Complex objects describe us better than words
How? Emersivi's brief invited the designers to reflect. We are now amphibious animals, both digital and analog, and we need objects that reflect this complex nature, that make us understand what functions we are and what actions represent us.
Gentile started from the rituals of the past: "I saw images from forty years ago of families sitting at dinner watching the news. A ritual that already shifted the attention of diners from food to a screen. So: what's the difference? "
Beyond bias, a loving tool is discovered
In fact, none, or very little and a little hypocritical: it is thought that the cell phone isolates us from others while, on the other hand, television is at least a common ritual. “It is a preconception, a hasty judgment. The question that design always asks itself is: why not? ”, Comments Paolo Gentile.
“If while I'm having dinner in Naples I'm on call with my girlfriend, I'm not alone and I'm not distracted. In reverse".
We use smartphones to feel close to the people we love, says the designer. The rite is the same, change the instrument. It is the distrust of changes that creates judgments and condemnations, this is well known: "There is an exaggerated concern for technology. As if he didn't realize that it is a useful tool for cultivating bonds and arousing comfort and closeness ".
Design makes us lighter than words
Design knows how to do it: "The only way to overcome bias is to play ironically with the idea of bad technology. The plate is drop-shaped, with an inclined part. On the final part of the flap I drew a small hook which is used to fit the telephone in a vertical position ".
The dish completely solves a gesture that we all already do: place the phone on the water bottle or milk carton to be able to watch the news, read a book or talk to someone we love. "The ironic part is in the perspective effect: it seems that the phone eats the plate and also its contents".
It is the flicker, the idea that lightens the judgment because it makes us laugh a little, it makes us lighter. ”The dose of spirit allows people to experience smiling, clearing a gesture that does not seem correct to us at the table. But in reality we all do ”.
Smombie will enter the orographies catalog in 2024.
Cover photo: Long Xiangyu, TikTok in Kham. Festival della Fotografia Etica
