Critical Wastification
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Corrupted by Capitalism? In a capitalist society, quality is sacrificed and increased profits are invested towards capital, otherwise known as innovation. Companies are able to continue innovating, improving their products, and putting them onto the market without fear. Likewise, consumers are able to purchase replacement products without guilt… “my phone is getting slow, I might as well buy a new one.”
Increasing GDP in a capitalist society is the key indicator of a thriving society, however, it is only accountable for only what is measurable. CJ DeW states that capitalist policies and philosophies “are increasingly rendered obsolete through transnational cooperation, access to abundant and sustainable resources, and technological innovation.” Ultimately, a free-market society assumes abundant environmental resources leading to a culture of obsolescence.
CRITICAL WASTIFICATION
PLANNED OBSOLESCENCE IN CAPITALISM
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The De-growth movement stresses “the need to not only shift to a zero-growth economy, but to shift down to lower levels of resource consumption in rich countries.” The implication of the Degrowth Movement is that “neither sustainability nor justice can be achieved unless global resource use, consumption, living standards and GDP within rich countries are reduced to a small fraction of their present levels and are kept there.” The Degrowth movement from TSW aims to establish more equitable systems, increase the survival of small businesses due to a lessened chance of monopoly formation, and reduce waste through lower income and consumption levels. While there are many inherent benefits to a De-Growth society, business owners can only draw a constant income, which would mean reduced investment and innovation: stagnancy.
CIRCULAR ECONOMY
DE-GROWTH MOVEMENT
The Circular Economy model is based upon recycling. Founder of Excess Materials Exchange Maayke Damen simply defined a circular economy as “one in which waste doesn’t exist.” In a circular economy, materials will remain in a closed loop through a matter of reusing, recycling, remanufacturing and repairing. Alongside the inherent environmental benefits, it is believed that a circular economy will increase employment levels as there will be more job opportunities within the realm of recycling. Furthermore, some argue that there will also be increased innovation, as designers will be incentivised to innovate new processes to keep materials in the loop. Like with the De-growth Movement however, there is an intrinsic flaw: developing countries whose income relies on the exports of primary goods will falter. The circular economy model ultimately only benefits non vulnerable economies.
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COMBATTING CAPITALISM
The Pledge Against Economics
CRITICAL WASTIFICATION
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QUESTIONING THE DEFINITION:
SUSTAINABILITY AS COMPLEX
If you thought shopping at Savers was going to save both your tragic outfit and our earth... you’re slightly off. The rising popularity of ‘thrift culture’ has increased demand, resulting in the increase in price of second hand clothing. This has inevitably left those in low socio-economic positions struggling to afford clothes from the place that was initially intended for them - the op-shop. On a macro scale, it is necessary for a third world country to exploit their natural resources and drive towards a rising GDP before they can even start considering environmental factors - the circular economy can only be applied to privileged, developed countries.
Furthermore, sustainability has many internal complexities. Saeed Al-Rubeyi, founder of eco-friendly brand Story MFG, wrote: “The downside [to sustainability] is there are a lot of voices and they are often at odds about what sustainability means.”
It is not surprising that there is so much discourse within the movement itself - the idea of sustainability perceives the earth as both fragile and destructive, thus to touch our earth is to ruin it, and to rarely intervene would result in a crisis. Sustainability is fundamentally contradictory.
Critical Design 04
CRITICAL WASTIFICATION
AGAINST THE NORM
Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby’s a/b Manifesto calls upon the two sides to an individual. The [a] regards the consumer side: the things that make us buy something, meanwhile the [b] regards the citizen side: the things that make us think. The [b] side takes on an almost anthropocentric view, Dunne and Raby stating that: “design today is concerned with commercial and marketing activities [a side], but it could operate on a more intellectual level [b side], bringing philosophical issues into an everyday context…let’s call it critical design, [design] that questions the cultural, social and ethical implications… a form of design that can help us to define the most desirable futures, and avoid the least desirable.” Critical design, which can come in many forms, such a speculative or ‘useless’ design, is design which ultimately invokes thought. It is critical design that allows us to question archetypes, concepts, and traditions. Critical design is the “lemon sorbet entremet served in-between meals at some fancy restaurant to clean the taste palate… it can shake the concept of a meal entirely without leaving the guests hungry.”
CRITICAL WASTIFICATION
Image by Victoria Wendish
Reaching Resolution 05
CRITICAL DESIGN TO PROVOKE THOUGHT
Greek philosopher Socrates spent his life being publicly despiseddue to his constant questioning and criticising of politicians and academics. Despite this, Socrates persisted in questioning because he believed that beauty was equivalent to moral righteousness. Perhaps when regarding an issue as complex, multifaceted... and wicked as that of sustainabiltity.... we must be more like Socrates. We must think more critically about the issue itself.
While it is unlikely that we will ever reach one universal resolution on how we should deal with all waste, we can get closer to the ‘morally right’ resolution through continuous speculation of the status quo. Designers can aid in this through invoking thought in their creations and what better what than through that of critical design? Design with little to no practicality... so all you can do is ponder about the intentions itself.
CRITICAL WASTIFICATION Studio Formafantasma, ‘Ore Streams’, Chair and Cubicle 1, 2017, preparatory rendering, anodized aluminium, metalized paint, digital print on aluminium, electronic waste components, gold-plated aluminium
CRITICAL WASTIFICATION
Studio Formafantasma This is the result of a study in e-waste called ‘Ore Streams’led by design studio FormaFantasma: “The Ore Streams research spanned two years and saw the designers disassemble electronic goods in their studio, visit recycling plants in Thailand and interview scientists, UN representatives, recyclers, NGO workers and electronics producers.” An element of the study involved using recycled materials to create an office cubicle: why did they choose to recreate a confined office cubicle - a place of order and hierarchy? Is it pointing a finger at the bureaucracies which take our environment for granted? Why do only the shells of the e-waste remain? Are they trying to say something about materiality...
