Yesterday 74 DAE students have graduated. We are again very proud to deliver top quality designers who are all different. From bycicle to alpaca-hair plaid, from funky underwear to a lamp that uses luminous bacteria: all graduation work will be presented in the Graduation Show during the Dutch Design Week in October.
Creative director Thomas Widdershoven started the diploma ceremony with a speech.
Seeing all the new work, he adds a new pair of concepts to the existing Self Unself theme: Sense Nonsense.
SPEECH:
Dear graduates,
What a crazy year this has been for you. You have all worked like crazy. To come up with a project, a plan, a design, a presentation, an explanation, all in less than a year. It is simply crazy.
For me it has been a crazy year as well. One year ago I stood in this spot and talked about Self Unself. Starting from the Self I am detecting an Unselfish inclination in present day design. Social issues, collaborations, a political stance, open source… design seems to want to save the world, help the needy and change society for the better.
Self Unself has opened views, but it has also opened doors. It has resulted in a series of exhibitions, at the van Abbemuseum, in Milan, in Shenzhen and in New York. As I said, it has been a crazy year.
My first year started with a student debate with Timo de Rijk. Timo de Rijk, a Professor in Delft and Leiden, was upset with the Mine Kafon. The Mine Kafon, the oversized dandelion blown by the wind to roll across the desert, does not function as it should: it destroys mines, but it does not secure an area. That doesn't make sense, Timo argues; it is dangerous. It is nonsense. And yet it has been bought by the Moma and is supported by a herd of internet likers and funders. So either the Moma and thousands of people are wrong, or Timo is missing the point amid all this nonsense.
Sense and nonsense are concepts that can be easily misunderstood. Sense is light, creates a sense of order, is positive. And nonsense is disturbing, irrational and negative. Or so it seems. I think nonsense is liberating, experimental and innovative. Sense is answering a question. Nonsense is discarding the relevance of any question. Sense is connected to fear. Nonsense is bravery. Nonsense is a journey into uncharted territory.
Last year Aurelie Hoegy, who graduated from the Master in Contextual Design, exclaimed that we need more craziness. She attached a lamp to 1,000 metres of electric wire to prove her point. And her films show a dreamy kind of slapstick in homey situations.
And last year our school was visited by an audit panel, as part of the process of gaining accreditation for our Readerships. Their conclusion was that we should manage our craziness. In this advice, 'craziness' was used in a positive sense as well, obviously. The craziness sets us apart, the craziness is in our DNA.
The Strategic Creativity Readership is a collaboration with the TU/e and the TU Delft. The craziness defines our position in the relationship with these universities. They make sense, and we make nonsense. I think we should work together more.
“Come and let us entertain you with this year’s harvest of our finest products!”, Maarten Baas exclaimed in Milan. In Milan Maarten Baas made a nonsensical installation. A real-life clown in a booth. Milan is crazy, over the top, full of bragging and idiotic designs. The next minimal, the next maximal, the next deco, the next techno, the next new. Like in pop music, where every new song is a cover of old songs, Maarten Baas sampled his old heroes. He sampled Teun Hocks and John Kormeling, turning Hahahaha into Blablabla and making it into a lamp.
So you all had a crazy year here at the academy. But did you make sense, or did you make nonsense?
Almost all students stress the sense behind their projects. Many start their texts with a social issue or a question. “What has happened to make us lose sight of the value of the vegetation surrounding us,” Nina Gautier asks. And she has created a beautiful and rich project on nettles, you know, those weeds that sting… I would call that very sensible.
Pascal de Boer wants to help ambulances in India, and has developed a new type of ambulance that is only 1.20 metres wide so it can move faster in traffic jams. All very sensible.
So where is the nonsense?
First there is a nonsensical coincidence that I have to mention. Desirée Wevers, a surname that means weaving, has done an intensive project on Turkish weaving in the Netherlands. Then there is Marit van der Gevel, and Gevel means façade in Dutch. In this project she has adorned retro-style houses with patterns. Crazy patterns. It is very Dutch because they relate to the same era as the houses’ architecture refers to. But it is also very un-Dutch, because the ornament, at least on this scale, is almost non-existent in the Netherlands.
Typical nonsense is of course the Daarom! project. Waarom? Daarom! Why? Why not! It is Maartje Slijpen’s and Merel Witteman’s way to steer clear of any sense and feel the freedom of the non-rational. Their project is peanuts! Why? Why not! But, of course, the master of nonsense Wim T Schippers once made a peanut-butter floor!
And then there is Teresa van Dongen. A lamp with light-emitting bacteria. Does it make sense? Is it nonsense? It has been developed in close relationship with the TU Delft, with scientists and engineers. Why? Why Not! It is the typical attitude of the mad scientist.
If we as designers make sense, we need to find a mad scientist to hook up with. Or find a rational engineer and be crazy ourselves. This is where I see a future for our academy: in changing roles from sense to nonsense. In close collaboration with science and technology.
So dear graduates: this is where a crazy year ends for you, with a well-deserved diploma! I’m proud of you all! Let me end with one last piece of advice: cherish your craziness.
Thomas Widdershoven