Scandinavian Design and the United States, 1890–1980

Abstract

nomic separation of cognitive labor (often associated with design) from craft labor (often associated with nondesign)” (102). In one instance, Rosner partnered with a local Seattle ceramic studio in which she and a cross-disciplinary team of design technologists, ceramic artists, and photographers built a unique machine called “Arc.” This machine enabled ceramic art to be created on a potter’s wheel. Instead of being created by a ceramic artist, however, the piece was formed through a 3D printing process combined with gestures and sounds recorded in the studio. The unique vessel that was formed could never be reproduced again and challenged the idea of universality of ceramic fabrication tools. The examples in this section help the reader make connections to the book’s subtitle – “reworking the methods and margins of design” – they illustrate new possibilities in thinking about distinctions and connections between design, craft, and technology. Critical Fabulations was written well before the pandemic, but many of the overarching concepts in the book seem particularly relevant to our current situation, with its demands to rethink traditional systems and formulate design research and practice in new ways. In the introduction, Rosner asks, “What would it take to understand design as a different kind of project; one that is both activist and investigative, personal and culturally situated, responsive and responsible?” (11). This may be a good question to help frame our future.