(via insulinresistance)
Greg Benskey’s continuining coverage of body dumpers in the Los Angeles area reveals how important it is to remember to capture the world you believe actually exists. Because he is a compelling storyteller, there are now a few dozen people who actually think these cars are body dumpers, not just old cars that survived the years due to the nice weather. The photographs taken from his phone add a special frightening touch as well.
When Andrea and I went on vacation last week we fell in love with Zuma Beach and its neighbor, Westward Beach. When you introduce someone to California for the first time, it’s pretty easy to overwhelm them with the kinds of things that your brain thought were only possible on television. Sunset in Malibu can make two people from Michigan appreciate why Californians are so particular about environmental issues; they have a lot to lose.
One of the things I realized is that California’s beaches have beautiful parking lots. They’re flat, wide and provide a good break from the PCH. This lot, alonside Zuma, is so wide that it’s commonly used as a first response shelter for evacuees.
What if there was no car industry in Michigan? (or the U.S.)
- What would people do who design, engineer, build and market cars?
- Where would people work?
- How many related businesses would cease to exist? Would those businesses be healthier attached to a different core industry with higher margins and a healthier growth curve?
- Would the state lose 20% of its population? More? Would it be necessary to get them back, or is it better to attract different people?
And, finally:
- What would we do next?
Someone should be asking these questions; someone should be thinking about the answers. Right now it seems the only thing people want to do is avoid the questions.
Tons of Work, Hanging It Out There, and a Cow Table
I love living in a world where Andrew Peerless exists. I met Andrew at the University of Michigan ten years ago and was excited to see a story about him on Ponoko.
Ponoko wrote about Herd, Andrew’s cow-inspired table (above) that’s showing at the Deceptive Design exhibit in Chicago. The table is fascinating (those legs are lacquered wood, not ceramic) and would be the perfect place for me to rest a juicy lucy while I watch my favorite team on the tube. In the interview, Andrew opens up on the idea of established systems, something that seems particularly refreshing and relevant in light of last week’s world-changing election:
“Just because you’re born into a system, doesn’t mean you have to follow that system. We talked about planned obsolescence today. It was a concept introduced to the consumer system post World War II, and it set the tone for everything that’s followed. It’s what we were born into and what we’re used to, but that doesn’t mean we have to follow. That paradigm has to shift, and it’s the designer’s role to do it.”
I would add that it’s everyone’s role to change, including consumers. If we all had a closer relationship with the stuff we buy / consume / eat, we’d realize that there are few things actually worth buying. And then maybe we’d consume better things and less of them.
What makes this quote even better is knowing how Andrew got to where he is. His quote isn’t just broad-stroke design bullshit (an official term); Andrew approached his career in the same fashion, although he added in a big wad of tenacity. After rerouting his degree at Michigan to go into architecture, he later realized it just wasn’t for him. So he spent six years in public relations and built a nice career for himself. But realizing that he was a designer at heart (and fundamentally a people-helping person), he gave it all up and went back to school to get his Masters in designed objects at SAIC in Chicago.
Andrew built his own system, something that most people find is difficult, death-defying and almost always well worth it.
