Product of Product Design:
MANUFACTURED LANDSCAPES is a super saturated documentary illustrating the works of Edward Burtynsky and his perception of man made landscapes. Produced in 2006, Burtynsky and his team travel to the heart of mass-produced goods, China. Known for his large-scale photographs, Burtynsky reveals the cold realities of massive production through camera including film, digital, and video. The images are mesmerizing, showing all processes of production from coal mining to landfills of waste.
The opening segment of the documentary runs 8 minutes and 25 seconds. Filming isle after isle the camera lens does not move, instead the cameras body is rolled sideways limiting the viewer’s ability to focus on a particular part of the production system. The reality of the opening segment reveals the factory workers perception of forced concentration. Each worker tediously cleans, checks, assembles and packages in accordance to the factory’s schedule, a schedule based on seconds.
Occasionally, I question my existence within the industrial design program here at RISD. I applied here because I enjoy making things, and wanted to learn how to make them better. However, better is a vague term and can be interpreted in many different ways. A corporations perception of better means more profit by any means necessary. An environmentalist perceives better in terms of sustainability, in many cases increasing the cost of the product, or decreasing the aesthetic value of the product.
Often, I imagine myself interviewing for a job, awaiting certain questions such as ‘why should we hire you?’ I confidently respond with ‘well, I’m not a fast learner… I’m not efficient with time or energy… and my communication skills are not very effective.’ Is honesty really the best policy? I’m not sure. What I do know is that we have to rethink the ways in which we live. It takes constant effort, energy and criticism.
