D e s i g n B y R u t h

D i c t i o n a R y

Ruth sumneR

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“One is an advertising campaign aimed at the company you wish to seduce into buying into your ‘product’.”

[image: Ruth and Rachel, Auckland, 1989]

D e s i g n B y R u t h

D i c t i o n a R y

Editor, R. M. Sumner, B.Dsn (Wgtn.)

Twenty-Seventh Edition

A ready reference of the Design by Ruth language for the home, office, and library.

Published in 2011 by Ruth SumnerA Student of Industrial Design at Victoria

University of Wellington.www.designbyruth.wordpress.com

A Comprehensive record of the work in this book is available from the above website.

The Editor desires to express her gratitude to readers of the twenty-sixth and earlier editions

for their criticisms and suggestions. Alterations and additions have been made as a

consequence and future correspondence is welcomed.

All images and text by Ruth Sumner, unless stated otherwise.

PH: +64-21-162515-9

Frontispiece: Lost in Concrete, 2008. Photographic Print, 289 x 212 mm

First Published 1983

Printed and Bound in New Zealand by Ruth Sumner Ltd., Te Aro, Wellington

C O n T E n T S._______

PReface, - - ix

acknowleDgments, - - xi

fiRst section.inDustRial Design PRojects

The Archives of Authenticity, - 3‘Say ahh’ MP3 player, - - 13Selph, self cell phone, - - 19

seconD section.extRa cuRRiculaR activities

Photography, - - - 27Textiles, - - - - 37

thiRD section.Design theoRy anD PhilosoPhies

Absorbism Manifesto, - - 43Experience nothing, - - 47All Objects are Prostheses, - - 51

contact, - - - - 54

Virtual External Sen-sory Experience, the aRchives of authen-ticity, 2010.

iix

P R E F A C E.______

From her first breath to the completion of the epic five-part project aptly entitled ‘the Archives of Authenticity’ (ref. p.3), Ruth has developed an aesthetic vocabulary that draws freely from cinema, medicine, anato-my, philosophy, neurology, literature and art among other areas. These references are blended into fluid and allusive narrative structures that are articu-lated through sculpture, prose, design, film, drawing, photography and animation. Virtually every avenue is meandered down to realise the narrative thrust of the project and design topic at hand.This book focuses exclusively on Ruth Sumner’s unique design language and the aesthetic resultants of her creative insight. The intention of the Design by Ruth Dic-tionary is to provide an honest and thor-ough picture of her competencies, and is perhaps thought of as an awesome Cur-riculum Vitae.Ruth will be pleased to receive from those who use this book any design suggestions and/or offers.

ix

The over-consumption of knowledge is likened to an eating disorder; I just can’t stop, it all tastes so good!

x

A C K n O W L E D G M E n T S.

______As the creator of my own ‘dictionary’, I have developed and nurtured my design language with passion, commitment, humour and atten-tion to detail, that can only be described as a case of shadow autism. This obsessive nature was nurtured by the following talented people:

Firstly, I would like to thank my Fiance, An-drew Mitchener for always being there to listen to my arguments with myself about hurdles in the projects, and also his unending support and unfaltering care.

A very special thanks is reserved for my amaz-ingly talented family, whose skills with the writ-ten word turn my dyslexic banter into a logical stream, and of course for all their constant love and support in any far-fetched project I throw myself into.

I would also like to extend my appreciation to the tutors at Victoria University School of De-sign, who provided invaluable assistance and inspiration, with extra special thanks to Bettina neu for her support, dedication and motiva-tional drive.

xi

f i R s t s e c t i o n.

I n D U S T R I A L D E S I G n P R O j E C T S.

the A R C H I V E S

of AUTHEnTICITy

the aRchives of authenticity are the re-sulting idea of what a new workplace cul-ture could be. This was taken literally and the bacterial cultures harbouring in the workplace were swabbed and ‘cultured’; this prompted an intense look into the material qualities which allow for such bacterial growth. The materiality research uncovered truths and forgotten norms, asking ones vision to gaze back to the past, where doorknobs were made from brass for reasons greater than mere aesthetics.In the present resides the conclusion; a so-lution to both past forgottens and future outlooks. Through the Archives of Authenticity, the user will retain knowledge and understand-ing of the make-up of everything around them, and everything to be created before them. The Archives most importantly act as a comparison tool, to discern between what is assumed as authentic, and the real thing, perhaps to even create future materials that retain the qualities of the authentic.

PRevious Page - Micro-scope sitting on the ar-chives of Authenticity shelf system.

oPPosite Page - Work-place ‘culture’ harvested and grown from a com-puter mouse.

5

First section - the Archives oF Authenticity

7

First section - the Archives oF Authenticity

aBove - The change in materiality of a com-puter keyboard’s keys from plastic to cast bronze can be likened to the feel of writing great prose with a biro pen versus a fountain pen.

oPPosite Page - Oli-godynamic keyboard made from copper.

8

First section - the Archives oF Authenticity

9

First section - the Archives oF Authenticity

Exploded sketch of shelf, including inside the drawer of the Ar-chives of Authenticity.

Part of the Animation sequence; as the scene unfolds, a hand eas-ily affixes a shelf to the bracket and places their archival books on the shelf.

11

First section - the Archives oF Authenticity

12

First section - the Archives oF Authenticity

say ahhM P 3 P l a y e r

‘say ahh’ is an MP3 player concept that fits onto the users tooth, to allow the natural resonance of the mouths chamber to am-plify the sound inside your head, or simply open your mouth to share the music with your friends

PRevious Page - Say Ahh advertising poster.

oPPosite Page - ‘say ahh’ documentation book.

