Material and Craft
We start our exploration of tacit knowledge by looking at material – the physical stuff that actually shapes our daily lives. Time and again craftsmen and designers alike have pointed out the intimate relationship between physical work and understanding. Wrestling with the material to come up with a well-made object our understanding of the world is being grounded in physical reality. Richard Sennett points out in “The Crafsman” that this struggle confronts us with our personal limitations affording – if not forcing – us to come to terms with our current set of skills. Hence Glenn Adamson states in his “Craft Reader” that the concept of craft is not a nostalgic relict of a past before industrialisation rendered it obsolete but rather a very modern and indispensable approach to develop functional and beautiful design solutions.
Material vs. information
In our first brief inspirational exercise we look at material as carrier of information – more specifically: we take a look at the tension between the two:
What information would you like to give a physical representation? Which material would you pick and why?