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| Siren Elise Wilhelmsen (src.) |
Siren is a recent graduate as an industrial designer from the University of Arts in Berlin. "Her aim is to make design with personality and humor; products that challenge the meeting between man and his surroundings and that offer a new kind of interaction with them", as described on her website.
Today we have Siren with us to talk about her projects and her artistic journey so far. Catch it below and get inspired!
Siren, please introduce yourself to E-junkies.
I am a Norwegian designer, based in Berlin and in Bergen.
My aim is to make functional and sustainable design with personality and humour; products that challenge the meeting between man and his surroundings and that offer a new kind of interaction with them.
Especially as a youth I used to listen to a lot of punk and hard-core music. Many people see this music only as some kind of aggressive youth-riot, for me it has always been very progressive. For me hard-core and punk is all about freedom from norms and old fashion rules, honesty, brotherhood and taking care of the good things in this world. Through the music, I started out early to ask questions about how we live. I don’t believe in tradition as an argument for anything, because it makes us take things for granted and forgetting to ask ourselves important questions. This is something I also use a lot in my work; questioning already established ways of dealing with everyday products and our surroundings. So actually, music is and has been one of my biggest influences.
How did your interest develop in designing? Have you always wanted to become a designer?
I never wanted to be a designer, but always wanted to work creatively. My way to design went through art school, to photography, to architecture and to fashion design.
From fashion design I switched to product design, within the same school (University of Arts Berlin), and suddenly I just knew that I was at the right place.
Though all your projects are awesome but my personal favorite is '365 knitting clock'. How did such a creative idea strike to you? Do you have any story to share?
Time is something everybody relates to and deals with; it has always been around, but still does not change its appearance. Only the experience of it has. We have a different relationship with time now, than people just 50 years ago. I wanted to get rid of the numbers, that today defines our understanding of time, and show this invisible process in a visible and tangible way. I wanted to show time in the nature of time – as a slow process, always in progress.
Tell us about your projects 'Parasitz' and '(R)Evoluting Spoon'. They seem very interesting.
Evoluting Spoon was an experiment that I did together with the Berlin designer Hanna Wiesener from Trikoton. Inspired by the evolution strategy, our experimental work started: we wanted to set one of our most common everyday products on the evolution-test, to see if there was still new potential in such an old invention. By picking out human eating habits and different existing spoons, we started to recombine and mutate. The experiment did not end in a new spoon that threatens the existing in any way, but it came up with a range of useful and interesting spin-offs, like the soup spoon made out of bread, the whisk and spoon combination for cooking, the camping spoon with a can opener and the spoon with an thermo chrome colour to check the temperature while eating or cooking.
Parasitz is a mobile and flexible seat, developed to offer personal seating outside the home. The construction makes it possible to roll the seat together in one direction while in the other it stabilizes and forms a seat. So, all you need to do is to fasten the belt around a tree pole: the seat will become stable and the tree-pole turns into a back lean. In nature as well as in public spaces you have to look for a free bench, a stone, a green spot or the edge of a sidewalk to have a seat. The basic request on these temporary seating opportunities are: to get up from the street level and to lean the back on something. But you don’t find these places everywhere and when you do they could be dirty, wet or already taken. Parasitz is easy to bring, it is light and gets so small it even fits in the bag. The height and width is easy to adjust (it forms after the size of the tree pole) which makes it suitable for all ages and sizes. The materials were chosen for the outdoor surroundings: water-resistant fabric and wood. The seat needs the tree to make a stable, comfortable and natural seating. It is integrated, but without leaving any traces.
Which project has been the most challenging one so far?
365 knitting clock has had many ups and downs in the development – not the concept it self, but more the actual realisation of it.
And the most special one?
For me a product that, in the process, teaches me something new about a particular material, handcraft or production process, is always very interesting and gives me a lot. The ceramic jewellery “basics“, is one of these products where I started working in a whole new material and had a great time while making it.
Share the best compliment that you've ever received for your work.
Right after the “365 knitting clock” had been exhibited for the first time, I got an E-Mail from a girl in Sweden who wanted to buy the clock for her self. The fact that she really wanted to live side by side with this work that I had made, was for me a huge compliment. Now I have received hundreds of these E-Mails from around the globe, and believe me, personally this is my motivation to go on with the clock and it means much more to me than a prize or a good review.
What's next? Would you like to tell us about the project(s) you're working on and going to release soon?
The last year has been so much exhibiting and travelling. Now I finally start making new stuff for 2012. Can’t say too much about that now, but keep your eyes peeled!
Any dream project?
I would actually like to make a product for IKEA. Normally I work with context, different layers of information, poetry and interpretations. These projects are often one-offs and not aiming for everybody to understand or appreciate them, usually most interesting for people in certain social contexts. But, as a concept itself; making something that is meant to fit thousands, would be a great challenge. How to make something universal without losing poetry.
What message do you have for other aspiring and budding designers?
Don’t try to be like the others, try to be yourself.
Siren, well the interview sums up with some valuable words by you. You're not only a creative designer but also a great thinker. Thank you so much for talking to us. It was a pleasure!
Check out other projects at Siren's website
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