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10.27.10

John Thackara | Essays

Leave Nothing But Footsteps

Three years ago German photographer Thomas Kalak published a book called Thailand — Same Same, but Different!. Featuring all manner of bamboo scaffolding, knotted aerial lines, hand painted signs or converted plastic bags, the book celebrated the Thais’ exceptionally gifted art of improvisation.

The strange objects and arrangements reminded Kalak of art world “ready-mades” from the beginning of the 20th century.

They reminded me that salvage society is not a future prospect that will happen when peak-everything hits home. Untold millions of people subsist on the detritus of industrial society right now.

Now Kalak has published a new book, Weltstücke: World Trip Goodies.

Weltstücke features rare, bizarre, and exceptional souvenirs collected by the photographer during his ceasless travels.

“Take nothing but memories” Kalack concludes “and leave nothing but footsteps”.

More from John Thackara

When Tech In Care Is Evil
I spent the last two weeks in-and-around a care home in England that looks after people with dementia and terminal illness, and their families – including, this time, mine.

Food As A Commons
People go hungry not because of a shortage of production, but because the food available is too expensive, or they lack the land to grow it on. In California, the prototype of a combined social, political and technical solution has been launched which promises to unlock the food system crisis.

Presence and Encounter — How We Meet Is As Important As Why
I’m not suggesting that we abandon social media — just that we cultivate a hybrid approach so whenever someone says “online” someone else says, “and what about offline?”. Or when we find ourselves inside, someone else says: “and when do we go outside?”

Keep Your Stuff Alive
What would fashion be like if it was more than a an act of consumption with no meaning beyond the point of sale? What kind of system would improve the quality of our fashion experience without increasing the quantity we consume?

Cloud Commuting
A two-year project in Belgium proposes new relationships between people, goods, energy, equipment, spaces, and value. Its design objective: a networked mobility ecosystem.

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