Alternative balance

The 2017 edition of the Arting Project focuses on the slogan balance. This concept, indicating solutions that improve the functioning of man and his environment in accordance with the principles of sustainable development and energy conservation, is important in every aspect of human activity, and especially important for designers. It is no longer a trend or a way to stand out. This is an obligation and norm at every level of the design procedure, from concept to implementation to predicting the effects of creating a new facility and finally its disposal.

In the previous article, which I had the opportunity to publish as part of the Arting Project, I described the idea that is present in the education program of the Alternative Design Studio, operating at the Faculty of Industrial Forms of the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow. Let me remind you that this is a unit that educates future design designers in the spirit of sustainable design, but also with special care for Polish heritage, which is the basis and inspiration for every project. The studio was established in 1983, when there was no talk about sustainable development or ecology. Its founder was prof. Mieczysław Górowski. I would also like to remind you, following the previous article, that the idea of ​​the subject Alternative Design is expressed in simple words - to be guided by common sense. This translates into, among others: to avoid producing unnecessary things, and students try to cover topics in such a way as to demonstrate "self-sufficiency" and "self-help". How? This is what I intend to write about in more detail and expand on the recently touched upon thread of topics and examples of work carried out in the Alternative Design Studio. I will try to show how, through teaching, to sensitize future creators of material culture to the idea of ​​sustainable activities in their design endeavors.

The studio program emphasizes that students can learn a different type of design process - different from the one based on cooperation with industry and large-scale production. It is also known that not every solution has to end with the creation of an object, it may be, for example, a service project. The emphasis is on giving students of the art of design the opportunity to act independently as a designer-manufacturer. I consciously do not use the word "producer" here, which is more associated with operating in the industrial field. The tasks are formulated in such a way that, while searching for a solution, we select the means enabling the production of the objects on a small scale, at our own expense and with low financial outlay. Therefore, young people are given the opportunity to act independently and start their own small production, which would not be possible with a complex production process
industrial or advanced technology.

Over the last 3 years, the studio has developed a clear teaching method - a way of conducting classes that involves organizing workshops with folk artists or craftsmen. The workshops aim to familiarize the student with the basics of craftsmanship, which translates into empirical contact with a given technology. It gives you the opportunity to learn the basics of manufacturing, and thus allows you to understand the possibilities and limitations resulting from the use of a given material and tools. On the one hand, after mastering a given technique, a student can create something himself, and on the other hand, he has the opportunity to communicate more freely with a craftsman with whom he can potentially cooperate. She understands his craft and speaks the same language.

There is an additional value in this activity - the student has a sense of agency, concepts materialize and go beyond the convention of visualizations, renderings or models in substitute materials. Each idea takes the form of a finished piece, most often handmade by the student. Such action verifies many mistakes made at the conception stage. This is also how the initial assumptions are formulated at the beginning of the design process - the final product must be made using the target technology and materials, which is obvious, taking into account the described teaching method.

As part of Alternative Design, we explore areas of production that are at risk of extinction in the flood of globalization trends, import of products and their price competitiveness, or unbridled mass production. The shift from the paradigm of quality to quantity displaces craft production, which either dies along with the creators or becomes elitist. Marcin Wicha writes in the book "How I stopped loving design": "The 20th century belonged to objects. In the 21st century, the material world is no longer interesting. Things lose their meaning. They stop being sexy. They become peripheral devices connected to the Internet. Soon they will emerge from a 3D printer like ice cream from a vending machine.” In the new reality, there is no room for simple, sincere, functional and living things. What designers can do in this matter is to base their reason for existence on history. This history can be built by people - craftsmen, folk artists, and designers who will enter into relationships with them. An object or service built in the field of joint activities can bring interesting results - user-friendly, rich in content, simply human. The history that will be behind the effect of such cooperation translates into greater respect for the recipient of a given work, and thus prolongs its use. The effects of such action are not anonymous, they have their real creators signed
name or quoted biography. All this encourages the recipient to become more familiar with a given item and to build a continuation of the story.

