Ahead of the microteaching session, Lindsay suggested that we look into OBL (Object-Based Learning) theory.
Pre-session: I am looking forward to the microteach today. Writing new and re-writing existing briefs excites me. I chose a t-shirt as the object of focus for this OBL session, a garment I sometimes refer to when teaching as it is one of the most overproduced garments in the world and rarely changes in shape or style. It also has significant relevance within my own practice, having included an artwork in my solo exhibition entitled ‘The Anthropologist’ that was exhibited at the Sarabande Foundation in April 2022. (See handout below)
Post pandemic, Clare Lomas and Maria Costantino at London College of Fashion referenced online OBL using universally recognised objects, “The choice of face mask proved to be successful as it allowed for different cultural experiences and backgrounds to be shared” (Lomas, C. and Constantino, M. 2022). I found this to be a particularly interesting reference as the face mask has become such a universally recognised object over the last few years. Similarly to the t-shirt, PPE face masks were produced in the billions in 2020 and are “estimated to take up to 450 years to decompose” (Natural History Museum, 2022). Through a universal understanding of an object, removed from context, my intention was to build upon this idea within the session with the aim to foster cross-collaboration and more conscious design thinking.
Post-session: Upon reflection of this microteaching session, I have gained a reinstated belief in solution-based design thinking through cross-disciplinary collaboration. By posing one industries waste as a resource, it could be utilised in another, reimagined through the lens of that discipline.
