Cornelia Stehling

-interim

»interim« is an utopia for the sustainability of products. The material wax makes time a visible and readable component. Time as an equivalent for value is a transferable concept for any product.

The project »interim« is the result of a long process of research and experiments on the subject of sustainability. Interim is a stool, which is made of organic wax. The reason to choose wax as basic material was the idea of showing the process of the production in the finished product. Because it’s a material of the daily life the effort of manufacturing the stool gets readable for the user. For the duration of five weeks the melted wax was dripped along cotton wicks until it created a solid chair leg. In order to increase the stability of the stool, a mixture of stearin and carnaubawax was used rather than paraffin. The qualities of both natural waxes improve the mechanical strength respectively the melting attributes of the material.
Time as being the main focus of the project was a desicion based on the theory of a German sociopsychologist Harald Welzer, who coined the term »Transformationsdesign«. Transformationsdesign means the design of social, ecological and cultural changes we will be faced with, when our standard of living finally conflicts with the planetary borders. According to Welzer the current western lifestyle is already an exploitation of future. Despite the ambitions of a sustainable and green growth it is the context of growth which turns them into a failure. This development obligatory leads to a reduction of our level of lifestyle. The extent of consumption of products, travels etc. will not be possible once resources are used up and wells are overchallenged. Transformationsdesign is the preparation of the loss of our cultural luxury. But what we perceive as cultural luxury, causes individual stress and overstimulation on the other hand so that the loss of it can as well be seen as a profit of time and personal freedom and a liberation. An overload of products and options compete for the 24 hours of a day. The impossibility to increase the amount of time makes it our most valuable resource. By conserving time in a certain visuality »interim« creates an awareness of slowness and questions the unrestrictive and perpetual availability of products in our culture. Products in this respect play such an important role in the configuration of our life and idenity, they are also the instruments of change and carrier of values. »Interim« makes time the component to generate and to measure value. The wax stool can be turned upside down and exposes three wicks at the ends of the legs. Once lighted, the wicks burn down to the edge and dissolve the product entirely. This way, the fugitiveness of the stool increases its value and again is a symbol of time. »Interim« is an item on loan to the current moment.

/PROJECT 1: interim, Bachelorthesis