15

First section - sAy Ahh mp3 plAyer

The transmitter has connotations with parasites, and the use of up-cycled tools (tweezers/pliers etc) connects it with the dentistry founding’s.The splaying of the pliers out from the jack port is to bring in the tooth root structure, which in turn houses the nerves which the internal wiring of the transmitter is in this circumstance. The design incorporates the siphon action of the jack port on its host, be it a record player, an ipod or even a computer, the trick is to suck out the innards (sound) which will ultimately benefit the parasite and its off-spring; in this case, the wireless speaker.

The wireless speaker will find a sanctuary to house itself and re-charge on the body of the transmitter, which in turn draws charges up from the power produced by its host.

aBove:- ‘Parasite’ transmitter.- Packaging distortion

oPPosite Page - The Say Ahh MP3 player on a dentist mirror.

17

First section - sAy Ahh mp3 plAyer

18

First section - sAy Ahh mp3 plAyer

Selph.

The selPh is a conceptual mobile phone design, where-by the phone is utilised for essentially talking to oneself. This phone allows the user to confirm ideas and create new ones, as when you verbalise something, you consciously articulate it.

PRevious Page - The Selph. in it’s docking station.

Right & oPPosite Page -User scenario of Selph.

21

First section - selph.

Sectional drawing of Selph.

23

First section - selph.

24

First section - selph.

s e c o n D s e c t i o n.

E x T R A C U R R I C U L A R A C T I V I T I E S

PhotogRaPhy.

Pages 27&28 - Proportional.

PRevious Page - Graffiti eradication.

oPPosite Page - Building veil.

following Page - Overgrown youth.

31

second section - photogrAphy

35

aBove & oPPosite - Skip the skip series

second section - photogrAphy

36

second section - photogrAphy

h e i R l o o m D e s i g n

heiRloom Design Cushions and Quilts is a part-time venture created to ‘branch out’ during studying.

The inspiration for the cushions first came into fruition when the first of many sis-ters was heavily pregnant in the midst of a rip-roaring cherry season in Marlborough; Thus a combination of filling (and ulti-mately rapidly emptying) many buckets of cherries and a sister needing something to ‘prop-her-up’ on the couch, the fruity cush-ions were born.

Using up-cycled classic nZ wool blankets, coupled with pure new wool, feather-down inners, nickel-free zippers and buckets of dedication and love, Ruth aims to explore and recapture recollections from the past, reinventing them with a modernist twist to give them purpose and beauty.

PRevious Page - Hand-stamping business cards.

aBove - Black Doris Plums for jam cushion & Cherries for $6 kilo cushion.

oPPosite Page - ‘Apple Crumble’ family heir-loom recipe quilt.

39

second section - heirloom design

40

second section - heirloom design

t h i R D s e c t i o n.

DESIGn THEORy AnD PHILOSOPHIES

the aBsoRBism manifesto

“It is necessary to begin with the concrete relation-ship between an I and a world, the world, foreign and hostile, should, in good logic, alter the I.” (Levinas, 1979)

The Absorbism Manifesto’s main theory is of observing and absorbing our surround-ings by being aware of the outcome. Being in tune with the resonance of ones surroundings is the key, to harmonise your internal organs including the mind.Steps also include filtering absorbed infor-mation, much like a sieve filters liquid, to refine and deliver appropriate concepts.

PRevious Page - two metre long collosal ‘lis-tening’ installation.

aBove - sponge packag-ing advertising the Ab-sorbism Manifesto.

oPPosite Page - Poster for the Absorbism Man-ifesto.

45

third section - the Absorbism mAniFesto

e x P e R i e n c e n o t h i n g a DisseRtation on Disconnection

Excerpt from ‘exPeRience nothing: a DisseRtation on Disconnection.’:

“Fully disconnecting is no longer a viable option or at the very least a deeply discomforting one – so in-grained are communication technologies in our daily life.” (Chipchase, 2008)

In a society where on is the default mode, switching off is highlighted through this design, and thus the research (to switch off) is used as a tool for communication compa-nies as an opposing means to their perma-nent state of on.

An installation created from this research looked at how to create sound through a vacuum, in a light. yet sound cannot travel through a vacuum, and if black holes (vacu-ums) were in our domestic environment, what would they look like? How do they ex-ist? What conditions allow this black hole [gap] to exist? The condition is the art of (allowing) adjusting to the presence of ab-sence.

PRevious Page - CD cover for the experience nothing thesis sound-track.

aBove - Experience nothing installation. (sound from a vacuum in a light)

oPPosite Page - The white spaces, ie. a tree falling in the woods sce-nario.

49

third section - experience nothing

50

third section - experience nothing

51

third section - All objects Are prostheses

Excerpt from ‘all oBjects aRe PRostheses’ Thesis:

Prostheses play a far deeper role in society than just false teeth, peg legs and glasses; Prostheses are the creation of co-joined words in modern language, they are a fake nose on the protagonist in a film, they are a physical memorial to absence, and they ven-erate the idealized utopia of augmentation (The Six Million Dollar Man.) Prostheses are the emotional crutch we lean on when times are tough, they are the puzzle piece to fulfill a deficeincy, and most importantly of all Prostheses are defined as the consump-tive objects we empty our pockets for and congest our lives with.All objects are prostheses, extensions of the body, the tools we use to discover the world.......the design of objects (viewed as prosthe-ses) are acting as a tool, to fix, to suture, to complete the whole. The way a prosthesis is used to fix/mend a disability, and with this knowledge, the designer can create more through mending the body, than fixing a need.oPPosite Page - Poster

for the ‘Prostheses’ Thesis Abstract.

all oBjects are P R o s t h e s e s

53

sPoon Pegs.

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contAct

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