Tech Beyond the Myth¶
From a Coffee Machine to a Bubblemaker
We went from imagining the processes of other designers to making an artifact ourselves. This exercise had no particular goal or outcome besides the use of our imagination, creativity and recently learned skills to come up with a “Useless Machine”. After the constant sea of realizations during the previous week, we were confident that it was possible to build something from E-waste and material scraps (FabLab sourced), even when no one had experience as makers. We tried to use the machine that inspired us (coffee maker)but as we moved forward with the project its pieces had to be replaced with alternatives, with the exception of a led and button that later would be used as the input of our machine.
We built a bubble maker. It does seem somewhat useful, as there are companies selling this type of machine but we use it to trick the user and consequently, the machine goes from being a playful instrument to a frustrating one. To activate the machine the user has to be in a particular state of mind: nostalgic. Once in this state, the user replays childhood memories where toys like bubble soap might be frequent imageries, so once the user sees “The Bubble Maker”, with a column that resembles a giant bubble wand, the immediate reaction is to lift the wand and blow on to it. The catch is that this activates the machine that will produce its own bubbles before the nostalgic user ever could.
The “Tech beyond the Myth” was our introduction to a technological world that is Libre, Open, Guerrilla and Critical. In our team, we all felt empowered to wonder and dissemble more materials and objects but we also felt like our skills and knowledge were transformed for the better and elevated by a DIY approach to tech.