Datekleed - Duncan van Norden

DateKleed DateKleed DateKleed DateKleed DateKleed Duncan van Norden Makerslab 2019/2020

Duncan van Norden Makerslab 2019/2020

Will love survive?

Contents

04. Introduction 06. Collage (Duncan van Norden, 2020) 08. The Larger Context 10. Untitled/Observation (Mayte Breed, 2020) 12. Summary of project and outcomes 14. Catalog 16. Keys to Rather than Guide Rather than Instruct 18. Untitled/In Use (Mayte Breed, 2020) 20. Selection of trail of evidence 30. Untitled (Mayte Breed, 2020) 32. Credits

04 Sunday the 15th of March the 1,5 meter-society has been introduced. From this point on nobody is allowed to get near each other closer than 1,5 meter except for your housemates. Our brain was set to tell that an interhuman distance between 120 cm and 200 cm would be most appropriate for business relationships (like your colleagues, classmates etc.) or strangers. The Dutch Government has imposed to treat our loved ones the same way.

We are not allowed to choose our own personal space anymore.

The DateKleedTM will encourage human interaction in a safe way, to prevent society for serious threatening effects, like Huidhonger, without the need of striking tape, fines or police watching you.

Introduction

05 Personal spaces explained1

Intimate 0 -15 cm Full contact; to protect, to hug, sex, to wrestle or to fight.

15 - 45 cm For really close friends Personal 45 - 75 cm People we know well and like. Talking with your partner 75 - 120 cm Conversation with friends or known acquaintances Social 120 - 200 cm Conversations with strangers or business relations 200 - 350 cm Formal meetings Public 350 - 700 cm Distance between speaker and the audience 700 cm < Distance between speaker and more audience 1: https://www.omgevingspsycholoog.nl/persoonlijke-ruimte/

A trilogy collage representing the Covid-19 virus when spread

A trilogy collage representing the countering of Covid-19 with the use of the Datekleed

The

larger

context

09 This project is a counteract against possible future problems in the field of love and empathy, in particular Huidhonger. At the moment of writing (June 2020) it is still very unclear how the future of gathering and socializing will look like. Being together with your friends or loved ones is a human need1. At this moment we are not able to do this in a way which feels right. 17,4%2 of the Dutch population is classified as ‘living alone’.

Hopefully this project will encourage people in these situation to keep interacting with one another, not feel obligated to stay at home and are able to get some sort of satisfaction from this interaction. This way we contribute to counteracting a downward spiral-effect in people´s joy in life. For others I hope this project will create awareness and empathy for the ones in situations like these.

During the process of the project the world has gone through a turbulent time with lots of protests and important issues coming to daylight. Personally I felt I was very invested in these issues and needed a way to use this. Through human interaction we are able to understand each other better and understand each other’s point of view better. This can be done through sitting and talking, but also through doing. Personally I experienced that making e.g. a rug does a pretty good job. Hopefully these different point of view to different issues raises empathy for one another.

1 Maslow’s hierarchy of needs 2 https://www.cbs.nl/nl-nl/nieuws/2019/36/ouderen-wonen-minder-vaak-alleen

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Summary of Project and Outcomes

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At the very start of this project Covid-19 was very new and was around for just a month. We were given three themes to create a project around back then; Open Design & Covid-19, Material Activism & Archiving or Home Faber’s Tools. I tried not to think in these frames. The first thing that got my attention was the fact that ‘Material Activism & Archiving’ and ‘Home Faber’s Tool’ already gave a clear format of what to do and which medium to use.

With ‘Open Design & Covid-19’ I found less restrictions. After talking to different people about this, incl. my mom.

She came up with the initial concept; The ‘Datekleed’. A friend of her is single, wanted to see someone and still observe the 1,5 meter -rules. Around this time my mom came up with an rug which shows the lines of where to sit or not to sit. So her friend was still able to date, but in a safe way. I chose this subject because of the following three reasons; - I was convinced it could be a serious issue in the future.

- I could create a rug; which I find mostly the most fascinating objects in expositions, because of its sizes and painting-like feeling.

- And finally, I wanted to be around my mom a little more. This would be a great way to connect and together we could developed the concept and final product.

In the midst of the process the seriousness of institutional racism came to awareness for a wider audience then ever before (including myself). This caught a lot of my attention for some days and now is a more stable activity I find is important to get myself educated about. During this time I was convinced this project did not matter, because there are more important issues in the world relatively speaking. I needed quite some time to think out a way in which I could justify this project to myself.

With all the protests going on I found these signs of separation between people. Eventually I cam to the conclusion that a lack of empathy is a big part of what people separate. This counts for the handling of Covid-19, just as much for BLM and Kick Out Zwarte Piet and also on a personal level. Through this project I want to spread the ideology of spreading awareness in every form or shape possible and so raise empathy. See the Keys to Rather than Guide Rather than Instruct for how this could be done.

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Catalog

Catalog

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Keys to

Rather than Guide

Rather than Instruct

17 The approach of this project is not about making a physical product. So this â&#x20AC;&#x153;How-toâ&#x20AC;? will not be about how to create a rug.

Because of the quarantine I and hopefully lots of other people were in a lower tempo and were able to think through what is going on and our roll in this too. There have been signs of the quarantine and the slowing down of the system being a great thing for the nature (including ourselves and our mental health).

There have been signs of racial oppression too. All these signs last couple of weeks gave me the realisation that we may care more about one another and show more empathy. Try to understand how certain situations feel like for others and act to this accordingly.

Wees lief tegen elkaar - Eberhard van der Laan (2017) This can be achieved by listen to each other, taking the time for each other, talking to each other and thinking together. A nonforced nor tense way to do this can be done will doing or making together. Personally I found out making a rug together is a great way. It is about creating a momentum or activity in which you collaborate and get to know each other more. A result of this is hopefully understanding each other more and so creating more empathy for one another. Being able to put yourself in someone elseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s situation is a wonderful skill and hopefully we are able to use this skill in different situation.

If you do want to recreate the rug though, the techniques being used are: - Dry filting - Wet filting - Embroidery - Chugging

Selection from Trail of Evidence

Design research skills

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Collaborative learning

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Maker skills and attitude

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Design research skills

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Collaborative learning

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Maker skills and attitude

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Design research skills

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Design research skills

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Collaborative learning

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Maker skills and attitude

Credits Photography: Models and creators:

Mayte Breed Michelle Moreno Duncan van Norden Helping hand with felting: Lyda Rump