Frame 86
Slow Tech

l'Artisan Électronique featured in Jeroen Junte's essay on the designer as a self producer: ‘Slow tech, or making machines to make things’. Thoughtful and critical reflection on the recent revival of the designer/producer:

"A review of the recent revival of crafts and manual production brings us to a rather awkward question: Have all the designers who have worked in recent decades with basket-weavers, woodcutters, glass- blowers and the like actually modernized these crafts? The answer is no. After all, the batches are too small, the production process too labour-intensive and the materials too vulnerable. It takes longer to make the product than it does to design it. And manual production also breeds a new dependence on skilled workers and affluent consumers.

l'Artisan Électronique featured in Jeroen Junte's essay on the designer as a self producer: ‘Slow tech, or making machines to make things’. Thoughtful and critical reflection on the recent revival of the designer/producer:

"A review of the recent revival of crafts and manual production brings us to a rather awkward question: Have all the designers who have worked in recent decades with basket-weavers, woodcutters, glass- blowers and the like actually modernized these crafts? The answer is no. After all, the batches are too small, the production process too labour-intensive and the materials too vulnerable. It takes longer to make the product than it does to design it. And manual production also breeds a new dependence on skilled workers and affluent consumers. So why not make machines that combine the age-old, unique quality of a handmade object with the efficiency of serial production? The answer to this question is slow tech, a search for new production systems. The transition demands very little of the contemporary designer, who’s already an inventor,an activist, a performer, a communicator and an entrepreneur. Assuming a new role as a manufacturer is no more than the logical sum of all the parts he plays. Small-scale serial production is no longer a fantasy. Craft meets cutting-edge technology as the use of sustainable and/or local resources becomes the norm, and 3D printers materialize the digital revolution. Production is no longer reserved for skilled workers or shrewd corporations but is completely democratized."

"Despite all the benefits, however, there’s a nagging sense of discomfort associated with a host of designers building slow-tech production units in garages and workshops. Why the unease? Because these DIY industrialists often lack a reality check."

"All true. But changes in design are barrelling forward – in terms of technology, financial resources and our society as a whole. A hundred years ago, no one associated with the Wiener Werkstätte could have imagined a time when plastic chairs would roll off assembly lines virtually untouched by human hands. In retrospect, we realize that the evolution was inevitable"

"Thanks to an industrial process, small-scale production is within the reach of everyone. But not just yet – so far, small-scale production is mainly a tool for designers. Not for nothing do we call it ‘slow tech’."