<aside> 🔍 1. Find a few local artisans/crafts people from your region. Mention why their practice is interesting to you and how is it situated in the larger context of making.
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https://www.chen-min.com/hz-stool
In the manufacturing process, do you strictly follow traditional techniques with a view to preserving know-how? Or do you adjust them based on your vision of contemporary design to come up with something new?
Whenever we study a technique, we spend much time with the craftsman and slice each step of the process into sections with him. Then we can know which part we should use as such, or decide to complicate it according to our needs to reach some sort of technical « mixed ». But we always work in collaboration and with respect for the worker.
It must also lead to interesting experimentations and interactions, I guess? Because the knowledge of a craftsman is so old and you take it in a different direction …
Sometimes, a minor change for us is a shock to him in his routine. So we try first by ourselves and he generally plays the game.
Recently I was researching outdoor furniture with an old man who made small curved bamboo chairs. They last so long and become even more beautiful over time because bamboo polishes while remaining very strong. It was surprisingly very hard for him to understand that I wanted to change the angle of the feet to make it more contemporary and stable. So we tried several times together and we almost succeeded by now!
<aside> 🛠 2. Create something using cardboard in a public space
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