For the project of Doppelleben, I want to work with the distinguish between two lives and the consequence of it. This addresses the issue of double or multi-identity, or more commonly, the constant longing for life elsewhere, or life of others(the so called "wonderlust" or escapism). The chioces or questions I need to face are mainly: 1.For life in two places(situations, states, modes), do I really want to solve a problem? The way I see the problem is from a level of identity confusion. It is on a psychological level and it involve the issues of values and beliefs. When facing the fact that the society is questing us to play different roles, the act of identity switching is very common in life, as long as one is involved in social activity. However it only becomes a problem when the distinguishment of the difference of the life states become extreme, and cause the incontinuous of behaviour, especially when it is done unconciously. For most people, the multi-mind states is not so extreme to be called "identity disorder". But we all suffer more or less from the issue of double identity or double life. Here I am not talking about the objective problems like in a life of commuting, the problem between flexibility and usability. ( I am not against the useful design of changing the way of mobility or new solutions for travelling issues. However I find it is not the keyword for me in this project). It is the issue of identity loss I want to work with. It is metaphisical, and psychological. And to make a proper "solution" to it, I think in the design level the attempt is usually ineffective. Or we can say, for emotions and pychological states, the solution is usually not physically obvious and "curing the illness" for real. 2. Is there anything me, as a designer can do, to address the topic? The answer is absolutely yes. At least for me, there is a more comfortable and somehow efficient way to find a way in the topic of identities. The moment we put the issue of double life emotions into discussion, the quickest way to think of designing, is to make something to change the situation, in this case-eliminate the difference. I tried to work from this angle in the workshop we took-the pair of ear and month is the result of trying to make distant together experience. It is my first attempt to make a design solution. However, some issues like identity or emotions, has its hidden features. It is not obvious and objective. It is subtle so one cannot overdo any interpretation or solutions. To address the topic, the key word for me is the "expression". How do we describe the states of identity confusion, and the impact of it, instead of doing it in words, I try to do it in design. I try to tell a story like it is. I want to make objects with personalities("personfied objects") and use them as metaphors, which reflect the behaviour of people around them, in my story of double life.
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And again, we came to this subject.
What is home to you? A teapot. A laundry basket. A towel. A pillowcase. All the things I dont "need". But they are "ME" somehow. They allow the small moments in life when you can stop for a moment and drench in the relaxation of doing nothing, the kind of experience you only get from home, from somewere you feel secure. This autum I started a new project in Germany.The title is Doppelleben(Double life),which focuses on people with a need of travelling between two places, commuters, or even a need of frequent role switching-like work/life.
For me, the time spent on the road is like a vaccum space between to dimensions. Some people just want to take a rest from the daily routine and soak into silence. Some want to be occupied by conversations and new acquaintance. Or it is just a slow adjustment, both over space and over time, between two modes. The slower the process is, the more prepared you will be for "the new mode".--Divergency 1 Under this topic, many people tend to dig into the situation of mobility. The needs or the problems we meet on the situatuon of having some stuff in one place, and some in the other, and how we manage to balance the commuting life and the life settled down. --Divergency 2 I am interested the distinguishment of the two lives and the consequence of that. Especially the psychological effect of one man with divided lifestyles. The contradiction could be fierce in some cases. So problem of identity appears. --Divergency 3, the one I am aiming for, which is hard to find a way in. Emotional dependence(objects and people) Tell a story like it is(expression)/provide a solution I interviewed someone who has pretty similar experience like me. He is also far away from home studying abroad. The distance between the two places is the main thing that caused this division of double life. Being faraway from family in a total different culture, in a long distance relationship, all he can do is going back home once or twice a year. How do you manage personal belongings everytime going back to China? Just take the basic necessities(towels tooth brushes etc.) Buy the rest. How do you manage when being in one place trying to control things happening in the other? Usually deal with it later when I get back. If I have to I'll ask some friends to do it for me over the phone. Plan for the trip or just go? Always plan. But just schedule the trip-when to take off and when to come back. No plan for the things happening inbetween. Which items have you forgotten last time? Keys Which usefull objects do you like to take with you during comuting? Headphone cushion Do you prefer to comute alone or together with other people? Travel with someone I know. Some friends. So we have time to chat. Otherwise, I dont want to be disturbed by other people. I will take a rest during the time. Just spend the time doing nothing. Is there a object/item you always have with you? Photo of my girlfriend and family. Which I dont really "need". Do you like commuting? Do you like long time travelling? Yes. I dont think it wastes my time. 27, twice a year, long distance relationship. Our interview is conducted more like a random chat. During the time he expressed his fond of commuting. The commuting time between Europe and China is quite long-more than 10 hours. And the travel time between his city and his girlfriend's city is 2 hour. He does'nt travel too often though. He think the time spent on the road is precious, which he uasually use to rest and think about other stuff, just to relax. I think maybe this commuting time/empty space between two lives is crucial from someone, to prepare psycologically for another kind of life.