Assignment 04
Form & Function: Week 2
Ship of Theseus Paradigm:
If you replace an object’s components, part by part until no original components exist, is it still the same object?
Consider your 20 solutions and decide if any are resolving the problem. Through a manner of reduction, design a new version of your thing, removing any and all extraneous elements. Consider your 20 solutions and decide if any are complicating the problem. Through a manner of addition, design a new version of your thing, adding at least 10 extraneous elements, that make it's form and function absurd.
Presentation Requirements
20 pages total
— 10 pages explaining your reduction version
— 10 pages explaining your addition version
If you are having trouble with this assignment, you can complete an alternate project: The Voyager Record.
Virgil Abloh (Rockford, IL 1980) is an architect, engineer, creative director, and designer. After earning a degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Wisconsin Madison, he completed a Master´s degree in Architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology. It was here that he learned not only about design principles but also about the concept of collaborative working. He studied a curriculum devised by Mies van der Rohe on a campus van der Rohe had designed. After completing his degree, Abloh soon took on the role as a creative director for Kanye West and for West´s creative think tank “Donda“.
Throughout Virgil Abloh's career, he has received numerous awards in the realms of art and design. Off-White c/o Virgil Abloh™ began in 2012 as an art project titled PYREX VISION. In 2013, Off-White c/o Virgil Abloh™ was introduced as a seasonal men's and women's fashion brand, which has grown to include the production of furniture designed by Abloh. In 2015, Off-White™ was one of eight finalists for the LVMH Prize in Paris. In 2016, he was inducted into the BOF 500 “The People Shaping The Global Fashion Industry” List. In the same year, he was one of five nominees for the category of International Urban Luxury Brand at The British Fashion Awards. In 2017, Abloh was one of five nominees for the category of Swarovski Award for Emerging Talent at The CFDA Awards. Additionally, in 2017, Abloh was selected as a special guest to show his Spring Summer 2018 Men's OFF-WHITE c/o VIRGIL ABLOH™ Collection in Florence, Italy during Pitti Immagine Uomo 92. In 2019, Abloh's work will be the subject of a focused retrospective at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, where he will show new work alongside previously unseen works from his past.
Join Claire Saffitz in the Bon Appétit Test Kitchen as she attempts to make a gourmet version of Hot Pockets!
Everybody remembers where they were on that day in 1983 when Hot Pockets first appeared. It was a giant leap into the future. A miracle some called it, for nobody could seem to say where the Hot Pockets came from. They just existed. Food, and therefore humanity, would never be the same again. The efficiency, the culinary explosion, a modern miracle that truly served as an evolutionary step for all of mankind. An entire meal in a pocket that you could hold in your hand. Joy in the streets was met by existential dread. Where could humanity go from here? Had we truly reached our civilizational zenith? Religions formed over night, some might even say cults. But then a second flavor appeared. And then a third. And now over fifty, each richer and more complex than the last. Since that day in 1983, humanity has been on the precipice of our next phase of being, but for one obstacle in the way. How are you supposed to eat a Hot Pocket without burning the hell out of the inside of your mouth? I mean, come on. It’s crazy hot, but it’s seriously impossible to wait just five minutes until it comes out of the microwave. No, I need it now. Give me that Hot Pocket.