1) Post documentation of your second FNBK entry. What was it like to return to the park for a second time?
At the first time, I expected the second time would be much different because the autumn color is pretty orange compared to summer and weather would be cooler. However, the second time visiting the park is not that different from the first time, maybe because that day was pretty sunny and warm as well, but I did notice that the trees’ leaves all over the ground and the color of the leaves are turning red or orange.
2) Watch the following video on Long Life Design (Links to an external site.) and answer the following questions on your LP:
How would you describe Nagaoka’s “non-designing” design practices?
I think it is a meaningful practice. Nowadays everything updates quickly, and people throw stuff quickly. Some valuable projects would be abandoned because of many reasons. I think even though it is considered as “non-designing” design, the primary foundation for this design is to have the ability to appreciate the design. Usually, only designers have a relatively better view of appreciate valuable and good-design products.
How do your opinions of “good” design compare with Nagaoka’s? Would you define good design differently, how so?
I think the way Nagaoka’s opinions of good design is more from classic design. In his point of view, in order to keep products for a long time, the material should be in good quality and then the appearance of the products is classic. Like the example of white t-shirt, the lady mentioned in fashion field, it is always fashionable because it is too classic to be replaced. Thus, I think “classic” could be as the same meaning as the word “good” here. For me, I would add more stuff into category of good products. Like the electronical devices we’ve been using in modern society, I think they are good products as well even though they are usually replaced quickly by the new generations. Without these modern devices, I think most of people’s lives would lose lots of fun. Therefore, I believe these products which bring us much convenience and happiness should be considered as good products as well.
Nagaoka says that we have entered a new era where people want to buy things that mean something to them, that truly matters, and that we have entered a new era. Do you feel these ideas are specific to Japan or are applicable to other countries too? What evidence do you have of your opinion (what makes you say yes or no)?
Yes, I agree with that point. I would like to use the example of electronic devices I mentioned earlier. Nowadays, almost everyone has a phone to call people and play with. Even though generally these devices are expensive, people still buy them and keep changing them. Without phone, it could mean lose their lives to some amount of people. Almost everything is related to our phones in modern society, so it could mean we have entered a new high-technological era. I think in this case, it could fit in the whole world.
What kind of design do you think appeals to young people today?
From my point of young people, I think recently we would approach products which are clean designed but also functional. Muji and ikea could be considered as top two brands that almost all the young people would prefer to buy something from. Young people are attracted to products which have simplified design but also are affordable.
Near the end of the program, the host of the program says the future of design could be, “people who make things with care and people who use them with care” and that this could be a new form of prosperity. Do you agree? Why?
Yes, if that could actually come true, that would be perfect. I feel like most of the time when people using projects, they just use them the way they want to instead of thinking about the original intentions from the designers; or people are just attracted to the appearance of an object but without really considering about the inner material and quality of the object. For “people who make things with care and people who use them with care”, it means more to me that people would spend more time on designing an object and understanding how to use it. Once people who are using and people who are designing have the same idea of a same thing, then everything is going to be taken more care of, which is a pretty hard level to get to.
What do you think of the student projects shown at the end of the program?
I like the way that she completes the whole system on her own, which is from planting cotton to actually make into clothes. However, I feel a bit unnecessary for the entire process, at least for the planting cotton part. For me, I do not think that planting cotton by myself would have any differences from farmer planting them. Also, they are more professional to plant them well. I might choose to buy cotton and then dye it by myself, so I could choose more environmental dye or to be more creative about it. Besides, I still really appreciate the way she spent so long to finish a piece beautiful clothes, which really take people’s patience and skills.
Do you consider yourself a long-life designer? Would you like to become one?
I do not consider myself now, but I would like to make it as a goal for future. I just feel I am not skillful enough to make design which could last for long time. Both my skills and ideas are not mature enough to form a long-lasting product. For now, I think my work is still pretty experimental and more focus on the ideas. However, for becoming a real long-life designer, the artworks should combine both artistic and social values.