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EXAMPLES OF CRITICAL DESIGN
Architect and soon to be RMIT Alumni Tope Adesina created this 3D render around the “conversation of climate and technology through rose coloured glasses.” He was looking at how the “conflict in environmental technological advancement, human nature, greed and collective conscience has led to a situation where how sustainable we strive to be or to be perceived is in opposition to what we do and what we accept, not out of hypocrisy but out of habbit...while the world is sinking.”
CRITICAL WASTIFICATION
This critical work invokes thought it is refined and feminine, the irony of it all resulting in brutal atmosphere.
Tope Adesina
2017, 3D render by Tope Adesina
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Pearn Zainab: Noah CRITICAL WASTIFICATION
‘Noah Orb’ (2019) by Sid Pearn, Khoirul Zainab, SC
An orb structure made from melted plastic found from a construction site, Pearn and Zainab melted the waste to form triangles, a rippling miriage of blue and white. They then used the triangles to form something which looks distinctly like the earth. Through this, they present the irony that they used the very thing which is destroying the earth, to replicate the beauty of the earth. What other hazardous things are we concealing as ‘beautiful?’
The Blindfold
I used old plastic packaging for this project, and cut it up into small strips of equal width. Then I assembled into into a blind fold.
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FINAL PROJECT
Plastic is what we often associate waste with. Recycled plastics aren’t able to continually serve the same purpose after recycling. The heat needed to melt plastic also generates carbon emissions, which contribute to global warming. A lot of plastic recycling is actually downcycling which simply delays the process.
CRITICAL WASTIFICATION
A nod to how we try to define sustainable alternatives from a black and white perspective, cutting it up into neatly filed waste streams and systems. Perhaps when we take a step back, we will realise that it is the same, big, messy, wicked problem that is was from the very beginning. With the bustle of everyday life, perhaps we don’t delve deep enough into what sustainability means - in the process, becoming somewhat blinded.
I wanted someone to look at this design and think... why? Why did they decide to make a blindfold out of plastic? Why did they choose to make a blindfold? Why is the plastic cut up? I hope that this blindfold (made in a whimsical rush just before the beginnings of SWOTVAC) has the ability to stop someone in their tracks and invoke thought. Even better, I would hope it has the potential to stop people in their tracks and invoke a conversation.
My Learnings To be honest, there are many contradictions in my essay and this booklet - it is a vague blur of ideas that aren’t quite refined. A lot of rambling, and pretty words... nothing exceptionally concrete.
I hope to have more conversations about the complexities that surround our environment. Yes, conversations around upcycling and composting, but also conversations about the politics that surround it, the philosophies - on the contradictions between sustainability and privilege, capitalist innovation and degrowth, beauty and waste.
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THE CONCLUSION
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THE BIBLIOGRAPHY
CRITICAL WASTIFICATION
I did not leave this course feeling like I was an expert in the rhelm of sustainability & waste, and I don’t think that was the purpose of the course either. Rather, I learnt just enough to realise how little I know about sustainability, and this realisation has left me very curious. I hope to research more into the world of critical design and the role it plays in society. Art asks questions that feel so radical, that it is difficult to apply to modern day context. Critical design is the opposite, askng questions in an almost everyday context, allowing the mind to think further than that of the design itself.
Abramson, D.M, (2016), Obsolescence: An Architectural History, Chicago, Ill: The University of Chicago Press, 19 Al-Rubeyi, S. (2020). On Being Green and the Cult of Sustainability. Retrieved from: https://www.storymfg. com/blogs/essays/on-being-green-and-the-cult-ofsustainability CJDew, (2013), The Obsolescence of Capitalism and the Transition to a Resource Based Economy, Retrieved from: https://medium.com/@cjdew/the-obsolescence-of-capitalism-340ad9fafd8f Choi, J., & Kim, S. (2016). Is the smartwatch an IT product or a fashion product? A study on factors affecting the intention to use smartwatches. Computers in Human Behavior, 63, 777-786. Damen, M. (2015). Sustainability Through a Circular Economy. TEDxYouth@Maastricht. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=dcVu20XQ5og&t=499s David B. Brownless, The First High Victorians: British Architectural Theory in the 1840s, Architectura 15 (1985). p 33-36. Dunne, A. Raby, F. Towards a Critical Design. Retrieved from: http://dunneandraby.co.uk/content/bydandr/42/0 Guiltinan, J. (2009). Creative Destruction and Destructive Creations: Environmental Ethics and Planned Obsolescence. Springer. Komnenos, A. (2020). Norman’s Three Levels of Design. Retrieved from: https://www.interaction-design. org/literature/article/norman-s-three-levels-of-design Leon Battista Alberti, On the Art of Building in Ten Books, trans. Joseph Rykwert, Neil Leach, and Robert Tavernor (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1988), book 6, chapter 2, p.156 Rosenback, S. (2014). Prototyping a Useless Design Project: What, Why, How?. Volume III, Issue 4. p5.15.18 Ted Trainer. (2015). The Degrowth Movement from the Perspective of the Simpler Way, Capitalism Nature Socialism, 26:2, 58-75, 10.1080/10455752.2014.987150
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By Sarah Cheng s3786970