In its teaching activities, the Alternative Design Studio tries to support native culture and thus talk about it to others, with the hope of saving it. Polish folk crafts are an unimaginable wealth of inspiration and possibilities. A topic that has been explored over the last few semesters has been basketry. It started with wicker. The task involved a wise, simple and modern use of wicker, taking into account its advantages and limitations. The performance capabilities of local craftsmen also had to be respected. The created facilities were to be dedicated to contemporary recipients and their new needs - functional and aesthetic.

This opportunity gave students the opportunity to participate in wickerwork workshops conducted by Mr. Andrzej Żwawa from Zator. The workshop took place in March 2015. The material was the so-called live wicker, unbarked. The effects of this action were shown at the WIKLIN / WOOD / GLASS exhibition in May 2015 on the campus of the University of Economics in Krakow, then in April 2016 at the Cieszyn Castle, and at the Municipal Art Gallery in Częstochowa in July and August 2016.

The works were so interesting that several students received orders for their products. A work worth mentioning, with an interesting story behind it, was done by student Ewa Gutek. Due to the published topic of wickerwork, she discovered that her grandmother was involved in this craft. What's more, she found wooden forms in the attic for weaving small baskets of various shapes. So she designed and made baskets based on her grandmother's found forms, but interpreted them anew. She added wooden boards to the baskets that function as both a lid and a cutting board. Additionally, the baskets are equipped with gripping ribbons, which visually modernizes the facility. The collection of baskets was very well received, which prompted Ewa Gutek to run a business related to their production and sale for some time. It should be added that the baskets were made for her by local craftsmen from the Tarnów area, which additionally supported the idea of ​​promoting crafts.

The result of this project was noticed by the Serfenta Association from Cieszyn. Its members define the mission of the organization as follows: "The Serfenta Association exists to keep basketry alive. We work to preserve for you the tradition and wisdom passed down through generations. We travel thousands of kilometers to know everything about it. We teach young people a craft that is disappearing. We help basket-making masters to appear on the market. We are showing this beautiful craft to the world.” Paulina Adamska, Anna Krężelok and Łucja Cieślar are people who have set themselves the goal of supporting this beautiful craft and their creators through ethnographic documentation, interviews, photos, and publishing valuable publications, including: "The Vistula basketry trail", or the organization of exhibitions, including international ones.

This is how cooperation was initiated, consisting in Serfenta organizing basketry workshops with qualified craftsmen, using various materials, such as hornwort, straw or wicker. Students became acquainted with the basics of technology and then, during classes, designed projects based on the experience gained during the workshops. The first workshop was weaving from rogożyna, i.e. water stick. The course was held under the supervision of basketry masters - Mrs. Stefania Suchora and Mrs. Krystyna Wójcik from Stoujeszyn (Lubelskie). It should be added that in Poland there are only a few people involved in rogożyna weaving. The craft is in danger of disappearing because there are no young people willing to take over this difficult but beautiful craft. Additionally, the products proposed by craftsmen are not attractive to modern consumers, the design does not evolve, and there are no fresh ideas.

Several days of workshops that took place in Cieszyn Castle in March 2016 allowed students to learn the secrets and specificity of this craft (IL. 01, 02, 03, 04). The next stage was design, already during classes at the Faculty of Industrial Design of the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow. Students of the Utility Structures Design Studio working under the supervision of prof. also joined the project. Maria Dziedzic. A group of students looked for new solutions based on the basketry technique and the properties of rogożyna (IL. 05). It turned out that you can propose a number of beautiful and wise solutions. One of the students, Klaudia Kowalczyk, developed the topic in her diploma thesis. She designed a type of workshop service where participants learn not only the basics of craftsmanship, but also the elements of the design process that allow them to design new objects using traditional techniques. Additionally, Klaudia Kowalczyk proposed modernizing the basketry workshop itself. It replaced heavy wooden molds for weaving horn bags with modular plywood elements, allowing for more combinations when building the molds. Using these forms, she hand-wove modern bags that are a response to the contemporary needs of users. (IL. 06, 07). Her work qualified for the Graduation Projekt 2017 exhibition. The effect of this action shows how interestingly we can use what we have at our fingertips (material, technology, technique) and how tradition can be translated into modern times, wisely drawing inspiration from our native culture . It proves that cooperation between a designer and craftsmen can be very beneficial for both parties. In the case of the rogożyna workshops, the basketry community was enriched by several young people who have the knowledge and opportunities to act on its behalf.

