John Thackara lecture

John Thackara

John Thackara is a enterprising design lecturer, author and symposiarch. He leads a number of design projects including Doors based in Amsterdam and DOTT from the UK. He has advised numerous government organizations on design including the Dutch government and the European Commision. Constantly travelling, Thackara has lectured in over 40 countries and written 12 books about the predicament of design in contemporary society. His primary research focus is to answer explore advances in technology and how it affects our lives, that is, not what technology and design can do, but what can they be used for.

Transcript of Interview:
This transcript begins mid talk; Thackara has been introducing the St Etienne Design Biennial which as Director of Doors, he is co-ordinating. The subject being discussed in the nature of objects to comprise the Biennial and whether could be contributions from the Design Academy masters students.

*** represents inaudible dialogue.

QUESTION (Saron Paz) - Usually we find in design that the things that succeed are not always the things that work the best… we like simple things that can make a difference in our lives, but some things are very efficient, but no one will actually use them…

> Exactly. And thank you for saying that. That’s we need to find out the difference between something that is clearly brilliant but is never going to make any difference, versus, that looks sort of “hand to mouth” or *** but will make a difference. So the criteria is, how do we know the difference between those two things. So for example, Cisco Systems has decided that $500,000 video conferencing machines, about which they say, nobody need ever go in an aeroplane again, if they have one of these things. Its just bullshit, whereas, maybe some man in Kerala makes telephones calls work better for people so that we wouldn’t feel isolated when ringing up our mothers and loved ones, having no longer the possibility of going on aeroplanes, which the future I am facing for myself. Two extremes. And I don’t know the answer by the way. 12 months. Its 5000 square meters this show. It’s a bloody huge empty space.

QUESTION (Saron Paz) – So what about setting up criteria for *** any object?

> Yes. So I am happy for all suggestions, whether its criteria, or individual exhibits, I don’t mind. I foolishly agreed for the 50th time in my life for a too small timetable. And um, I am just entering the maxium anxiety phase, well, after christmas, when there is no more time left, at all, is when I will panic in a major way, so if you can find someway to help me I would be very very grateful.

QUESTION (Guy Keulemans) – I think that when you said “first aid kit” I think you hit the nail on the head, because if we soon get to the point where we cannot produce new objects, it’s all going to be about repairing the stuff we have, so first aid kits of repair kits for all these things –

> Well I had this conversation with someone recently who said, it all sounds very mcuh like going into hospital – but can it be beautiful, can it be a beautfiul first aid kit.

QUESTION (Guy Keulemans) - And can we create more attachment by repairing things?

> Well a bit part of this show will be people lashing up wireless networks from old nintendo consoles and stuff, because that’s part of it. And a friend who called *** who runs a festival called Pixelate, and there is a whole world of completely insane hardware and software hackers out there, which is just one bit of it but in terms of the rest of it… things like design software, do you encounters you know this “lifesycle analysis” this is a very sort of heavy and boring subject ,but various people are making tools to help designers understand the material consequences of a products. Do we need one of those? I think we need one of those in one of the tents. But there are all these snake oil salesmen, software companies, who do we believe?

QUESTION (Frans Parthesius) – Well, I would like to thank you for coming and talking about something very close to our hearts, and *** thankyou for bringing John here.

> Well, your welcome, and really I need help and between now and after christmas it would be great to figure out something tangible. Its 5000 square meteres before you agree to anything rashly, it’s a bloody huge shed. **** The risk as already been taken *** to genetically engineered ones ***** Do you know Stelarc? He’d now growing an artificial ear on his arm.

End Transcript.

Analysis:

John Thackera’s lecture was interesting and mainly concerned the activities of the British design initiave DOTT, which applies design thinking to problems usually considered in other disciplines (such as healthcare, sociology, nutrition). Its does strike one that as much as designers can offer new solutions in these areas because of their fresh persective, it also means they can become lost when delaing with subject matter out of their experience or training.

The St Etienne Design Biennial that John discusses in the discussion after the lecture, sounded full of potential as a design exhibition focussing on new well considered solutions. On Thackara blog website, he repeats his call for young designers to submit ideas based on the concept of “first aid kits” for technology and design. Hoever, the Biennial is due to begin in November and while Thackara’s conceptual initiative does not seem to have such a presence on their website, the exhibition does include references to urban planning and eco-design solutuons, as well as the usual fashionable new chairs and other meaningless products.

Thackara’s blog however, can be recommended for any design student as a casual and timely discussion on contempory problems in design. Recent posts touch on urban planning for increasing food localisation, the problems of bulk retail refridgeration, and the concept of “de-growth”.