Tons of Work, Hanging It Out There, and a Cow Table
I love living in a world where Andrew Peerless exists. I met Andrew at the University of Michigan ten years ago and was excited to see a story about him on Ponoko.
Ponoko wrote about Herd, Andrew’s cow-inspired table (above) that’s showing at the Deceptive Design exhibit in Chicago. The table is fascinating (those legs are lacquered wood, not ceramic) and would be the perfect place for me to rest a juicy lucy while I watch my favorite team on the tube. In the interview, Andrew opens up on the idea of established systems, something that seems particularly refreshing and relevant in light of last week’s world-changing election:
“Just because you’re born into a system, doesn’t mean you have to follow that system. We talked about planned obsolescence today. It was a concept introduced to the consumer system post World War II, and it set the tone for everything that’s followed. It’s what we were born into and what we’re used to, but that doesn’t mean we have to follow. That paradigm has to shift, and it’s the designer’s role to do it.”
I would add that it’s everyone’s role to change, including consumers. If we all had a closer relationship with the stuff we buy / consume / eat, we’d realize that there are few things actually worth buying. And then maybe we’d consume better things and less of them.
What makes this quote even better is knowing how Andrew got to where he is. His quote isn’t just broad-stroke design bullshit (an official term); Andrew approached his career in the same fashion, although he added in a big wad of tenacity. After rerouting his degree at Michigan to go into architecture, he later realized it just wasn’t for him. So he spent six years in public relations and built a nice career for himself. But realizing that he was a designer at heart (and fundamentally a people-helping person), he gave it all up and went back to school to get his Masters in designed objects at SAIC in Chicago.
Andrew built his own system, something that most people find is difficult, death-defying and almost always well worth it.
