Patrycja Żyżniewska (PL)
Patrycja Żyżniewska is a visual creative that works at the border of design and art, combining both conceptual and commercial approaches. In her practice she explores theory of art and design through writing and translating it to a visual language. Speculative design is a field where her design and art competencies meet. From 2019 she is a lecturer at the Multimedia Publishing and Publications Studio at the Faculty of Design at the Academy of Art in Szczecin.
Dreaming collectively. A dialogue on speculative design
Repair was once a natural part of the life of objects, designed to last and to be maintained. In the time of mass production and mass consumption, it is easier, cheaper and more exciting to replace broken or obsolete product with a new one. Repair seems to be a domain of activists, craft makers, old school cobblers and seamstresses. But the environmental crisis is making us look for new values for design, and with a new wave of sustainable products and approaches, repair brings new perspectives and values also for designers. In my speech I would like to present research about common threads between design and repair. How can designers engage in repair processes? Can they design more repairable objects? Can they design a repair itself? How can they make a customer/user engage with their belongings through maintenance and repair? What can an act of repair teach us? In my talk I will try to answer these questions with a wide range of examples of projects, products and initiatives that revolve around repair and design. These examples vary from a business and circular economy perspective, through social initiatives, design school projects, towards critical and speculative approaches.