This project is part of the first term of the MA Product and furniture design program. The brief is to explore a second-hand market and select an object. The selected object needs to be analyzed to identify its most defining quality. The identified quality is expected to be translated into a design response in a recognizable and qualitative manner. The chosen object is a pair of straw dolls that look like a mother and a daughter.
Design Response
The design response is using nautical knot patterns to create contexts for different emotions displayed by the dolls when their positions and orientation are altered.
Angry Mother & Angry Daughter - Background represents anger visually
Loose strand at the ends of the rope represents ‘cut off ties’ behavior usually provoked by anger. The scattered objects in the background represents the chaos anger creates in one’s mind. Anger does not allow the feeler to see past his/her emotions, resulting in lack of clarity. The asymmetry of the rope that goes over the vertical pole represents the imbalance one feels when he/she is angry. The seemingly heavy objects near the dolls represent the heaviness/ ego anger makes one feel.
Authority Mother & Obeying Daughter - Background represents play area
The mother walking in the front indicates her authority. Bowed down head of the child expresses her unwillingness to walk away from the play area. The child’s position close to the mother demonstrates her obedience to authority. It proclaims that, though unwilling, she did not put up a fight. The rope ball sandwiched between 2 patterns represent the stress put on children in the name of obedience.
Displeased Mother & Guilty Daughter - Background represents clutter created by child
The mother’s orientation directly facing the child expresses dissatisfaction and her demand for guilt from the child. The scattered knots and the rope running across the scene represents the clutter the child has created. The way the knots are scattered – one leaning over the other, and the rope running continuously around the objects, indicate that this chaos was created as a result of playing with the knots. Bowed down head and folded arms of the child expresses her guilt about what she has done.
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