theory

P2 is the period of the year where I am going have an impression on the social practice. To give a good representation we also get introduced to social theory. I’ve been reading the chapter Design For Transitions of the book Design For The Pluriverse by Arturo Escobar. I understand why this is one of the core readings, because Escobar gives a definition on social design, which he got from another book named Design, When Everybody Designs: An Introduction to Design for Social Innovation.

In this chapter Escobar states that the world is in transition, where design also gets a different meaning. Design is for everyone and design therefore becomes the support of individual and collective life projects. But there is a difference between diffuse design and expert design. Diffuse design refers to the fact that everybody is endowed with the ability to design, expert design refers to professional design knowledge.

Now Escobar states the definition of design for social innovation as “everything that expert design can do to activate, sustain, and orient processes of social change towards sustainability”. With sustainability is meant that the quality is lasting for a as long as possible time. (Of course not all design is based on this, there is also design which is based on design models which are generally done.)

I think my ritual gives me a better idea of what Escobar means with this definition and therefor what social design nowadays is. What I’m actually doing with this ritual assignment, is I’m looking for a process of social change, which is the ‘individual life project’ of my boyfriend. He is trying to find the right purpose in his life and therefore is designing his existence. He in this case is a diffuse designer. And I, as an ‘expert’ designer, am sustaining his social change towards sustainability. I guess sustainability in his case mean to find a purpose which is life-lasting, to get to know himself.

Now that I have a better understanding of what the text is about, by linking the theory to my own assignment, I can also fill in better what an other social practice would be. I can imagine that a collaborative projects would be something like working on climate change with a group of people. As a designer you can activate, sustain and orient those projects.

Something I was struggling with during the making process of my ritual, was the goal of the ritual. I wanted my bf to be happy, I really wanted to help him to find his purpose, but I should remind myself that I’m not a therapist. My goal is not to solve his personal project. That’s where I started to take the role as a designer and my goal became to sustain him with his personal project.

In the end I created a ritual where I’m tying a knot with him on a windy place. When for him the winds comes down, when he feels unhappy, he can untie the knot, so he can feel my support.
I guess that is the right thing to do as a social designer.