--reflection 1 When asked about what kind of things one cannot live without in this double life. He thinks the best state of life is that there is nothing you can live without. One can just travel with an empty bag. But in real life circumtances he claims what he always need is the camera, some books and electrical products. He said he has been used to this kind life where he can live without anything but the photos, pictures, diaries and memories. Being in this kind of double life himself, it seems like the lifestyle is already miminalizing. Trying to depend on less things but at the same time dont mind buying a lot of things that are not that necessary when settled temprorarily in one place. That means when one is in one life, he doesn;t mind buying and scraping up a lot of stuff which would cause the problem of moving. On the other hand, when the situation like moving comes, they are not that hard to be thrown away, or let's say it is easier to compromise the trouble of moving to the emotinal need of piling up stuff. In this sense, the real necessity is minimalized, but there is still need of feeling secure(in this case by piling stuff up). When a fire happens, losing stuff is not so hard to master. And you can always travel light. He thinks he can live with this kind of commuting between homeland and study for a reasonably long time and he can keep it. And he barely talks to his family about the future-whether to settle down in China or live in Europe, away from the family. Or even, moving the family in Europe. He thinks in the current state of student life, it is not the kind of prolem can be solved only by him. He thinks maybe it is possible to discuss it after a few years of working life and it is better to settle down in one place. As the sense of "home" and "homeland". He thinks it is also a concept of the relation between you can the people around. These bunch of people live close, either bound by blood or just friendship can be the reason why he calls a place "home". When leaving and arriving, there is always emotional change inside. Usually the sadness of saying goodbye can be overcomed after a some time. --reflection2 When asked if this double life changed one's personality, he thinks there's a big division between the two state of mind. Especially when back home, people cannot understand your state of life in europe, and people are talking about other thing you dont think is of importance. It is when u feel detached with the people and feeling like a different person. When the division occurs he always chooses silence. And he feels it is easy to be affected by environment and scenes. And this kind of life really effect the family situation.--reflection 3 My life during the past two years is pretty much moving all the time, not settled at all. I am constantly putting myself in new environment. I found myself trying to minimalize my life as much as possible. It seems like my whole life can be packed into a suitcase(a big one probably). I could just go. I feel like I am surrounded by a lot more of those everywhere products from brands like IKEA, MUJI, maybe because the fact that even I have to move and throw a lot of stuff away, I can always get the exactly same one anywhere else in the world. In this way I feel secure. As the detachmemt(both physical and psychological)from my home in China has been there for a long time, I feel the division of my identity when I try to combine the life back home and life in Europe. I feel like a different person when I try to tell the my everyday life to my friends and family in a different continent. There is a line between my double life. This week's workshop I decided to make something that can save me from this division. I made an "ear" and a "mouth" out of clay. I hope to connect someone's separated double life with these object, create involvement of another life and eliminate the line between them. Hopefully in this way the division of identity will slowly disappear and the edge of both lives will be blurred in the end. After modernity, time is evil. We dont have our own time any more, instead we are all doners. Donating our life time in exchange for something else. Who can actually keep the perfect balance? Industrial revolution, mass production, new technologies, we are trying so hard to get faster, to get more. We can travel across the ocean in hours which takes the ancient people months even years. We almost can do any daily stuff on our own. We dont need anyone to give a hand. We have automatic doors, automatic locks, all kinds of convenient electric tools designed by perfect ergonomic priciples. All these try to save our hands from occuping. But what do we do when hands get free? There is no one to hold hands with. We put them in the pocket. Technology makes living alone in the city, surrounded by walls and isolated from the people very convenient and possible. I want to make a series of "evil design" hand made as reminicent of non-technology times, still has its technological evilness-to help people live alone, to do the tiny little things, which when you do alone, you feel like one hand missing, and alwyas need others to do it perfectly. Here is a link to a video called future of screen technology. You can see how the technology changes people's behaviour in social activities. “...Aesthetic pleasure is associated with renewal, rather than with objectification.”
