Rebecca Barnett (from Relative Creative) and I ran furniture restoration demonstrations at the Brisbane City Council’s tip shops as part of the council’s Green Events initiative. Over two Saturdays, we worked on furniture found from the tip shops, and shared advice on how to get the most out of recycled furniture. It was wonderful to engage with so many interested… Continue reading Brisbane City Council furniture restoration demo
Category: posts
The Apprenticeship exhibition – panel discussion
Artisan hosted an important exhibition, The Apprenticeship, celebrating the work and stories of 13 artisans. The exhibition focused on how these craftspeople had pioneered pathways to gaining their craft skills, in essence re-inventing the traditional apprenticeship. The exhibition represented a diversity of craft skills, eg: shoe-making, furniture making, drum making and blacksmithing. Brickmaker Clare Kennedy Peter Bosworth’s drums and… Continue reading The Apprenticeship exhibition – panel discussion
Fiskars and Aalto
I will be returning to Fiskars Village in August 2015 to continue my research on the relationship between craft practice and the business environment in a small regional community. This field work is part of my investigation of the role of craft practice in contemporary society, in particular how it can contribute to sustain-able socio-economic futures… Continue reading Fiskars and Aalto
Fiskars AiR Open House
As part of my stay in Fiskars as an artist in residence I have been working on a small redirective design project Fiskars futures. I am asking anyone who either lives or works in Fiskars or has visited Fiskars if they would like to participate. Just imagine Fiskars in the year 2054, what is it… Continue reading Fiskars AiR Open House
Fiskars Artist in Residence
I am spending December 2014 in beautiful Fiskars, 80km west of Helsinki,as as artist in residence. My work here is part of my PhD research about the local craftspeople and their practices. During my time here I am taking the opportunity to learn about the village and the people that live and work here. Fiskars… Continue reading Fiskars Artist in Residence
Burst Open
I was invited as one of six international designers to explore the emerging global open source design movement in the Burst Open project and exhibition. Curated by John de Manincor and Christian Duell, this “design model experiment” is to test document and share a new way of creating and doing business. Each designer was asked to find an existing… Continue reading Burst Open
Long Time, No See?
The Long Time, No See? project is an evolving public participation artwork about long term visions for community. I will be part of the panel discussion at Balance-Unbalance International Conference on 1st June 2013, in Noosa, where the panel will be discussing this ongoing project in greater detail. About Long Time, No See?: The project… Continue reading Long Time, No See?
Life in a Box essay for Zoontechnica
In my essay ‘Life in a box: packing and unpacking the future’, for Issue 3 of the online design journal Zoontechnica, I suggest the possibility of nomadic living in a post-urban future. I present a critique of contemporary circumstances and argue that we are already living with contradictions of freedom and mobility versus the unadaptable nature of our permanent structures and systems, therefore other possible ways of living… Continue reading Life in a Box essay for Zoontechnica
Role of Design – response to APDL Design Online
Christian Duell, manager of the Asia Pacific Design Library posted an article on Design Online about the designer’s role in faciliating change in communities – Bottom Up, Top Down. His comments are important to consider in dealing with the complex challenges ahead. Here is my reflection: Christian’s article Bottom Up, Top Down brings up several important points,… Continue reading Role of Design – response to APDL Design Online
Design Redirected: the goal for a national design policy for Australia?
This article, below, was submitted to the State Library of Queensland, Asia Pacific Design Library’s new online initiative designonline.org.au . The intent is for the online content is to develop knowledge of design throughout the Asia Pacific region. For me, it has a larger capacity to engage designers, policy makers, consumers in conversations about the agency of design in… Continue reading Design Redirected: the goal for a national design policy for Australia?