Pareidolia

All art attempts to project emotion, but certain art has another more human quality that is just subtle enough. Pareidolia is the effect we experience when we think that we see a face in a could formation. The quote below by David Hume, an 18th Century Philosopher, explains it beautifully: 

"There is a universal tendency among mankind to conceive of all beings like themselves, and to transfer to every object, those qualitites, with which they are familiarly acquainted, and of which they are intimately conscious. We find human faces in the moon, armies in the clouds; and by a natural propensity, if not corrected by experience and reflection, ascribe malice or good will to every thing, that hurts or pleases us".

I am looking for this kind of emotive art as inspiration for my sculpture, as I want it to have certain qualities that make you feel companionship without going too much into anthropomorphism and staying far away from the Uncanny Valley. Below are a few examples that I find particularly relevant to my design. 

Tackle the Truth with Comedy

A lot of the stigma around disability and growing old clearly stems from our fear of death. I was watching Louie CK the other night, and some of his jokes clearly highlight the dark truth of the healthcare system. Comedy is a great way of tackling these things, which reminds me how important it is that I include a playful element in my designs. 

Senior Style & Inclusive Design

A few weeks ago I attended an event at the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum called "Inclusive Design: Myth or Reality?". The event featured talks by John Marshall, design director at MAP, the industrial design firm that created the Sabi bathroom range. Below you see how it is designed to be esthetically pleasing yet practical in the way it is easily assembled and can serve as a support grip. 

Scott Summit, founder of Summit ID, a firm specializing and revolutionizing the way prosthetics are made through 3D manufacturing was also there, amongst many other people that have a true passion to innovate in this field. I was glad I went, as it confirmed much of the strong need for innovation in this field, and how much it is appreciated by those who need it. There was a nice mix in the audience of old and young, disabled and non-disabled, and the appreciation of this type of design was very strong - people could not express enough how much this all meant to them. The conversations confirmed much of what I believe in and also want to reflect in my designs as an artist and designer: 

- The elderly think they are young, and don't want to be treated as old. 

- They don't want us to design with this stigma in mind, that they need to be empowered. 

- The main point is to design for the most common issues, without making it obvious: poor sight, reaching and memory. 

- Make packaging easy to open and instructions in life-size. 

I also met one of the colorful women of the Idiosyncratic Fashionista's, who gave me her business card. I plan to reach out to them in hopes of an interview, as they represent my target audience perfectly in terms of how they carry themselves. My product would only be enjoyed by a person who enjoys art, sculpture and cares about their aesthetic environment.

Although older people don't like to be distinguished in terms of style, there is a certain distinction when it comes to aesthetic preference that is inevitable. Looking through blogs, talking to people and pondering over what this could be, I came to the conclusion that what makes them stand out is a strong inner core that is not afraid to show itself.

Women of that age are confident and therefore more playful - even sculptural - in the way they carry themselves. They are not afraid of death, and therefore not afraid of splashing with color or openly talking about health concerns. However, they feel that they deserve to do so boldly and beautifully. 

Judith, another known blogger names herself Style Crone, and uses her style as a form of meditation: 

"I am always inspired by diversity and individual expression and find inspiration everywhere! I spent most of my career working as a psychiatric nurse in an emergency setting.  I also spent a period of time managing the care of head and spinal cord injuries.  Choosing my outfits, which always included a hat, was a way to express myself creatively and as a form of meditation as I approached my day, which usually included extreme and painful stories told by interesting, traumatized people. " - http://stylecrone.com/biography/

The Accidental Icon is a woman that is very inspired by Yohji Yamamoto's fashion and lifestyle, and has a very sophisticated look. Although her aesthetic preference is more modernistic, she still has qualities to her style that make her outfits sculptural. 

Inspiration & Objectives

Inclusive design too often means attempting to be everything for everyone - however, adding too much functionality most often hinders beautiful and functional design. Inclusive or universal design has many contradicting principles, and I found Graham Pullin's book "Design meets Disability" useful in helping to sort out some of these conflicts. Not only does the book have a myriad of good examples (some of which featured here), but he also suggests a new approach to inclusive design that I have been attempting to strive for with my thesis:

"I would like to propose the term "resonant design" for a design intended to address the needs of some people with a particular disability and other people without that disability but perhaps finding themselves in particular circumstances. So this is neither design for just able-bodied people nor design for the whole population; nor even does it assume that everyone with a particular disability will have the same needs. It is something between these extremes, not as a compromise, but as a fundamental aspiration". -93

For we are all disabled somehow ... 

Naoto Fukasawa's philosophy regarding designing products that require no thought is also very relevant to my design, as such a product truly allows for cognitive inclusion. His Muji CD player is a classic example of this. 

"Fluidtime", a time piece by Crispin Jones and Michael Kieslinger at the interaction Design Institute of Ivrea, demonstrates our events based perception of time and proposes an alternative. This is not unlike what I aim to do with my sculpture, as exercising requires breaking up the habits my user currently has in place. The sculpture needs to not be a distraction, simply indicate the state in a subtle manner. Pullin states in his book:

"In Fluidtime, the movement of an abstract object on the wall of the design studio reflected the progress of a communal washing machine in the laundry block - meaningful if you knew what to look for, but otherwise discreet. Only when the washing cycle had finished and the machine was free for the next person to use did the display unfurl an array of bright blue ribbons. It was "Designed to be unobtrusive until it had significant information to impart", and in this way it worked well in the background of an architectural space." - 262

The objective is to make it a useful and beautiful indication of time in relation to your body. 

  • Utilitarian: The object has a specific function aside it's main purpose. This is one that correlates to your body algorithmically. If you fail, the function starts to fail. Furthermore, the stigma within disability is much derived from the fact that assistive technology solely serves one purpose.
  • Sculptural: When not used, it is pleasing to have around and serves as part of your interior decoration. 
  • Time Piece: It serves as an indication of your body, only for those who know how to read it. Hence, it is a visual language system that correlates to the wearable, and communicates time to the wearer and potential caretakers. 
  • Reward System: It shows you when it is proud of your accomplishments by acknowledging your presence. It shows you when you could have done better by demonstrating tension. The object in this state shows how close it is to loosing it's specific function - just like your body could when not taking care of it. 

Alessi is in this sense a great source of inspiration, as they are known for designer objects with a personal and humoristic touch. I'm not sure I want to go for something quite as "fun", but many of their tools exemplify how playful touches can truly be integrated into a product to communicate emotion. 

I was also very happy to see that Lunar created this beautiful bike and yoga mat that allows for people to think about their health in discretion and style, demonstrating the need for such devices. 

I was at Reuven Israel's "Multipolarity" exhibition a few weeks back, and realized here how the aesthetic qualities are very similar to what I aim to achieve in my final design. Read more about the exhibition here. 

Find a long list of precedents and inspiration on my thesis Pinterest board.