More than a set of attributes, a precisely defined discipline or a range of products, design is a thought process, a constant learning curve that can free itself of its material confinements and teach us about life. Design as a state of mind, as Martino Gamper and, long before him, Ettore Sottsass, said, is the precise idea that comes to mind when looking at Stian Korntved Ruud’s hand-carving project.
The project (which, perhaps unsurprisingly, resembles Gamper’s “100 Chairs”) aims at exploring the qualities of different types of wood by hand-carving a spoon a day for 365 days. Using traditional techniques and starting from a preliminary sketch, each spoon takes between half an hour and three hours to carve, depending on the complexity of the design and the type of wood. As opposed to machine carving, hand-carving explores the organic qualities of wood and Stian Korntved Ruud often follows the natural grains, patterns and twists, revealing the inner structure and beauty of the material – leaving the process to be guided by the inherent qualities of the material rather than by preconceived ideas.
Despite being long and repetitive, the rigid limits and rules of “365 spoons” allow the designer to be unexpectedly free and the project to evolve and grow. By committing to a specific task for a year, Stian Korntved Ruud is revealing the thought process, often painful research and endless learning, that come with every design project. Even thought the overall quality and originality of “365 spoons” might call for a subtle frown from the insiders of design world, this 1st September The Blogazine wants to celebrate it as a fun manifesto for the upcoming fall: learn, learn, learn, every day learn something new!
