People I like: Deconstructionists
T.O.M.T – Briefcases turned into coffee tables
No I’m not talking about the philosophical movement nor Jacques Derrida and his colleagues. This post is about what artist Rodney Allen Trice calls “Applied Deconstruction”; the art of remaking things, reconstructing daily objects and finding new ways to utilize them.
If you feel bad every time you throw away a yogurt cup, a coke can, or spend money on not the goods themselves but accessories like a picture frame, pencil case, cupboards even, then listen to deconstructionism will do you good. T.O.M.T is Trice’s design company that has a new use for everthing once considered trash. I imagine them working together with my grandmother who loves to throw away stuff in a fashionable manner. She is so selective in the stuff she keeps that her utilitarian thrift would go in perfect harmony with T.O.M.T’s mission to recycle.
T.O.M.T – Vacuum cleaner bag turned into backpack
They have month long classes and meet twice a week for 3 hours. Applied Deconstruction 101 is a good way to get the practical knowledge and mindset to make things reusable. Apart from being green, creativity aspect of deconstructionism is also very appealing. Especially in lighting, I always look for creative solutions; have some ideas but don’t really know how to apply them elegantly. T.O.M.T seems to have the ways for that.
T.O.M.T – detergent bottle lamps
Along the same line another deconstructionist I admire is Tiffany Threadgould. Her company RePlayGround was featured on NYTimes Magazine this past Sunday. Compared to T.O.M.T what Threadgould does requires less practical skills. Her projects include skirts made from umbrella, candy bowls out of soda bottles, wallets out of cereal boxes. Her appeal is that she has turned her merchandise into a D.I.Y event and sells little packages of recycled goods that can be made into new stuff. Her products, sold under ReMake It!, are simple D.I.Y kits that remind me of the little maquettes we had as children that had instruction slips which walked you through each step and the final product made you feel you had created something. So in buying Threadgold’s merchandise or following her way into making recyclables usable, there is the promise of feeling that pride again.
After deconstructionists I hope you never look at a soda can as just a can, but take it home and cherish it. Make it into a pencil case or something more; whatever your imagination and skills lets you.
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