POSTDIGITALISM “Steampunk” and “E-coco” in 21st century design
• Kasimir Malevich, Black Square, 1914-15
A machine for living?
Le Corbusier, Villa Savoye, Poissy-sur-Seine, France, 1929-31
Less is more? Miesian minimalism
Marcel Breuer, Wassily-Chair, Bauhaus, 1926
“Magiler� series storage units Ikea USA, 2005
Modern European Functionalism
…a noble simplicity and calm grandeur.
Heroic and affirmative: 21st century American corporate style?
Ulysse Nardin Chairman Mechanical Smartphone
The Hybrid?
Retronics
Craftsmanship, materiality, splendour
The furnished man
Datamancer, 2007
US
USB Stick?
Melted brass, 2007
Modding or physical hacking?
10,000 year clock “slow design”
Long Now Foundation: A “slow design� Manifesto
Longevity with occasional maintenance, the clock should reasonably be expected to display the correct time for the next 10,000 years. Maintainability The clock should be maintainable with bronze-age technology. Transparency It should be possible to determine operational principles of the clock by close inspection. Evolvability It should be possible to improve the clock with time.
Scalability It should be possible to build working models of the clock from table-top to monumental size using the same design.
2009 artist Tim Wetherell created a large wall piece for Questacon (The National Science and Technology centre in Canberra,
What do the pendulum clocks, so much in fashion, resemble; which have neither basis not console, but seem to spring out of the wainscot . . . those stags, dogs, huntsmen, or Chinese figures, which they dispose in so odd a manner about the dial-plate; are they its natural ornament? AbbĂŠ le Blanc Letter to Comte de Caylus 1737-44
Rococo cartel clock attributed to Jacques Caffieri France c.1750
Mantle clock Maker unknown French c. 1745-1750
Mantel clock Attributed to Jean-Pierre Latz French c. 1730’s
Casket (coffres de toilette) Maker unknown France 1755-1760
Cinderella Table Jeroen Verhoeven The Netherlands, 2004
Heatwave radiator Joris Laarman, The Netherlands 2003
Altermodernism
Modernist • • • • • •
Rectilinear, geometric Restrained and rational Moral and rational Reductive and exclusive Academic homogenous
E-coco/Steampunk • • • • • •
Curvalinear, organic Exuberant and emotional Amoral and irrational Synthetic and inclusive Artisanal heterogenous
Victorian science fiction Rococo Revivalism
Jules Veerne, Captain Nemo and Nautilus
Dr. Grordborts Infallible Aether Oscillators
analytical engine Charles Babbage, 1837
Analog computer?
The Telectroscope
Telectroscope 2006, Paul St. George
Elements of Steampunk • • • • • • • • •
Bottom-up design repurposed DIY Aura/authenticity Protoindustrial Nostalgic Postmodern? Postdigital Critical?
Why? • • • • • •
Dissolution with homogeneity of mass market goods (iphone) Reemphasis on the physical world Pre-digital and pre-electrical nostalgia Reconnection with embedded cultural meaning Reconstitution of “aura” Antidote to digital-age attention deficits