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1) Post 2-3 images on your LP of your final artwork from the Painting with Bacteria Lab. Did the work come out as expected (or as you hypothesized)? What would you do differently next time? Did you enjoy this lab?
Yes I definitely enjoyed this lab. I had fun drawing images using materials that I never worked with before. The work did not come out as expected. I think this is because when I was drawing on the Petri dish, I could not see what I was drawing since the liquid was transparent. It was quite surprising to see the end result, which came out a bit different from what I was going for. 2) Are there similar repair practices to kintsugi in your home country? Which of the Long Life Design criteria does kintsugi fulfill? Do you think a slow and long process of repair can make an object more meaningful? Does this kind of repair appeal to you? Do you think repaired kintsugi designs can become more interesting than the original? I think the broken lines look beautiful and creates an interesting pattern. I feel like this kind of project is especially important nowadays where people look for new things and strive to buy new things. The idea of “re-using” broken materials is innovative because it is not just about recycling used up materials but finding beauty in broken things and remake them with the traditional technique in Japan. Among the Long Life Design criteria, kintsugi definitely fulfill ‘environment’ since it is a method of re-using broken products. I think it also fulfills ‘design’ criteria because it has an aesthetic quality (e.g. patterns created along the broken parts of a glass) 3) One thing you can do: Fix it. and At Repair Cafes, ‘Beloved but Broken’ Possessions Find New Life. Would you like to visit a repair cafe or attend a repair party? Why do you think so many people are interested in repair? I would like to visit a repair party because when I visited the homepage, it seemed like many fun events are going on and there were a lot of people with same purposes of getting their products repaired. I also saw that there are some motivational speakers talking about repairing products, which could inspirational for a lot of people attending the party. I think the reason why so many people are interested in repair is because a lot of people (especially young people) are aware of environmental issues about how throwing away products (that could be fixed) impact environment significantly. 4) Waste not want not: Sweden to give tax breaks for ecrepairs. Would you like to see this kind of tax be possible in your home country? Do you think it is possible there or the United States? Why or why not? First, I think the government’s act of giving tax breaks for repairs is an excellent idea because a lot of people tend to buy products rather than fixing it cause repair takes time and money. To give a personal example, I spilled water on my MacBook, so I went to apple store to ask how much it would cost for a repair. However, they said the repair is going to cost a same price as buying a new MacBook. Therefore I had no choice but to buy a new one and throw away the old one. If the cost was a bit lower (or there was no tax), I would definitely have my MacBook repaired. 5) Spend the Money for the Good Boots and Wear the Forever. Do you agree with the author of this article? Do you think an object has to be expensive to be well made? What might make people want to take care of objects, even if they aren’t expensive? I agree with the author of this article. I also think buying an expensive products with better quality rather than buying cheaper ones over and over again. I think buying an expensive one with a good quality is also good for environment because it fulfills one of the most important long life design, which is ‘environment’. Using one product for a long time means people do not have to buy things all the time and throw away things. 6) Origami-inspired clothing line that grows with kids wins Dyson award What do you think of this design? What is most innovative about it? Do you think it’s possible for adults to enjoy long life design clothing or objects that transform/change in other ways (than getting bigger)? I think designing children’s clothes with environmentally friendly materials that are washable, waterproof and recyclable is a great idea because as stated in the article, adults spend a lot of money on children’s clothes since they grow fast. I think this idea could also apply for adults because not only children’s clothes, but also a massive amounts of adult’s clothes are thrown away and are impacting environment significantly. I think this idea should spread among the entire clothing industry to reduce harmful impacts. 7) Find an object, device or material that needs to be repaired in some way. This can be a straightforward repair to make something functional again, or a change that makes something previously unusable creatively “repaired” (think about kintsugi) into something new/different.
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 1. Choose a Repair
I chose to repair my pants because the button was lost during laundry that I could not wear it anymore. This is my favorite pants. I wear this often when I go to school because this is the most comfortable one among all the other ones I have in my closet. I consider repair to be an important skill because having techniques to fix this little problems avoid us from buying something new every time when something’s broken.
2. Research
One way is to get a thread and hand sew it or use sewing machine to sew it in more professional way. I need to get a sewing kit and a thread. Last year, when button was gone I just threw away clothes and bought a new one but since I learned sewing skills I repair clothes that are fixable as much as I can instead of buying new things.
3. Attempt
4. Does it work?
Yes, the repair was successful. I sewed the button that was lost. Although I sewed it with a pink thread (which could have been better if it was black) I think it worked okay since this part is not visible for other people anyways. I sewed it over and over so make sure the button does not fall over again. As a result, I am very satisfied with what I have done.
5. Analyze and Draw Conclusions
I learned that this basic repair could make some product last longer, which is very helpful for the environment too. Among many things that are being thrown away, clothes are one of the major problem that has harmful impact on the environment. I wore this pants for only 3 months but because of the repair, I think I will be able to wear it for over 1 year. I sincerely consider repair a valuable skill because I am very happy with what I have done. I bought this pants in Korea so if I had just thrown it away, I couldn’t have gotten the same one. I would have bought a completely new one, which I did not want.
7. Reflection
I think making a design easily repairable is really important because if it is something that requires a professional skills, people would not even try to fix it. Like what I have done for this project, simple and easy repair would make people want to repair it instead of buying new one. I have a broken macbook and ipad that I cannot fix it by myself. I bought new macbook and ipad because the price for repair and getting new macbook and ipad was almost the same. I think technology is something that requires a specific skills to repair. For mine, it required few materials and involved fewer systems but technologies are far more complex.
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