The Eames
The playful nature of Ray and Charles Eames work is important to maintain for any designer because of the ability to hold onto and develop a transformative imagination and really create without limit and self limitation. As the film documented their rise and their work, I connected with their ability to dream and to problem solve. Their design methodology of taking the grandest and most out there version of the project and eventually making it more realistic is a tactic I would like to incorporate into my own work.
Something I couldn’t help but wonder was how the projects they took on, and it was mentioned briefly in the movie, were oftentimes to uphold and perpetuate the status quo and U.S. white middle-class lifestyle. And what I mean by this is the way that the projects they chose were oftentimes financially, practically, and functionally out of touch with the reality of gender, racial, and class disparity. By advancing the technology or image of the institutions that cause harm, the Eames are at a place of duality where they are free to explore and create for these corporations and governments but are so far removed by the violence or negative effects of those forces that they are in a dreamland. By dreamland I mean they seem untouchable and the problems they have are mostly personal and not structural or sociopolitical. The film was well done and the way that there were a variety of voices from people that were directly involved in the studio to people that were impacted by their work was really astounding because of the ways in which their work and work methodology created models and paved the way for people to operate in the design field. I liked it although there could have been more critique about the effects of their work and the inclusivity of their design firm.
I chose the Eames Plastic Side Chair DSW as the Artifact I wanted to study because of its form, the way that it is a simple chair that does not have too much going on and the way it is customizable. I found the DSW version on the Eames website and the VITRA retailer has a customizable version of the chair where you can select the color, upholstery and base that you would like and that is really impressive to me because 1) you don’t see that a lot of the times and 2) modular and customizable objects are more popular than ever and the ability for a retailer to understand that yes, people want something they can customize is very smart. For me, the contrast between the wooden legs (if you choose that option) and the plastic seat is important especially because of the material difference. Usually woodworking is associated with rich history and plastic is associated with cheap rapid consumption but the way that they compliment each other in the design of the chair is very nice to look at. The X formations to support the legs are not only structurally necessary but also aesthetically pleasing because of the way they tie the angles of the straight wooden legs to the organic egg-like shape of the plastic seat. The silhouette is clean and simple and the angles that the legs are at suggest elegance and draw the eye towards the seat instead of bars that are at the corners and drop straight down with no consideration of how someone would naturally perceive the lines of the object. Something I would like to look at closer is the way that the legs and the X supports connect to the seat and how that is made. Another aspect to look at is if non-harmful plastics can be used or sustainable wood sourcing. Ok, let’s be honest, the price of these chairs is out of the budget for most people and even though they are well designed, there are ways to make good design accessible for people at any level of income.
