‘Puddle Plasticity’ is a series of informative explorations of puddle accumulations within the city of Shanghai, plasticising and been plasticised by the metropolis, under effects of density, pressure, defect systems, and contingency.

The subtle reflections of the inverted alien city;

Their ghostly trails of immortality;

Are warnings of a major environmental concern.

Puddles are wonders that make us wonder.

The summer of ‘Shang Hai’ – a metropolis ‘above the sea’ was frequent in its monsoon precipitation accompanied by high levels of humidity.  The buzzing actions of on-road transportations, heavy usage of air-cooling ventilations, accompanied by the sewage overflow in municipal streets, all of which delivers the vast and detested accumulations of various fluids on the city ‘s weathered surface.

From a broader perspective, it is a satellite view of the transient appearances and disappearances of the puddles, in the natural climate of heat and rain, and man-made actions of manufacture and destruction. They move about the terrains of the city like the Taoism philosophy of Ying and Yang, contrary on their initiator but interconnected amongst each other, and plasticising the grounds of the city.

Each opening of the puddles enables the citizens to see a new up-side-down world into the existing one they dwell in. No one is intended to step within these oddly ‘inverted cities’, and tend to drive their paths away from them, in fear of being ‘swallowed’ in the disgust of their fluids.  Yet, what is presented before them is a satire by nature, a warning of a potential problem, which exists across the entire metropolis, under the effects of density and pressure. Whilst, the defect system is pushing Shanghai further into a period of contingency.

Flooding… the most feared disaster for the city.

Q: Is the city, which we have created, turning up side down against us?

Puddles are cheeky.

They are immortal beings, which can only be captured during changes of weather conditions, population density, or ground damage. This phenomenon emphasises on the rapid exhaustion of the city. Yet for city dwellers, walking along a path of puddles has become a rather common activity. They have conditioned to ‘walk around it’, ‘jump over it’, or ‘purely avoid it’. The children are not afraid of testing the waters, finding joy in them, but why do only the children see their existence to be unique and unusual?

Q: Are we losing awareness on simple things, like puddles?

Tracing out puddles.

The project of my action is to explore and trace out the puddles that have been plasticising the city; from major commercial districts to touristic areas like the bund. The act of tracing is to raise public and local awareness of the issue, as outlining their existence exhibits the problem’s permanency and immortality.

-Lucy Wang

Puddle Plasticity was exhibited at the Porosity Studio 2010 Exhibition @ Donghua University, Shanghai CHINA

A connotation that has endured the joy, pain, manipulation and exploitation of mankind, across all civilisations.

Having spent the first half of my 22nd year as a silent observer and listener in the 2010AD European culture, my understanding of Design can be explained by a single phrase, ‘no two snowflakes alike’. Not a single person will define the magical workings of Design under the same tone, manner or perception. Yet, it is this word that drives many individuals into a phase of craze, amusement, or even possession. I believe ‘possession’ is the best description, to such an extent that it can be defined as either physically demonised, or having the tendency to control. As D. Sudjic explains in his work The Edifice Complex, ‘It’s the idea that design can be an instrument for control’, whilst referenced the design-possessed Dieter Rams, whom designed every single thing in his office. Come into simple terms, Design can be as light as a carefree sketch of a child’s imagination, but it can also be as heavy as a tool of power to control the mind of individuals or even induce conflicts between groups. The act of civilisation has placed Design as a drive for technological advancement, cultural enhancement and most importantly, to show off the capabilities and possessions of one’s own turf (eg. architecture as a political tool). Sadly what has been forgotten was the working harmony of living organisms and our mother earth. And by this I do not only mean the respect and understanding of the earth’s natural systems, but also the courtesy of sharing, and accepting the difference between persons.

During my stay in Austria, I met a mid-aged Austrian man who was eager to discuss upon the topic of ‘European cultural history and social development’, while i was chewing away on my rather stiff schnitzel (dinner). He mentioned: ‘When two countries are too close, disputes will always exist’. I pondered about this quote for a long time, and thought of one simple example:

Two persons sharing one bed, in respect to two persons on different beds, and in addition, in respect to a person sharing a bed with a pet dog or cat.

