I Make, Therefore I Am Post by Gillian Montegrande
There are many things we can say about the failings and ills of our society, but the most worrying are
the apathy and abstinence from positive and proactive input from certain sectors. Many have
become spectators of life rather than participants; television for example, in the form of reality
shows creates confusion between fame and achievement and because of its accessible nature and
selective (edited) exposure of facts, gives the false impression that such things are easily gained
without the investment of learning, effort or struggle. As a result viewers, particularly but not exclusively the young, find themselves disconnected and struggling to find a purpose in a world that does not match their expectations.
Comments
Kurt Truman • Great article Gillian.Â
I think since the mechanisation of farming and the industrial revolution there has been a growing creative void within peoples lives, and this has caused many problems for people in terms of their mental and physical well being.
Nature always adjusts the balance, and so the environment has given humankind a challenge to once again create more with our own hands in our local environment using what ever suitable materials are close to hand.
The ideals of William Morris etal seem as poignant today as ever, he feared mechanisation and was right to, its lead us to the biggest challenge we have ever faced as a species.
Working hard with your hands to create products as we all know is good for the mind, body and soul. I think it’s up to businesses to source products locally and create jobs in local workshops to provide jobs and encourage handmade production and the jobs and training that come with it.
Nick GÂ NGS
Going with Kurt’s post – a bit of a meander.
A lot of commercial designers are going freelance or back to the studio because they crave to escape the PC screen. Today the challenges we face as creative makers are geared to many different issues most notably sustainability and education. Making objects today incorporates new strategies such as eco friendly solutions and overcoming service industry and a solutions based mindset.
In all my interviews for design roles over the past 20 years, none in UK asked about for example problem solving in the context of production ingenuity.
Looking around my studio I continually strive for the absolute and simple: not merely due to minimalist ideas but I think down to being geared or plugged into that eco and production ethos.
A healthy creative ethos can migrate. Shout or whisper the seeds of creativity are carried on the swirl.
We are a product of our ingenuity and history. Making is a hugely satisfying activity.
It is something we in UK doing really well.
About the role of education. Talking to Mark Westland the other day in his Old Street retail ‘Cathedral’ and he remarked how Sheraton took great, but roughly hewn Italian furniture and rebuilt it with near engineering precision. That must have been a lot of challenging fun.
That precise process when placed alongside Xbox needs people like us and educators to actively prove to our young talented people and from what makers know and enjoy comes the much beckoned craft regeneration.
It’s what we do with it – an important but often drowned out message, that will shape the future for many.
Making is also a risk process – the downside the patience testing mundane or outright failure, which from an educational point of view heads up today as a major obstacle for engaging Y gen who have grown up with a sense of push button results.
Sharpening chisels is a major obstacle.
Here’s a poser:
How do you overcome the mundane and how could that skill be passed on?
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