You are not alone

I have been in bed these past four days. Hit by a 'sledgehammer virus' -tht leaves you weak, after repeated attacks of high fever, so weakk that you cannt turn quickly when you shave as it makes you dizzy. Who designed the SH virus? And with that I open the topic that nothing is beyond the province of reason or in our language - the project. (what happened to the post that I made yesterday? Is this another manifestation of the virus - its 'LSD' like character? Never mind here it is again ...)

To start from the beginning:
1. In the first week of the semester I said 'enough'. By which I meant that you have opted for this studio so that you do not need to do a 'redesign' project. Or a project which is constructed (for all projects are constructeed) within the confines of a bussiness enterprise. You are being asked to say ' the emperor is not wearing any clothes' - or rather moved to a place where it is unseemly to speakk of profit as the basis and motive for design. Profit from 'fear'? Thats ugly and nasty.
2. Having acceepted that you will not speak of business - I showed my anxiety. I do not accept you will not speak of business. I was not happy (nay comforted) till you changed all you terminologies and methods. New terms and new methods. Okay you said. And promptly did nothing - or not much. Where are the new methods? And so it goes..
3. To move on: The I said immerse yourself (in humaanity and its foibles and fears), which you did. So now what?
4. Well: You have to propose the project!! What, I ask you, iss you contribution to the world of Industrial Design?
((the ibook has a soft key pad - so you will see lotss of repeat vowels. Which I have been anxioussly hunting down. I will now stop ddoing it. Lett it be as they say.)

And then I started browsing. And promptly disscovered that my thunder haad been stolen. First they stole my innovative topic (in 1999 my title of 'story telling' was stolen the next year by MIT for their media lab projeect, talk of feeling like Klaus Kinski in the amazon flood? Did you guys see Aguire the wrath of GGod by Herzog? Awesome film. Awesome director!) and now they are doing what I thought was my innovation. What is that? I came to Austraalia last year. And what struck me was the universal ssadness. Everone was sad. Or anxious that others sshouldn't see them haappy. And there was a lot to be wary of - cameras everywhere. A fearful people - very unlike any other place on this planet. Can I say this openly? I did so - in a lecture on 'Heterotopia' for the Interior students in April. And then not to appear obnoxious I decided it would be better to do it within the confines of a studio. So was born this topic FAI - my take on Oz. And now I find its not only Oz but America too and a lot of other places. So there is a Social Research Conference on Fear (http://www.newschool.edu/centers/socres/fear/index.html). So far so good. It feels like only the topic has bcome common!! But wait I am ill and browsing and sure enough I begin to turn up other design people doing the same thing in method and approach. What is that?

Okay you look ar real life. And that is where your intellectual aspect of design iss located. Not in a factory or bussiness. So you go looking for key issues in contemporary life that need challenging or transformation - or that as a designer you can step into these issues. Just to validate for yourself that you are alive and not a robot (or employeee in your language). And sso we are on to something new you think -'I have never encountered this before'. Wrong! Or so I discovered. There are so many others doing it to claim new is farcical (almost like a soap or shampoo ad - new and improved). Who? These people- http://www.institutewithoutboundaries.com/
And
http://www.nextd.org/

Institute without boundaries has an interesting ddefinition of what a projeect is. (with so many eee's it looks like speedy gonzalves is writing and not I. Eeeeeeyah! Andale, andale! Ariba, ariba!

Looked aat another way. Why are you ddoing this crazy sstudio with Soumitri? To get a job with IDEO. Now thats a good goal.

So long for now. I have to make it to Americos drinks tomorrow. Weak and wasted - but willing.

See you all next week.