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research_report_theun_karelse [2008-02-21 14:13] – theunkarelseresearch_report_theun_karelse [2008-02-21 17:49] – 62.166.51.71
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 That is the tragedy in which the inventor [[Martin Brolin]] is caught in the Tsunamipants project. Martin engages the extreme weather conditions that are associated with future climate changes and tries to engineer his way out-off  danger. In his work Mr. Brolin suffers from lack of expertise, lack of talent, lack of budged, oversized ambition and being over-all mediocre. These are common human traits that run beneath the surface of positive social change. To be able to construct anything realistically and therefor longlasting, I suggest we start by acknowledging that there is nothing inherently wrong with being mediocre. I realise that this goes against giant forces in popular culture, but Martin is deliberately portrayed as a mediocre inventor, although I only later became fully conscious of why I was doing this. That is the tragedy in which the inventor [[Martin Brolin]] is caught in the Tsunamipants project. Martin engages the extreme weather conditions that are associated with future climate changes and tries to engineer his way out-off  danger. In his work Mr. Brolin suffers from lack of expertise, lack of talent, lack of budged, oversized ambition and being over-all mediocre. These are common human traits that run beneath the surface of positive social change. To be able to construct anything realistically and therefor longlasting, I suggest we start by acknowledging that there is nothing inherently wrong with being mediocre. I realise that this goes against giant forces in popular culture, but Martin is deliberately portrayed as a mediocre inventor, although I only later became fully conscious of why I was doing this.
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 http://www.irgc.org/ http://www.irgc.org/
 And the World Economic Forum has a Global Risk Network which brings out annual reports on global risks. And the World Economic Forum has a Global Risk Network which brings out annual reports on global risks.
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 +== Safety engineering. ==
 +Safety engineering usually is seen as a part of system engineering. It studies the working of a system when a part of it fails. The dynamics of this are visualized in a fault tree diagram. So this study is limited to faults that occur in the category of manufactured risks. Martin Brolin works mostly with external risks or with manufactured risks that result from external risks.
  
 == The myth of happiness. == == The myth of happiness. ==
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 == Related projects. == == Related projects. ==
  
-[[Tsunami Pants]] is embedded in the European tradition of the drawn narrative. There is a long tradition of mad-scientist and eccentric inventors in fiction. There are other art and design projects, that tackle the same problem.\\+[[Tsunami Pants]] is embedded in the European tradition of the drawn narrative. There is a long tradition of mad-scientist and eccentric inventors in fiction. There are other art and design projects, that tackle the same problem, but none offer a historic collection and none make design-series embedded specifically into the debate about climate change.\\
 Some are closely related, use humor like: Some are closely related, use humor like:
-  * The Yesmen, made the survivaball. +  * The Yesmen made the survivaball, Ann de Gersem made the Life dress, Yael Mer made the Canoe dress. 
-  * Troy Hurtubise, made the Grizzly and Troyan suits.+  * Troy Hurtubise made the Grizzly and Troyan suits.
   * Inflatable swimming trunks and other inventions in the same spirit by real people are documented on [[http://blog.modernmechanix.com|Modern Mechanics]]    * Inflatable swimming trunks and other inventions in the same spirit by real people are documented on [[http://blog.modernmechanix.com|Modern Mechanics]] 
 +  * Digital Peacock Tales, designed by Magnus Torstensson of [[http://www.unsworn.org| Unsworn]]
 +  * Eelko Moorer made Emergency Games, a booklet of rather unimaginative but dangerous games to be played at home.
 +
 Others are more loosely related, and serious like: Others are more loosely related, and serious like:
   * Adam Whinton and Yolita Nugent's project 'no-contact' selfdefence jacket for women.   * Adam Whinton and Yolita Nugent's project 'no-contact' selfdefence jacket for women.
-  * Intercative clothes by, XS-lab, Despina and Papadopoulos or Hussein Chalayan.+  * Interactive clothes by XS-lab, Despina and Papadopoulos or Hussein Chalayan. 
 + 
 +Wikipedia has a nice page on PPE Personal Protective Equipment, which I stumbled upon when I was almost finished with my collection: 
 +  * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_protective_equipment
  
  
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   * if the actual outcomes are different than the expected outcome, the reasons for this should be explained in the "discussion" section   * if the actual outcomes are different than the expected outcome, the reasons for this should be explained in the "discussion" section
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 Making a collection of historic and current solutions in wearable safety systems, gives a greater scope of possibilities in this field. I also looked at protective systems used by animals, for instance the fat-layer used by sealions for insulation and food reserve. And I based Martin's design of the jelly suit on this. Another place to look for good ideas is comicbooks; the superstrenghts often mimic animal strategies. Making a collection of historic and current solutions in wearable safety systems, gives a greater scope of possibilities in this field. I also looked at protective systems used by animals, for instance the fat-layer used by sealions for insulation and food reserve. And I based Martin's design of the jelly suit on this. Another place to look for good ideas is comicbooks; the superstrenghts often mimic animal strategies.
  
-== Designing Martin Brolin. ==+== Character development of Martin Brolin. ==
 The narrative structure of this research hinted at the value of having a central character. While driving to the supermarket, I came across an individual who combined most of the characteristic that I was looking for; mediocrity, recklessness, lack of social inhibitions and self-confidence from unknown origins. In essence a rationalist or even Deist, who feels God may have created the world, but has abandoned it and left no deeper truth for man to find. The narrative structure of this research hinted at the value of having a central character. While driving to the supermarket, I came across an individual who combined most of the characteristic that I was looking for; mediocrity, recklessness, lack of social inhibitions and self-confidence from unknown origins. In essence a rationalist or even Deist, who feels God may have created the world, but has abandoned it and left no deeper truth for man to find.
  
