Restoring Relevance : Explorations in value restoration
In this culture of abundance we have developed a devotion to inexpensive design and disposable goods that has skewed our definition of value and made our relationships with our objects impersonal and distant. This thesis calls for a shift in consciousness that brings back the idea of sustained relevance that has been traded in for the thrill of the latest and greatest new product. Burgeoning trends in areas like fixing and DIY call for a response by designers to re-imagine the objects and consider the opportunity for expression, character and dialog that can only be cultivated over time and duration of use. By celebrating wear and encouraging we can find personal expression through our objects that transcends their designed obsolescence and restores their relevance to us and to our lives.
Sara McBeen is a designer living and working in Brooklyn NY. She earned her BA in Fine Art in Northern California in 2002 and worked as studio assistant at Diana Crain Porcelains before moving to Brooklyn to pursue a Masters in Industrial Design from Pratt Institute. She is interested in design that grows in the cracks of human perceptions and becomes a catalyst for inspiring new directions in design and human behavior. Driven by her community environment as much as her material environment, she believes in using design as a tool for carving out an image of the kind of world she would like to live and take part in.
Saramcbeen[at]gmail.com
Advisor: Fred Blumlein
