Left Behind

Waste is a huge byproduct of human presence. Considering the impacts of production processes, consumption and material choices, I became increasingly aware of the materials left over when developing and producing projects. Within my design practice, I question how to "make" in a more sustainable way and aim to re-establish our connection to materials.

“Left Behind” is a reflection on the quantity of waste generated by production processes of simple objects, such as Dutch clogs, as well as finding a way to leave my Designer’s Guilt behind. It is an investigation into adding value to these leftover materials and developing a practice in which making is approached in a new way. Thanks to Hannes Scherjon, a Dutch clog maker (Scherjon's Klompenmakerij), I was able to investigate and document the production of dutch clogs. By weighing out the different materials for each stage in the process, a comparison and connection between the tools involved and leftovers could be established. Using photography, scans and info-graphical maps of the production process, I show my own perspective and bring attention to the left behind material. This adds to the story's narrative behind the clogs while adding value to a leftover material.

Eric Ketelaar, who is a Dutch archival scientist, once spoke about photography “constituting an event.” In order to tell the story of the left behind materials, I visited the workshop of the clog maker and documented the materials and the moments they were created. Through photographing on site, I was able to add value through the “event” of photography.

Photographing the materials in the photostudio allowed for a way to communicate the amount and the variety of material left behind per stage in a comprehensive way. Using two different kinds of scales, the camera captured each material being weighed out and the white background allows for a clear focus on the material in its various sizes.

Scanning the materials, proved to be another valuable photographic way of documentation. The scanner picks up, in a sharp and recognizable way, only that which is close to its surface, allowing me to use this to highlight particular aspects of the materials. With the smaller left over materials, the scans allowed for a clear comparison of the individual particles in size, texture and depth. With the left behind clogs, I was able to capture and literally highlight the parts of the wood that are faulty, blurring out the rest of the shoe that is further away from the scanners surface.

Illustrated annotations over images allowed for new design input to be added. By drawing proposals of “new” clogs over the faulty ones, I was able to virutally cut away the “bad wood” that labels them as waste. Layering the illustrations in this way however, allows me to still show the elements that make the clog unique and, one could argue, more valuable.

When creating my cartopological/info-graphical maps, I was able to write down my observations on site. Marlies Vermeulen from Dear Hunter (a cartopological research practice) first coined the term Cartopology. It is a combination of Cartography and Anthropology and can be used to include experiences and insights into maps. In my practice, these maps are translations through text and illustrations of my observations about the movement of materials, as well as the process of creating clogs and the left-over materials.