1st group: they will experience discomfort and disturbance with the lack of space, freedom and privacy.

2nd group: they will feel fine, as they have their own space, freedom and privacy.

3rd group: Even though the two are totally different living beings, but they will be fine. Now why is that?

Believingly, every single entity requires space, freedom and privacy; but they are all typical Possessions. The habitual behaviour of the individuals has shaped their understanding of how the Possessions (Design) should be ordered. However, in the 3rd group, the man actually viewed the animal to be also a possession, not a separate living organism, for then there will be no conflict. This means Design in the most basic level of understanding, purely refers to the possessive habitual order of individuals, and this is developed progressively across time.

So what can I derive from this paradigm in respect to the Design activity of today (especially within the European environment where design education all began)? Under the recent Trendspotting review of this years’ Milan Furniture Fair, much controversy existed between design bodies in interpreting the design approaches of the 21st century, for one goal, and that is ‘sustainability’. ‘Sustainability’ has also fell into the same fate of ‘Design’, for it has being rolling on the spiky tongues of all civilisations. The leaders and incubators of European design industry fired at each other with harsh criticisms on the ‘right’ way of doing design sustainably. Parallel to the paradigm, ‘sustainability’ becomes the bed, ‘design leaders’ are the persons on that bed, the term becomes a Possession. Their primary instinct in behaviourism forces them to fight for this possession, ‘This is the right way of ‘sleeping’! And my way is better than yours.’ Now, do you see the power of Design? Or the power of animal behaviourism?…and indeed it has been a long time in building-up this habit of Possession.

However, if there is still a light at the end of this haze, then I believe a good solution will be: ‘let’s separate the bed (the role of Sustainability) fairly’. Firstly, the approaches introduced by the two design parties (1.’design from the beginning’ and 2.’design by re-value wastes’) can exist in a single harmonious ‘filtering system’, working off one another. Secondly, the way to achieve this system is for No.1 to think about ways of trying to produce products using biodegradable / recyclable materials, whilst reduce non-renewable / non-recyclable waste during manufacture, in order to produce one design. Then, No.2 re-evaluates and reduce the impact of the waste from no.1, to create a new piece of design from it, but still clearly focus on keeping the process of manufacture sustainable. Hence, the result will be: A) materials used efficiently, B) the entire filtering process is sustainable, C) beautiful yet eco-friendly products.

It has come to my concern that Design has been treated as a ‘possession’ to the point where both designers and individuals are forgetting and neglecting the possibilities of sharing this possession. Meanwhile, they have clearly overlooked the impact they have created, as a result of their possessive habits of pleasing themselves and the idea of possessing the environment. And here I warn you all: ‘No, that animal isn’t your possession, and it never will be!’

Please respect the environment, each other and Design.

A cup did not come to the mind of mankind from thin air, humans undergo evolution under Darwin’s Theory of Evolution, thus, the works created by the ever evolving human beings must undergo an evolution timeline. From the beginning that cup you see, is possibly a curled up plant (minding its own business, either collecting rainwater or awaiting for its insect prey), and that plant then found its way into the hands of a human, then been mimicked in its shape by using available materials (wood, and for the purpose of say..collecting rainwater), then after new materials are introduced, the overall ‘open top and cavity’ form does not evolve significantly (just like the human genetics doesn’t change, for the majority we don’t have a third arm, i hope) but its physical characteristics changes (you may have blue eyes, but i have brown ones, now let that cup be orange for instance), but the overall designed form is established on the basis of natural forms. (No, I will not go into the ‘form follows function’ debate of the century.) Meanwhile, the human intelligence is also under development in respect to the changing physical environment, thus, this is the beginning of ‘Experience Design’. Our creations are based on the experience of our daily living and all encountered environments on Earth, so our creations are really a designed version of our experiences, thus, those creations must be experience designs, which will induce further experiences and experience designs in the times ahead!

