'Modern Languages offers the perspective of five international artists
and designers with an interest in craft, its history and meaning. These
artists seek to re-interpret the sometimes familiar, sometimes forgotten
skills of Ireland’s craft tradition. In doing so they uncover fresh
significance and meaning, offering new insights into the Irish
vernacular.' Katy West
Aran 0.5 is one of four 'authentic' products I have created for the exhibition in 2011. Work developed from Aran 0.5 will become part of an Exhibition curated by Sebastian Bergne as part of St Etienne Design Bienalle in 2013.
The theme of the Bienalle is Empathy
Empathy, or “experiencing the other”
In
the face of ecological threats, and long awaited economic revival,
philosophers, sociologists and intellectuals now consider that it is
necessary to rethink our society, and to imagine a new social contract based
on a heightened respect for mankind. One of the notions explored is the
foundation of a new society based on empathy – the mechanism whereby an
individual can understand and share the fellow feelings and emotions of others.
Empathy,
or “experiencing the other”, is the principal theme of this new 2013
edition of the Saint-Etienne International Design Biennial. A theme
which invites a broad reflection involving all spheres of society but which
is also directly linked to design as an activity of conception. Empathy
has been at the heart of the discipline since its origins, intrinsic to
the process of putting oneself in the place of the user to understand and anticipate his needs, or accompanying new forms of social rapport.
Throughout
the 2013 Saint-Etienne International Design Biennial, we will be
exploring the different issues that an empathetic society generates, and
its capacity to reconstruct the world: what it proposes, but also what are the risks involved.'
Elsa Francès, Director and General Commissioner of the
Biennial.
