INTERACTION AS EVENT
Branding, Design for streaming/gaming
A response to a Goldsmiths BA Design brief, The Environment Keeps Happening to Me, focused on location-specific design intervention. The area addressed was Hertford Union Canal in Stratford, London.
The intervention aimed to benefit the most conspicuous inhabitants of the canal; the ducks! We decided to create a campaign to promote a healthier approach to duck feeding. We discovered that giving the birds too much stale bread, crisps or other carbohydrate rich products was detrimental to their health. An unnaturally high dough diet meant the ducks were more likely to suffer from malnutrition and overcrowding due to the easy food source. Also leftover bread can often cause the spread of pests and disease.
REWARE
HOW TO BE MORE IN TOUCH WITH YOUR ELECTRONICS
Website, Product, Workshop, Audio
Electronics have become increasingly prominent in our everyday lives, yet the general public doesn't fully grasp their environmental implications.
According to the Global E-Waste Monitor 2017, electronic waste is the fastest growing waste stream and accounts for 44.7m metric tonnes of waste, the equivalent of 4,500 Eiffel towers.
REWARE is a collection of educational tools which aims to question the status quo of electronic consumption; encouraging the everyday consumer to rethink their relationship to these products and to reconnect with their material significance. Repair and modularity of products are the main areas explored.
All content available at rewareit.com
PRODUCT
The modular bluetooth speaker is made from previous generation speaker drivers and other salvaged or bought parts. The resulting object object is fashionable and personalisable whilst also being sustainable; the parts can be replaced and updated. The components are visible for all to see and access, contrary to traditionally sealed electronics.
WORKSHOPS
A series of repair workshops, run in April 2019, aim to teach people how to fix their cracked mobile screens in a relaxed group environment. The workshops were a platform to spark debate on how products are designed and what can be done to improve a product's sustainability.
The workshops overseen by professional repairers from Brockley Tech who shared their skills and knowledge with the participants.
WEBSITE
Rewareit.com presents the project and provides information on e-waste with links to organisations which promote sustainability in electronics. It also includes interviews with important actors active within the e-waste industry and legislation.
PROCESS
A map showing the life cycle of electronic products. To better understand the system and its components, the actors and to visualise the areas with room for improvement.
The REWARE project really started taking form after my attempt to disassemble different products such as old laptops and iPhones which I photographed. The difficulty I encountered when taking these object appart made me question our need for a repair economy.
My experience at Brockley Tech repair store, opened by eyes to the impact of fixing and was a main inspiration for the creation of repair workshops.
Under the wing of Quadeer Abdul, I learnt how to fix broken iPhone screens and made business cards for him in return.
I also attended Restart Parties which inspired the format and aim of the workshops; to attempt to fix broken products.
When trying to create a product that would embody reusability and repairability, my first approach was to create a functional case, made of biodegradable PLA that would be easy to open to facilitate repair and recycling.
However I realised this didn't allow for a radically different understanding of the products. I wanted the product to embody transparency in its composition.
The making of the Speakerboard.