COMPUTERARTS.CREATIVEBLOQ.COMDESIGN INSPIRATION NOVEMBER 2019
When Computer Arts contacted me and
invited me to contribute this article,
the brief sounded something like this:
“Please write 800 words on a subject or
object that you are passionate about”.
I right away gravitated to “subject”.
Easy! Design. Music. Music videos.
Iceland. New York. Public speaking...
And then I glanced at the word “object”.
Nothing came to mind other than the usual
suspects: my iPhone, a Tesla, our sofa.
I couldn’t think of anything special.
I was born and raised in Reykjavik,
Iceland, and my parents owned and lived
in the same house since I was pretty
much born. I loved the house and the
many objects and art that surrounded
us. The old newly upholstered sofa. The
record player from the 1940s and the
silver tea set from the early 1900s. I always
imagined myself keeping the sofa and the
dining table and the paintings that were
displayed on the walls.
So when we sold the house and
donated most of the estate, after my
father passed away a few years ago, I was
surprised to discover that I didn’t really
want to keep much of it. My wife and I
picked the old Danish dining table, the 80s
Bang & Olufsen stereo, but the majority
was donated and given away. I remember
how guilty I felt for not wanting most of
the items.
In our home in Manhattan we have
a nice Eames chair that I love. We have
a designer sofa we use every day that I
absolutely love. We have several pieces of
art that I love. At my office we have new
virtual reality equipment, an old newly
upholstered sofa and an old wooden log
that serves as a coffee table. We found
it in our first Manhattan office 20 years
ago. I love all this stuff. However, if either
of these places would burn down with
everything inside, it would not be the
end of the world.
All the above also applies to our old
design projects and our old design files.
I have a designer friend who treats his
archives and old design files like they’re
worth millions of dollars. I think he would
rather save his archives and design files
instead of his wife and kids from a fire!
I realise that I’m much more attached
to places, people and photographs. And
I would be super sad to lose my old photos
and videos.
I never really thought about all this until
now – that I’m not so much attached to myTHE OBJECTS OF
MY AFFECTION
Hjalti Karlsson founded the award-winning
design studio Karlssonwilker Inc. with partner
Jan Wilker in 2000, based in New York. He
lectures regularly around the world.
http://www.karlssonwilker.compossessions. It sounds utterly ridiculous
to me that out of everything that I own that
I’m most passionate about, it may actually
be my Bose wireless headphones. I love
them. I use them every day and take them
with me everywhere. It’s the first thing I
pack when I travel. I know they’re easily
replaceable, but I do think the ones I have
are very special.
My parents owned a pair of sitting
chairs. They were unremarkable except
for the vintage upholstery. As far back as
I remember they were always in our living
room. When I was about 10 years old, my
parents re-upholstered them
and then they were moved upstairs. We
used them all the time until we donated
them a few years ago to a second-hand
store in Reykjavik.
A few months later I visited a hip café
shop downtown, with my brother and
mom. We ordered some cake and coffee
and got the only available table to sit at.
We instantly realized that these were
the same chairs! Somehow the universe
brought us back together.“Me (right) with my older brother 40 years ago in our
soccer outfits, in front of the ‘chair’.”
“Mom a few years ago at the hip café.”