Lastly, kudos to the existence of Nathan Shedroff – a true genius who managed to place ‘experience design’ into a successful business practice. Please keep in mind that we are also alive to relive Spencer’s phrase - ‘survival of the fittest’! Good luck, young design professionals!

- Lucy Wang

Lucy has been experiencing and living in the ‘cube forest – Kubuswoningen’ created by the Dutch architect Piet Blom, in Overblaak, Rotterdam. The architecture unbelievably blends the most interesting yet complex form of spatial organisations, intergrating public and private spaces, and intersecting enclosed and open spaces, whilst forming internal spatial tiers of distinct living spaces according to what you believe is functional! The architecture is intricate in all details, from a window pane, that is frosted halfway from the top, where the privacy of the dweller is respected against their kubus neighbours (a direct 60 degrees angle), yet the latter half of the window showcasing a perfectly clear view of the public space below. The window itself is not your typical awning, the handle winds in-and-out a well engineered steel skeletal spine, which allows the windows to be open and shut smoothly without consuming extra strength/space or deliver complexity. The interiors and exterior of the joint cubes all follows the Pythagoras triangle theorem (30,60,90).  The cubes are not singular but exists and supports each other in families, usually three per family. The supporting structures of the kubus families are hexagonal brick foundations, which act as stairwells up into the cubes. Meanwhile, many cube families have a mid-air balcony which is only for use for people of that family, which is really a unique ‘mid-space’ environment (not private yet not public).

Between 2010~2011, Lucy is willing to undertake close observations, during her travels in various parts of the world (2010 – Europe and Asia), to experiment with her objective and develop an experimental project that will reveal the essence of 4D experiential Design.

“Design is missing its craze!” -Lucy Wang

Planned Schedule:

Lap 1 – Netherlands

Lap 2 – England, France, Italy, Germany

Lap 3 – China

Lap 4 – Japan

The 9th Sydney Egyptian Festival is to be held on:

SUNDAY 8th NOVEMBER

2009

10.00 ~ 17.00

TUMBALONG PARK

DARLING HARBOUR, SYDNEY AUSTRALIA

A GRAND EXOTIC EVENT NOT TO BE MISSED !!!

Creative Directions & Event Design Partner:

Lucy Wang Studio Experimentum

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DECIPHER CODE 2020 – LWSTUDIO CHANNEL:

UNSW TV – LIVE FUTURES 2020 INTERVIEW of LUCY WANG

start noon 31st AUGUST 2009

http://www.maths.usyd.edu.au/u/PS/SUMS.html

Lucy Wang Studio Experimentum is a proud design supporter of the

ΣUMS PUZZLE HUNT 2009

Decipher Code 2020, was my latest collaborative experimental project, crafted genuinely from a blank piece of paper (both physically and mentally). It translates the scientific processes of Sequencing and MicroArray analysis into an experiential form, combining ‘animation with action’, where the public becomes a DNA base to either find their own identity through a chaotic maze race, or find their ultimate DNA base partner in a spinning pool of flashing lights.

I was enlightened by the wisdom of my two favourite Biomedical scientists: Dr. Helen Speirs and Dr. Bronwyn Robertson of The UNSW Ramaciotti Centre for Gene-function analysis.

I was assisted by my awesome Med-science buddy: Natalie Woolger of The University of Sydney.

And I was amazed and truly grateful for all the effort and work produced by my Incredible-Animator friend: Wei Ning Postgraduate COFA, UNSW.

The project took over 6 weeks of design development before its grand showcase at the Live Futures 2020 Festival (COFA,UNSW) for the National Science Week, which had a great turn out of participants…and some were afraid I was going to suck the life out of them for experimentations on their DNA…HAHA…but ironically everyone loved their memento gene-chips -with the DNA of another human being or rodent kinds…

Watch out for screenshots, podcasts, photo documentations, and video interviews of Decipher Code 2020!