Gift Economies
Greetings, Inquirers past, present and future! DesignInquiry is barrelling towards the end of 2024, arms full of projects, references, memories, dreams and reflections. Let’s share a few…
Robin Wall Kimmerer is interviewed on the Emergence Magazine podcast this month discussing the serviceberry as a living model of the gift economy. Kimmerer introduces the idea of “enoughness” as “not only a radical act in an economy, it’s a real act of healing for the land and for people, as well, to say: I have enough. I don’t need to take any more.”
The idea of an economy based on abundance rather than scarcity is a driving theme behind our trio of recent European gatherings; Work/Around in London 2023, Repair/Podreperować in Warsaw 2024, and… Salvage/Bergen coming in Amsterdam 2025 (September 8-12ish). Part of the inspiration for this as a DI topic comes from poet laureate Ada Limon’s poem Salvage. How might we develop a shared ethos of resurfacing, reviving and reimagining things thought to have sunk to the bottom of the ocean of value?
Solid/Liquid/Gas: DI at Fallingwater
At High Meadow Educational Complex, nestled beside Fallingwater in the Bear Run Nature Reserve, fifteen artists and designers gathered to explore transformation through the lens of matter's changing states. From pinhole cameras made of cars and bedrooms, to improvisational darkrooms, and lathing, to experimental sound compositions, participants investigated the boundaries between solid, liquid, and gas.
A bird walk with @nliadis of @bird_lab included encounters with downy woodpeckers, golden crowned kinglets, and Carolina warblers. The week flowed between structured investigation and spontaneous collaboration. From crafted furniture inspired by Wright's designs or documented industrial soundscapes, as dusk fell each evening, conversations and creations merged around shared meals, transforming individual practices into collective exploration. Including a “Picturing Entropy” short film series curated by @hollylwillis. Stay tuned as documentation from this extraordinary gathering takes form.
https://solidliquidgas.designinquiry.net/
Welcome new Board members
Design Inquiry warmly welcomes two exceptional new members to our Board of Directors:
Mary Banas brings a vibrant energy to our community, having been an active participant both on and off the island. Her dynamic contributions to our events and discussions have consistently elevated our collective experience, and we look forward to her creative leadership in shaping our future programming.
Andy Campbell joins us with a remarkable ability to bridge academic and poetic rigor, demonstrated through his engagement from Austin to Warsaw. His background in history and theory, combined with his thoughtful approach to cultural discourse, adds an invaluable dimension to our organization's work.
We are thrilled to have both Mary and Andy's unique perspectives help guide our future initiatives.
Publications
More DI book projects are in development, based on the findings and experiments from Solid/Liquid/Gas in November at Fallingwater and Repair/Podreperować at the National Institute of Architecture and Urbanism and School of Form in Warsaw, Poland.
Support DesignInquiry
Speaking of gift economies, your contributions help support the DesignInquiry programs and scholarships, so that more people are able to join our gatherings and participate in our projects.
Join us
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DesignInquiry is a non-profit educational organization devoted to researching design issues in intensive team-based gatherings. An alternative to the design conference, it brings together practitioners from disparate fields to generate new work and ideas around a single topic.