EMPTY

In the Japanese culture Bonsai is an art form using miniature trees grown in containers. The purposes of bonsai are primarily contemplation (for the viewer) and the pleasant exercise of effort and ingenuity (for the grower). Inspired by this tradition the proposal for the project Desiderabilia is Empty. It is a metaphor for what design and creation will be in the future where eventually the only production process available will be 3D Printing, replacing all other crafts and industrial processes and influencing the way we evaluate and design objects. Empty is a prefabricated block consisting of internal modules that can be broken by hand, allowing one to 'sculpt' a volume by removing unwanted material - an homage to traditional sculptural techniques. We can symbolize the necessity to return to manual processes by humans in future scenarios dominated by digital fabrication. The block is displayed together with a sample container of some modules with material removed by hand.