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 I made one case study by following the events around a particularly violent storm on January 18, 2007 in the Netherlands.\\ I made one case study by following the events around a particularly violent storm on January 18, 2007 in the Netherlands.\\
 [[Storm]] [[Storm]]
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   * smoke and ash   * smoke and ash
   * mist   * mist
 +  * forestfire
 +  * turbulence
  
 How they hurt: How they hurt:
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   * falling through ice   * falling through ice
   * hunger   * hunger
-  * and the various diseases that move trough refugee camps.+  * inflammation 
 +  * missing limbs 
 +  * being crushed 
 +  * burning 
 +  * loss of consciousness 
 +  * excessive bleeding 
 +  * and the various diseases that move trough refugee camps
  
 Urban dangers: Urban dangers:
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   * falling power-cables   * falling power-cables
   * collapsing structures and large things falling over   * collapsing structures and large things falling over
-  * panicking masses+  * panicking masses and traffic
  
 Positive side-effects: Positive side-effects:
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   * Disease: this secondary effect of bad weather conditions is in third place. Because not all medicine falls into this category.   * Disease: this secondary effect of bad weather conditions is in third place. Because not all medicine falls into this category.
   * Drowning: and other water related risks are very big business for offshore and recreational purposes.   * Drowning: and other water related risks are very big business for offshore and recreational purposes.
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 == Comparison of the expected and the actual results. == == Comparison of the expected and the actual results. ==
 +My research broadened from designing clothes for meteorological catastrophes to a wild and hilarious journey through portable safety technology. I did not go into material research for this because that seemed like a world too vast to cover. And it would not have been effective for reaching my goal, which relies more on imagination than on expertise. But it would have fitted nicely with research done by Lina Kusaite, who is looking into developing a material library.
 +The domain of portable safety technology turned out to be much more varied than I anticipated. The history of portable personal safety technology is rich. An overview of this field formed and it shows the diversity of technologies and suggests risk hierarchies. For a successful Tsunamipants design some ingredients are crucial. I look at the combinations of already existing products and fusing them into an unlikely hybrid. As noted above, the need to shift focus became apparent during the design stages. This resulted in designs for many different situations, more connected to climate change issues in a broad sense and not just weather induced disasters.
  
 == Suggestions and comments on the research process and its results. == == Suggestions and comments on the research process and its results. ==
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   * The [[survival engineering]] collection could be extended with strategies used by animals and plants.   * The [[survival engineering]] collection could be extended with strategies used by animals and plants.
   * Martin Brolin could be used to study the possibilities of merchandising.   * Martin Brolin could be used to study the possibilities of merchandising.
-  * Design could move into 3-d prototyping. +  * Move into 3-d prototyping. 
-  * Design could be extended into material research. +  * Extend into material research. 
-  * Tunamipants could pop-up in FoAM or FoAM partner events+  * Tunamipants could pop-up in FoAM or FoAM partner events. 
 +  * Move from the history of safety into the direction of the history of sustainability. I've started tracing my own cultural roots; into the Zeeuwse farms and their (forgotten) technologies. 
 +  * More Tsunamifood, like the Noodleboots, and associated recipes.
  
 ==Public response. == ==Public response. ==
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 The public responded well to presentations. Finding unlikely combinations, unlikely threats or solutions seemed powerful tools for connecting with people. Also a good description of the invention works. The imagery may work better in full-color. The public responded well to presentations. Finding unlikely combinations, unlikely threats or solutions seemed powerful tools for connecting with people. Also a good description of the invention works. The imagery may work better in full-color.
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   * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulrich_Beck   * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulrich_Beck
   * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risk_society   * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risk_society
 +  * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safety_engineering
 +  * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hazard_analysis
 +  * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_protective_equipment
  
 Books and magazines: Books and magazines:
   * Plan B, Rescuing a Planet under Stress, Lester Brown   * Plan B, Rescuing a Planet under Stress, Lester Brown
   * Gaston LeGaffe, Andre Franquin   * Gaston LeGaffe, Andre Franquin
 +  * Jimmy Corrigan, the smartest kid on earth, Chris Ware
 +  * Top Ten, Alan Moore
   * How should we then live?, Francis A. Schaeffer   * How should we then live?, Francis A. Schaeffer
   * Nexus #44 #46 #47 http://www.nexus-instituut.nl   * Nexus #44 #46 #47 http://www.nexus-instituut.nl
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   * Paradiso, on Climate Change by Pier Vellinga, one of the founders of the IPCC. http://www.ipcc.ch   * Paradiso, on Climate Change by Pier Vellinga, one of the founders of the IPCC. http://www.ipcc.ch
   * BBC 2, Civilization, Lord Kenneth Clark. http://www.tvfactual.co.uk/civilisation.htm   * BBC 2, Civilization, Lord Kenneth Clark. http://www.tvfactual.co.uk/civilisation.htm
 +  * VPRO, Tegenlicht, episode: Cradle-to-Cradle and episode: de Toekomst van ons Voedsel. http://www.vpro.nl/programma/tegenlicht/afleveringen/
 == Material generated in the research to be archived at FoAM. == == Material generated in the research to be archived at FoAM. ==
  
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