe Western World, take luxury products forgranted, a luxury that the poor people in theBrazilian streets cannot afford. In this waythe basket becomes a carrier of our culturewhile at the same time representing the oppositeof culture: Nature.Georg Jensen and memoryThe basket “Silverbody” (Fig. 2) by theDanish goldsmith Kim Buck was designedfor Georg Jensen in 2003. The reference toa bird’s nest is more evident than seen withthe basket by the two Brazilians as the silvertendrils are bent inwards in Kim Buck’sversion. The title “Silverbody” is a play onthe Danish word for hollowware (korpusarbejde,literally body work). At the same timethe title points out the bodily and sensuousand aspect of the design. The basket is constructedby numerous silver tendrils thatinteract organically as the network of strawin a nest. The winding and organic tendrilsdiffer from the angular and spiky basket byFig. 2. Kim Buck, Silverbody 2002 (photo: Georg Jensen).
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The Georg Jensen and Alessi Design 23ture, and about the meaning of a productor its use. For one, it is about the meaningof things, the personal remembrance somethingevokes. For another, very differentthing, it is about the message a productsend to others. 10However, Norman is mistaken when he assumesthat a favourite object only evokespositive memories. The fruit basket is morecomplex in its duplicity. It evokes a culturecriticalconsciousness in the user if it is interpretedas a protest against the fact that we, inthe Western World, take luxury products forgranted, a luxury that the poor people in theBrazilian streets cannot afford. In this waythe basket becomes a carrier of our culturewhile at the same time representing the oppositeof culture: Nature.Georg Jensen and memoryThe basket “Silverbody” (Fig. 2) by theDanish goldsmith Kim Buck was designedfor Georg Jensen in 2003. The reference toa bird’s nest is more evident than seen withthe basket by the two Brazilians as the silvertendrils are bent inwards in Kim Buck’sversion. The title “Silverbody” is a play onthe Danish word for hollowware (korpusarbejde,literally body work). At the same timethe title points out the bodily and sensuousand aspect of the design. The basket is constructedby numerous silver tendrils thatinteract organically as the network of strawin a nest. The winding and organic tendrilsdiffer from the angular and spiky basket byFig. 2. Kim Buck, Silverbody 2002 (photo: Georg Jensen).