Another tool
A net? Web? A filter again.
Or a tool with a purpose unknown
But: Shelter. Sheltering is key and important. Important is also camouflage.
The shelter should be light weight and transportable, durable. It should blend perfectly with surroundings and be made of plastics/vinyl.
A bit like a tent.
This tool is intended to be used by the last human on Earth. The tool should be used to mark a path.
The last human is definitively lost, but the last human can use the tool to create paths as well as designate an area of interest. If there is a certain place that the last human feels it is important to remember and to be able to easily find again, the last human can use the tool for that purpose.
Since the ground is always soft (even concrete is melting in the burning heat from the Sun), the last human can easily imprint temporary marks in the ground.
The last human knows that it can not have a territory. The last human knows that space can not be owned by anyone. The last human knows that private property is an illusion (that is old news for the last human). The last human is a nomad with a desire to settle.
The last human wants to claim space temporarily. This tool is for that purpose.
The flag with the stamp of the guiding star in clay and honey.
The last human is ready to stamp the ground with the wooden star at the bottom of the tool.
The gravel, the ruins, the melted concrete can easily be stamped. A path is marked.
The final product will be a block/stamp with a handle, on which there is attached a flag.
There were a couple of iterations of this.
The first idea was to use a mold and create the object from plaster.
I built the mold using concrete
View into the mold
The mold is ready
The plaster mix is made up of honey, spirulina and plaster.
A wooden spoon is used as a handle.
The final first iteration: I was not satisfied. Especially the stamp part of the bottom of the object did not work. The plaster had not filled out the mold evenly enough to be usable. I discarded this iteration.
Second iteration was with another approach. Using Magic Model clay for children, I was able to make a large handle, with a small wooden stick onto which I could attach a flag. For the stamp in the bottom, I used a wooden star that I had already created.
The flag is made of paper and plastic, onto which I stamped the star with a mixture of magic model clay and honey. The flag is attached to a wooden stick, which is then inserted into the clay object.
The handle is a plastic bottle covered with magic model clay. In the bottom of the object, I attached the wooden star.
Flags: claiming space, conquering, conquest
To make a mark: to claim something: A flag as a symbol of ownership in a very abstract way.
The star: the symbol for guidance; guiding stars. We navigate using stars and have always done so.
In the futures everything might be soft, bendable, everything in flux. It can therefore be necessary/important to use a stamp to create something ICONIC. Imprint in the gravel of destroyed buildings.
Icons: icons for a general understanding. Icons are portals, portals to something/somewhere else. Same for a flag in a way. It represents something, but not only represents, but actually transports the viewer somewhere else. This is an icon. Icons are problematic but deeply cultural in the old meaning of the word – they are traditional, bear old meanings that some over-humanly way has settled into them.
Camouflage for the device. It should somehow mix the different materials that we find in the futures. Obviously this will be a mix of “natural” (in the old sense of the word) materials (like bacteria, dirt, stone) and “cultural” (in the old sense of the word) materials (like concrete (man made stone), plastics).
Another tool. Possibilities:
To raise the level (block shoes)
A shovel
A stick for remembrance (Hansel and Gretel pebbles)
A stick that blends well with the environment (camouflage)
A marker. A map. A path.
A stamp, to stamp the ground.
But also a looking device, or a flag.
Interesting to give meaning to an area. The activity of designating meaning to space.
And all elements are soft and moldable so it would be easy to stamp the ground.
A device to designate / mark an area / use as guides for finding your way.
It will be both a flag and a stamp.
Marking an empty area (seen in the High Line)
Measuring something (seen in the High Line; artwork by Gabriel Sierra “Untitled (All branches are firewood”))
An oracle-tool for the last human being on Earth.
This tool is intended to be used by the last human on Earth. The tool should be used as an oracle.
The last human can ask the tool questions, and the tool will answer the last human when the last human presses the button on the tool’s head.
The answer will be in the form of a liquid. The liquid will pour into the hand of the last human. The liquid will slowly be internalized into the last human through slow movement via tiny holes in the skin of the last human (pores).
There is no need for the last human to consciously “understand” or “read” something from the liquid, since the liquid will be internalized and become part of the last human’s body. That is more than enough understanding.
The liquid is called “advice”. It is a green substance made from a mix of spirulina and water.
The liquid “advice” has many qualities. It has a high amount of protein, it cleans the air by removing carbon dioxide, as well as it creates oxygen (source). It has a dark green color and can be absorbed through the skin at a normal rate (like water).
The last human will feel comfort in the advice from the tool; The last human will understand and move further.
The oracle tool is ready to be used.
The last human sprays “advice” onto its hand.
The “advice” will slowly be absorbed by the skin of the last human.
Final product will be a small figurine (about size of hand) which will spray a liquid called ADVICE.
First drawing of figurine with spraying device.
First try to show how the two pieces should come together.
Some different iterations: first one was supposed to be a molded version using Permastone and a religious-looking night lamp found in a 99 Cents store. The figurine would encapsulate the entire spraybottle.
Another try was to make the figurine out of model magic (model making type of clay for children).
Working with model magic did not work out either, since the figurine lost all character and it was impossible to see what it was supposed to be.
Finally I came to the conclusion of creating a simple tool, where the figurine is simply taped together with a spraybottle. The figurine has a hole in its mouth, so the liquid would come out of its mouth.
Approaching the subject:
Designing for the last human being on Earth. A (near) future person.
Like designing for the last neanderthal.
TOOLS FOR THE LAST HUMAN BEING ON EARTH
Human qualities: imagination, abstraction.
Advice device: basically a device for comfort.
BUT: Clinical, emotionless advice.
Is it poisonous? Perhaps. Like Oracle in Delphi.
Needs for TOOLS FOR THE LAST HUMAN BEING ON EARTH:
– Portable,
– Lightweight,
– Easy to understand,
– Flexible,
– Easy to hide,
Space related. A liquid that will do something, perhaps poisonous, perhaps very healthy. Abstraction in counseling. A device to understand something. A device with algaes, bacteria.
INITIAL BRAINSTORM:
Tools — tools for the current
Thought: how to be resilient/how to act/what to do
No need for answers (there are already too many) – instead: what we need is space (thinking space, free space, breathing room)
SO: Creation is a tool for changing direction — tool for doing something else.
New tool for acceleration; new tool for molding; new tool for melting; time capsules; graffiti; antique sculptures in clay, concrete.
Oracle: Put your hand in its mouth.
Spray on a stick: the device that road workers use to mark where they will cut/dig.
Zoltar: fortune teller machine
Rome Mouth of Truth
Magic 8 Ball
Pythia – oracle in Delphi (know thyself)
7 in 7 Project
For the next seven days, create one project a day. Each project must be conceptualized, produced and documented in a single day. This is the only rule of the project, and it should not be bent or broken.
A few pointers:
● The projects may be all in the same medium, or in seven different mediums.
● The more experimental in nature, the better.
● There is no “wrong” way to do this project (other than break the one-day rule).
Take care to document the projects carefully, as you will present them in class. Additionally, you should blog on the conceptualization, development and outcome of each of the seven projects, as well as your reflections on the experience as a whole.
