This year I explored the Dutch Design Week. For me it’s the event of the year and this year I took the time to see and read ALL works at the Design Academy Eindhoven graduation show. It took me 3 days to read the book (460 pages) and see my selection of work and speak to the alumni. I shared some of my favorite works.
I wrote about Stefan Bukkems’ ‘Senza’. A visual aid to help decipher human emotions.
And about Laura van de Kruijs’ ‘And I FEEL!’. Wooden message boards with compliment labels, love signs, an honesty stick and a mood meter allowing parents and kids to communicate without words.
It reminded me of one of my favorite internet based art works. I stumbled upon it in 2006 and it is called We Feel Fine by Jonathan Harris and Sepandar Kamvar. They call We Feel Fine “an exploration of human emotion on a global scale.”
But We Feel Fine is also an example of how technology is able to give meaning to data people share online. It shows clearly that everything can easily be connected without the connected ones being aware of it. Sharing online means being traceable.Big Brother is watching you.
Imagine what you would have to do to become untraceable.
Design Academy graduate Magnús Ingvar Ágústsson designed Vessel:
“Every digital transaction is traceable. That means that the shift to a cashless society would mean a total loss of privacy. The value of that privacy is underestimated. Being under constant surveillance leads to self-censorship, affecting your actions. Even digital solutions like Bitcoin can still potentially be monitored. Using cash remains the easiest way to ensure anonymity. ‘Vessel’ is a new form of physical payment for a future when cash as we know it is obsolete. Each Vessel bears a unique public ‘address’. Users can check the address online to make sure the given value is valid. The money then changes hands without further tracking.”
I wonder if Ágústsson knows the work of Jaap Drupsteen.
And I wonder if Jaap and Magnús are connected.
I will send them a mail with a link to this post to find out.