Memory is a media we create in our mind, to look at the past, to reassure and for our built-up identity to rely on. However it is never objective. It is not about reality but rather the deformation of it. It is a mixture of truth and imaginary. And it is all about details of reminiscent and often there is absence of time and people. Fragments and pieces of the reality are the relics of personal history. And the feeling of “me” is what happens when the “artificial” and “real” are mixed, then some fantastic things happen in-between. Memory gives us identity and it is moving and changing. Hidden and beyond literal description, the feeling we have about everything, about a time, a place, beauty, love and about ourselves are like blurred picture in our mind and deformed and montage in our own particular way. We are building our reality in a way only we can. These thoughts came during the exhibition course in HDK. We are preparing for the Stockholm furniture fair 2012. I looked into the design history together with my experience of my life in Sweden, about how Sweden formed its modern design. Carl Larsson, Ellen Key.. They set the root for the Swedish people's forever relationship with their homes.
Yes, I'd like to assume, Swedish modern design begins from every ordinary people's home. All these time I have been curious, why every single Swedish People care so much about their home decorations. From the very first day I came in this country, I have noticed this is like a national hobby. Hobby shops, material shops all over the city, crowded design store, all reflect a common enthusiasm about handcraft and home decorations. No wonder this country have the big international brand IKEA just for home products. Like Ellen Key says, every worker is a potential artist, Swedish design is meant to make everyday life beautiful for ordinary people. Ellen Key says in her book" beauty in the home" already at the beginning of the last century: “New aethetic sensibility must begin in the domestic setting". "The beautiful, is that which is practical, useful, informed by its purpose, and expressive of the soul of the user or creator." "All people need to create beautiful surroundings for themselves, and this creation begins in the home." "If beauty exists in the home, lives will be transformed, and so, ultimately will every aspect of society." The spirit lies in the core value of their culture identity. That is "Hem". Those values are embedded in this culture, they are still true for nowadays Swedish society. But the new modern life has changed the surroundings of the culture. Mobility, fast modern living pace and lack of emotional links. Everybody lives in some kind of individuality. It is especially true for the young generations. Globalization means, you are more connected to the world, at the same time you are more easily drifting away from your home, from where you belong. We are all kind of "ROOTLESS". You are individual and seperate from your surroundings. The lack of belonging and a feeling of floating take control of your life. You don't know where you are gonna stay for a reasonably long time or it is just a stop of your life journey. You wonder, the laughing people surrounding you now, will they disappear tomorrow like they have never been here. Life is full of packing and unpacking. You have a list of"must have", "whatever" and "throw away." You don't know when and where you are gonna "TAKE ROOT", like a flying balloon catched by a tree. You dare not buy heavy and expensive antiques or have too much emotional links to something big because you are afraid in case next time of moving you have to throw them away. So cheap and flexible IKEA seems the best solution. However, put the everyday necessity aside, there must be some emotional objects you ought to carry with you all the time. " a security blanket", " a portrait of lover", "a childhood toy", "a ticket to mars"...They are there because of the emotional links, because they create a feeling of belonging, a feeling of home. Where I put "you", I mean "me". If you share the same "rootless" feeling, I would very much to hear your voices. We are talking about collective arent we? I am now ready to collect you rootless people's emotional murmurs. (I remember Miss Salla have some speech about it..and Astrid too?..) 1. What is "home" to you? (In this subject, there have been lots of famous people's quotes: “Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in.” Robert Frost quotes (American poet, 1874-1963) “I long, as does every human being, to be at home wherever I find myself.” Maya Angelou quotes (American Poet, b.1928) “He is the happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe quotes (German Playwright, Poet, Novelist and Dramatist. 1749-1832) “Home is not where you live, but where they understand you” Christian Morganstern quotes) 2. What will you take if tomorrow's doomed and we are leaving for Mars? Name one or some.(If you tell me whyyy...I will save you a ticket :) We're all born alone but...let's PARTY! http://exhibitingthecollective.tumblr.com/post/13796275886/hem-a-sharing-of-thoughts _
This is a picture I took a month ago when I was in Berlin. It is from one of the many bricks of the memorial church(Gedächtniskirche). The original church on the site was built in the 1890s. It was badly damaged in a bombing raid during the world war two. The damaged part was not fixed like the original building. Instead people in Berlin insisted to keep the damaged look as a reminder of that history. They build memorial hall beside the church using pieces of glass which makes people relate to the pieces of the bomb or the pieces of faith left in humanism after the war. A french artist made these beautiful glass pieces and reorganize them in the shape of sqaure. It made me think about the designer's role today at the atomosphre of globalization and diversity. We are like individual atoms in this emptiness. Should we design to solve problems or is there really so many problems to solve? Is mass production or functionalism still the right way of making objects today? Does the world really need another chair for the purpose of sitting? Maybe functionalism is not the perfect answer today. Designer need to pick up the pieces we have lost and rebuild something for our soul. That means, to cure, to calm, to lead and to take responsibility. |