Paper-cutting Cooperatives
"How do we use local power to empower the area through design?"
In this project, we attempted to use design as a bridge to connect traditional handicrafts and the modern market, and to connect the identities of "craftsmen" and "consumer." In the process, the value of craftsmen as individual creators was reaffirmed in my mind. I see this project as a successful instance of "place-making design.
2018
Shaanxi, China
Paper-cutting + Local Industry
Apples are the main economic pillar of Xunyi County, and paper cutting is one of the main forms of creative expression, a skill mastered by young and old. During a conversation with a local "auntie," we talked about distinctive marks that can be left on the apples by the sun. This conversation sparked the idea for a design plan that combined paper-cutting with the apple industry.
Paper-cutting + Self-expression
Apple trees and Corn Fields
- "I don't know what to cut."
-"What kind of things do you usually do?"
-"I work in the fields. Before coming to this training class,
-I just bagged my apple trees and planted some corn."
-"Ok, then we will cut apple trees and corn fields."
Paper-cutting + Re-creation
Consumption and Production
Provide a package of materials which the consumer can self assemble, participating in this ancient and distinctive handicraft, feeling for themselves the joy of creation.