In the next series of classes, we had the opportunity to participate in wickerwork workshops under the supervision of master Grzegorz Gordart. They took place at the Municipal Cultural Center in Dęblin in December 2016. The course of action was the same as before. After learning the basics of the technique, the students implemented their ideas during classes at the Faculty. The workshops were complemented by the arrival of Grzegorz Gordat and Paulina Adamska to Krakow in January 2017 and their assistance in the implementation of projects (IL. 08). After this experience, student Aleksandra Hajdon also started to implement her own project - a set of baskets that function as low coffee tables and seats, as well as a space for putting things away. The last workshops in the basketry series were straw weaving workshops under the supervision of master Stanisław Kołodziej from Wolica near Lublin. The workshops lasted three days and took place at the Cieszyn Castle in March 2017. Students became familiar with the technique and properties of the material, and then, during the workshops, they could verify their initial ideas (IL. 09). The next stage, as before, took place during the Alternative Design classes, and the students weaved the elements of their designs themselves.

Works made of rogożyne, wicker and straw, created by students from the Alternative Design Studio, were shown at the exhibition entitled "Weaves on the Wave", among others. during Gdynia Design Days 2017 (IL.10) and met with great interest from viewers. Currently, with the support of the Serfenta association, efforts are being made to produce student works on a larger scale thanks to the involvement of folk artists and craftsmen.

Last year, the task undertaken at the Alternative Design Studio was based on another issue - folk toy making. The topic presented in the studio was "What makes a designer happy" - students, based on folklore inspiration, were to propose a contemporary souvenir from the Faculty of Industrial Design. The first workshops were organized at the Akademia Łucznica Association under the supervision of Mateusz Niwiński. For several days, under his supervision, objects inspired by folk toys were created, based on simple mechanisms and old manufacturing techniques (IL. 11, 12, 13). The course was certified pursuant to the regulation of the Minister of National Education. Another group of students took part in short workshops at the Municipal Cultural Center
in Stryszawa at the Beskid Wooden Toy Center. Stryszawa is one of the most famous toy-making centers in Poland, and the toy-making practiced there is on the National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage. We had the opportunity to meet the toy maker, Mr. Krzysztof Balcer, under whose supervision the students carved wooden birds and horses typical of the region.

The result of these workshops were objects that referred to folk toys, including those made in the Krakow Workshops, but had a visually modern and more functional form.

As in the previous examples of the topics covered, students had the opportunity to develop technologies in such a way that they could start the production of objects on a small scale on their own, and thus have the opportunity to act independently. Some took advantage of this opportunity.

All the above-mentioned examples of the current teaching method in the Alternative Design Studio at the Faculty of Industrial Design show how we try to sensitize young designers to act in a sustainable manner in the field of design. This is a different approach from the one that talks about balance in industrial design. In this case, students' attention is directed to what is interesting and valuable in our culture. Native tradition serves as a starting point in design, thus making student activities original compared to others. Supporting crafts, especially dying ones, has its social aspect, it draws attention to what is invisible from another perspective. Of course, it is impossible to save the entire craft from slowly disappearing, it is impossible to change the entire world and satisfy all global needs. And although the activities of the Alternative Design Studio may seem to be small-scale projects, the effects of which will probably only be visible over time, the belief in the sense of these initiatives and numerous positive signals from the outside are an unwavering motivation for further exploration in this field.

Dr. Anna Szwaja

A graduate of the Faculty of Industrial Design of the Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow. Diploma under the supervision of prof. Adam Gedliczka in 2004. Since graduating, she has been working at her home faculty in the Alternative Design Studio, where until 2009 she was an assistant to prof. Mieczysław Górowski. After defending his doctorate in 2015 under the supervision of prof. Marii Dziedzic works as an assistant professor. Apart from teaching, he is involved in graphic and product design as well as photography.

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