3) Review the ten Long Life design criteria. Preview the document Which criteria might assist in meeting the challenges created by climate change and how? How would you describe them compared to Dieter Ram’s 10 Principles of Good Design (Links to an external site.)?
I think Cost is one of really important criteria for solutions of climate change. The reason that government do not really put enough impactful movement for reducing climate change is because the high cost behind. Also, Safety is one of another criteria. The solution has to be safe for human and slowing the climate change at the same time. If the solution is toxic for human, it is definitely not going to be used in the real societies.
Compared to Dieter Ram’s 10 Principles of Good Design, they sort of include each other, but also shared some similar criteria together, like Aesthetic and design; honest and safety. I cannot say long life design equals to good design, but there are definitely some products can be put in both categories.
4) Reflect on your process in the science labs this week:
Which bacteria did you use and why?
I tried E. coli for geometric shapes in a LB plate, which is white, because I feel like I just wanted to keep it original and simple. For my second flowers with leaves, I chose Kocuria rosea and E. coli on a LB+X-gal plate, because I would like to use pink for coloring the lotus and other flowers and blue for the leaves. Blue and pink can sort of create the color contrast visually. For the third one which looks like mountain contour, I chose the Deinococcus Radiodurans and E. coli on a LB plate which will create pink and white colors. I just feel like these two colors could create an interesting pattern. For the last one with a natural view, I put E. coli on a LB+X-gal plate, which should be blue. Because there was no green I could use, I felt like blue is the closer color to green compared to others, and I do need blue for the color of sky.
How does the genotype of the bacteria constrain or expand your ability to “paint” with it?
Because mixing colors should be on the same plate which is either LB or LB+X-gal plate, there is impossible to mix white and blue on the same plate, which is considered as bacteria constrain. For the expanding part, I feel like because bacteria can sort of free grow depending on the time and temperature, it could create some unexpected interesting work. Maybe I should consider both I and bacteria as artists creating the drawings on the plates.
Did you consider how temperature might influence how your paint would appear?
Yes, I did. I think higher temperature I set for it, the crazier it is going to grow. I expect how crazy bacteria would actually grow.
Which petri dishes did you use and why?
I think I used all the petri dishes, because I think I should try all the colors. The color name like pink is a really general name, so I want to see what pink it is actually going to show, and same for other colors.
Which components can be varied and which must remain stable?
The colors of bacteria are stable, which means it is not possible to mix two different colors to form a new color. However, the time and temperature for bacteria to grow is varied, depending how wild we would like it to be.
Which applicator(s) did you use and why?
I used toothpick only, because I feel like it has the smallest tip to draw and it is easier to control. The brushes feel too big to draw small patterns in a small plate. The beads are too hard to control the directions they go.
What effect does the application have?
The tooth, because it has small tip, could break the surface of algae easily if I use a bit strong power. After drawing on the algae, some of them did not have a smooth surface anymore but with many scratches on them.
How did you control the amount of paint distributed?
Actually, I do not really how much a dip of toothpick would be, but I just controlled it by using one dip for drawing almost same distance in the plate and tried to make the line weight equally.
Do you think your work can keep growing? What would make the paint “die”?
I don’t think the work could keep growing. I think I heard in class that after they grow in specific time, they will be put in fridge and I guess I would kill some of them. Also, the color is formed because they digest the food from growth media, so I think once they finish eating all the food, they would die because there is nothing to eat to provide them energy.
Hypothesize about the results of your choices in the lab. What do you expect to occur?
For the first one with geometric shapes, I guess it will show the white color in a little bit wild way because I put in a relatively high temperature. For the second one and third one, I set up and same lower time and temperature for them. I think they should be pretty normal or “chill”. One is pink and blue and the other is pink and white. The last one should show blue and I expect it to be pretty wild because I put it under 37 degrees for 48 hours.
Are you enjoying the lab so far? What feedback do you have about the experience?
I pretty like it. I feel like combining biology with art is a really interesting way. They seem like they are in different non-related areas, but actually there is some magic to let them work together. Instead of just using paper, ink and digital applications, using bacteria is really a creative and interesting way to create artwork.
