Kristina Borjesson wrote:
> Also when it comes to packaging, as referred to by Chris, re-appropriation
> and re-use are most probably also guided by the affective quality.
That's exactly right and I think one of the things that Janet Shipton
found was that people would keep packaging objects that had decorative
appeal or pleasant associations. She also found (quite early on, later
she moved into the subtle stuff) that structural affordances were
important and a pack that was strong, transparent, sealable and
stackable would be very likely to find a second use (obvious once you
say it) My son used containers like that for his model warriors with
the added feature that the containers came from his favourite ice cream
(Carte D'Or) and so also had esteem value or pleasant associations from
the original product.
But my favourite example was one I found for Janet myself. At a tourist
attraction, queueing for the shuttle back to the car park when it
started to rain, a man who appeared to have Indian origins had taken a
supermarket plastic bag and cleverly twisted it to make a turban shaped
hat. The bag was an attractive turquoise colour with no heavy-handed
graphics and you had to look twice to realise that it was a plastic bag
and not a fabric turban. So the bag conformed to Kritina's thinking but
the additional factor was that the man had an idea of a hat and maybe a
technique for forming it, that came from his experience.
Best wishes
Chris
*********************
Professor Chris Rust
Head of Art and Design Research Centre
Sheffield Hallam University, S11 8UZ, UK
+44 114 225 2706
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www.chrisrust.net
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