Object Appreciation Time

During and after watching the documentary, I have been pausing at random moments to stare at the objects that I use daily. While I have always agreed with the fact that objects can hold memories and create emotional attachments, the film made me reflect on the use I give to the objects that surround me and how much I need them. 

I was left with many impressions and viewpoints that made me ponder, so I decided to recreate 4 objects that can represent the most memorable ones.

1. When Hella Jongerius said "And because you use objects in your home, they become part of your family", a few objects from my childhood came to mind. The J'adore perfume bottle by Dior is one of them. Sounds fancy, but actually the memory I have of it is sneaking into my parent's bedroom to lay on top of my mom's clothes (that smelled like this perfume) or go to their vanity to touch the little crystal ball. Even though she only used one bottle since then, it is registered in my brain as comfort because I associated it with "my mom's scent" or "my mom's cute perfume bottle".

2. I'm someone who does not care much about using the latest model when it comes to electronic devices. What I care about is if I can use it for a long period of time with a great performance. When the documentary showed the process of creating a Macbook Air, I was surprised by how thin and fragile the material seems. Because I have a Macbook Pro 2018 that I bought in 2019 and it definitely does not feel like something I can easily break with my hands. I honestly did not even want it at first because I did not want my parents to spend too much, but after looking at its specifications we thought it was a good investment. I'm still using it without any problems and that made me realize that there is a reason why Apple products are considered good design.

3. I recreated Naoto Fukasawa's Mounted CD Player, but not because I have or had this object. In fact I have wanted this device since 2020. I own a few music albums that have their CDs but did not have a CD player to listen to them. In 2020 I saw some lifestyle youtubers showing this CD player, because of the hype and aesthetically pleasing design I thought it was new. I just realized Fukasawa designed it 23 years ago! I still can not believe how easily a trend can make you believe something is "the new now" while it could be something that has been around for years. Even though just a specific demographic of people may be wanting to listen to CDs nowadays, I thought this design is truly timeless. And I hope Fukasawa is having a good laugh looking at young people suddenly wanting this device without knowing how long has it been around.

4. This desk is used for every apartment room in SAIT's Begin Tower, when Andrew Blauvelt showed the way Japanese toothpicks are designed and their original use, I thought of them. In the last room I was assigned, someone put folded paper under one of the desk's legs because it was uneven. When I came to the room I'm currently living in, the desk was also uneven. I got down to put paper under one of its legs when I accidentally turned the support disk and realized it was designed to make each leg as short or as long as it was needed to make the whole desk balanced. I never thought about it because I never observed its whole structure in detail, just like the Japanese toothpick, I was quite surprised by a feature that has always been there.