Erez Mulay Lecture
Erez Mulay chose the most respectfull way of improving people's lifes as product designer. He creates working space for people with special needs who participate in producing green products.
His studio and community center based in Tel-Aviv, Israel, is mostly about recycling. Companies of variable levels come to him with a task, for example, how to reuse their leftovers. The most elegant case for me was about bathroom ceramics company which had a lot of giant bags for delivering material. Erez designed a set of paper holders and baskets for bathroom that could be produced just by cutting and sewing those bags.
In another case people with special needs developed special equipment and all the tools they needed to make products for new project. He claims that by this approach they feel more comfortable and normal than when just counting screws in some factory. He calls them "Invisible people", because society mostly prefers not to notice them, not to see and undertake any measures about them. His mission is also rehabilitation.
This whole story could look as another utopia, impossible in today's Russia if not the second part of Erez Mulay lecture. It was dedicated to one week experience from his workshops in Nikola-Lenivets orphanage.
One orphanage in sub Kalugian area is very lucky to have its own sewing and woodwork machineries. Inmates are tought to handle it, but they are not designers. And here comes Erez Mulay with his workshop for students. Moreover there are several factories in that area producing cardboard, parchment and even a paper-recycling factory. After a while they generate several ideas on how to simply modify wood and paper for commercial use. Can you see noble perspectives in that? I'd answer grandiose!
Let me take a pause here and describe what examples of charity i observe around, in Moscow. It's usually some company guarding some particular orphanage in everyday needs or in abstract "cultural educating": they either bring food/clothes/toys or take children to exhibitions, which of course is also very important, but it doesn't change the picture in general. It's like giving coins to beggers. At certain age children have to leave orphanage and face the real world where they can do nothing to earn money and some respect. Rehabilitation and adaptation are crucial here. Royal McHamburger won't buy it.
Now that is where i see opportunities for "ErezMulayInRussia" let's call it project. There might be set a number of workshops/communities/clubs around Moscow (let's start with this little city) equipped with very basic machineries where any orphanage would have their time to study and work. Also there are some factories with enough leftovers materials around Moscow. Even in BHSAD we have loads of "unusable" paper, textiles and wood. Yes, use children labor to produce wooden toys, moleskins e t.c. for selling it in Respublika, Vinzavod, Shardam e t.c. We as designers create what kind of products these might be, design and stylize the very thing, also volunteer in teaching children how to treat materials/machinery, creative processes and so on. With such experience they'd have more chances to survive and contribute to a better world.
Or, instead of organizing clubs the story could start with using existing possibilities in different orphanages: some can sew, others plane, others paint... our task is to supervise the process, to connect all parts of chain.
Please, comment and make your suggestions on this project.
In another case people with special needs developed special equipment and all the tools they needed to make products for new project. He claims that by this approach they feel more comfortable and normal than when just counting screws in some factory. He calls them "Invisible people", because society mostly prefers not to notice them, not to see and undertake any measures about them. His mission is also rehabilitation.
This whole story could look as another utopia, impossible in today's Russia if not the second part of Erez Mulay lecture. It was dedicated to one week experience from his workshops in Nikola-Lenivets orphanage.
One orphanage in sub Kalugian area is very lucky to have its own sewing and woodwork machineries. Inmates are tought to handle it, but they are not designers. And here comes Erez Mulay with his workshop for students. Moreover there are several factories in that area producing cardboard, parchment and even a paper-recycling factory. After a while they generate several ideas on how to simply modify wood and paper for commercial use. Can you see noble perspectives in that? I'd answer grandiose!
Let me take a pause here and describe what examples of charity i observe around, in Moscow. It's usually some company guarding some particular orphanage in everyday needs or in abstract "cultural educating": they either bring food/clothes/toys or take children to exhibitions, which of course is also very important, but it doesn't change the picture in general. It's like giving coins to beggers. At certain age children have to leave orphanage and face the real world where they can do nothing to earn money and some respect. Rehabilitation and adaptation are crucial here. Royal McHamburger won't buy it.
Now that is where i see opportunities for "ErezMulayInRussia" let's call it project. There might be set a number of workshops/communities/clubs around Moscow (let's start with this little city) equipped with very basic machineries where any orphanage would have their time to study and work. Also there are some factories with enough leftovers materials around Moscow. Even in BHSAD we have loads of "unusable" paper, textiles and wood. Yes, use children labor to produce wooden toys, moleskins e t.c. for selling it in Respublika, Vinzavod, Shardam e t.c. We as designers create what kind of products these might be, design and stylize the very thing, also volunteer in teaching children how to treat materials/machinery, creative processes and so on. With such experience they'd have more chances to survive and contribute to a better world.
Or, instead of organizing clubs the story could start with using existing possibilities in different orphanages: some can sew, others plane, others paint... our task is to supervise the process, to connect all parts of chain.
Please, comment and make your suggestions on this project.
The activities of Erez Mulay touched two main issues of modern-day societies: the environment and the disable people. In fact, in Russia, these areas are just developing, so you should pay special attention to the experience and realization work of the designer. Actually, many modern Russian production have an industrial waste and, I agree, it is important considering to create for them a "second life".
ОтветитьУдалитьWell.. just as I liked what he did for Izraely communes (according to the presentation), I treat the stuff he and his students propose for Nikola-Lenivets as a joke. Honestly, instead of learning them true craftsmanship they just put sawn-off branches together - as far as I noticed, they do not take bark off or stain wood, they do almost nothing - and the "products" made byt kids under their patronage are semi-finished or even raw materials. They do not actually teach kids anything except not to put too much effort into their work - as far as I can see... as if either tutors or their students cannot actually create anything worth looking, so - I was totally disappointed.
ОтветитьУдалитьWhy so?! Don't you like the way raw materials look? Bark is beautiful! And you can't get it in shops exactly because everybody in industry thinks its undermade, not finished or that "author didn't work enough". On the other hand, there're examples of souvenir-pencils made of such pieces (from Suzdal mostly).
УдалитьWell, if everybody thinks it is undermade, maybe it is undermade? Fact is, there are more than enough sources to get raw materials anyway, and - well, if someone notices the beauty of the nature only when it is being put on sale - I cannot but to feel sad.
УдалитьAs to souvenir-pencils - that is exactly what they are - souvenirs, that can be easily be produced by any untrained craftsmen (not in Suzdal BTW - they are produced worldwide, IE I had a similar from Corfu), and sold to those who do believe that a handprint on a clay jar is definetely a sign of a quality, not lazyness or lack of skills that doesn't allow the "master" to produce a quality product worth buying.
As i understood, children from orphanage in this project where not to be taught "designthinking" or anything. The idea was to produce something with their current abilities that might be sold. Even if it was just a souvenir or a simple notebook cover. And it doent's matter if potential buyer of their products never noticed the beauty of raw materials before or if he or she is lazy/uncreative to do the same by himself - this is a part of the designers profession. The only thing that matters is to start patronage and provide a better life for these kids.
ОтветитьУдалитьI dare to say that I have seen much better stuff created by the 10 y.o. kids while being at the "Palace of pioneers". So I still believe that they should teach them as much as possible rather than just stick to the concept of "let them do something just to keep them busy". And my disappointment is mainly aimed at these two students that tend to oversimplify the products beyond the point of reasonable effort.
УдалитьOn the other hand.. I certainly may be wrong, believing that these kids are just orphans.. They can be dumb and deaf idiots with shaky hands and making a couple of straight cuts with a saw can be a real challenge for them - in that case I do have to stop thinking that they actually could have easily created much more complicated stuff had they had a tutors that wanted them not to be just occupied but rather actually developing their abilities.
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