GIVE VALUE AGAIN TO HUMAN ABILITIES AND OUR PLACE IN SOCIETY

« THE ULTIMATE TRAGEDY IS NOT THE OPPRESSION AND CRUELTY BY THE BAD PEOPLE BUT THE SILENCE OVER THAT BY THE GOOD PEOPLE. »MARTIN LUTHER KING.

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CONTENTS

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REAPPROPRIATION

CONTENTS 4 INTRODUCTION 6

CONCLUSION 22

BIBLIOGRAPHY 24

ACTORS OF REAPPROPRIATION

LEVERS FOR REAPPROPRIATION

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INTRODUCTION

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In 1936 , Charlie Chaplin highly criticized the taylorist system though his movie “ modern times .” He condemned the alienation caused by mechanical work, that excludes any sort of intellectual activity. Chaplin managed to draw, with a bitter humor, a society obsessed with progress , which deprives humans of the control they can have on the environment. This race for progress has revolutionized the industry, but has also alienated the concept of happiness conveyed by society. This is what Chaplin is essentially talking about, the pursuit of happiness, to which is constantly subjected humanity. According to his work, this happiness certainly does not rely on the submission to an industry that reduces human capacities.Today, the work conditions have improved, but the basics of the Taylorist philosophy have been integrated into society. Individuals have incorporated the idea that physical possession defines them and makes them happy, but paradoxically they’ve never had so little control over these possessions and this happiness .How then, in a society advocating individualism and the pursuit of pleasure , can we restore the power and happiness of individuals over mere physical possession ?A community of passionated individuals has partially answered this question, giving birth to a whole new movement : hacking .Beyond computer curiosity and thirst for knowledge, hackers advocate the emancipation of individuals through creation, through the reclaim of our environment. Because the one thing individuals have been deprived of, with the arrival of massive industrialization, is their creation and the value of their creation.How can design get inspiration from hacking codes and ethics, in order to enable individuals to reclaim their environment and to emancipate from the social and economic constraints they are constantly facing ?We will see how reappropriation is developped, which actors have taken a part in it and how design can activate it. Reappropriation may be a way to fulfill happiness, we will see why and how it has become a necessary process.

8REAPPROPRIATION

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We live in a society that is in a constant crisis, economically, socially and ecologically. Inhabitants of that society therefore suffer the consequences of a system, the capitalist system, that emprisons them in ways of lives and habits that does not grant them access to happiness. We are going to see in this first part how reappropriation gives people what the capitalist system no longer provides them.

Firstly, we have to establish what people are confronted to in their everyday lives. Our environment, which embraces objects we manipulate, spaces we evolve in and images we are given to see, is controlled by the system, and we no longer have any proper influence on it. We are given a dwelled environment that we no longer control, and our confidence and belief in our abilities to actually accomplish the slightest task is highly jeopardized.This is why this thesis is highliting reappropriation, since the system has the propriety of every aspect of our lives. People need to regain control over their environment, and for that we need to look closer into an alternative philosophy established by an uncommon community : hackers.

Hackers create computer code and have a way of seeing technology and creation that clearly inspires all sorts of other activities. The definition of hacking that is the most common is linked to new technologies and computer coding, but by looking closely we can see that there is an entire philosophy behind a simple hack. To hack means to strike with an ax in an unsual but very efficient way. Basically, hacking is all about finding alternative ways of action, and when a hacker infiltrates into a protected system, his aim is not to harm, but to highlight a leak in the system. What hackers desire the most is to outcome themselves and their skills, in order to thrive and regain control over their environment. Their philosophy states that everyone should be curious and aquire enough knowledge (may it be technologic or intellectual) in order to understand all the devices being used daily. Furthermore, hackers believe that this knowledge should be open to everyone and shared automatically, they see it as a transparency policy. This philosophy can be (and actually is already) applied to other issues and people, since it etablished universal values on knowledge, curiosity and the individual’s place in his own environment. Reappropriation is a way to regain control over things, and therefore to emancipate from the system that took control in the first place. This emancipation can be materiel, concrete, and be applied to technological devices, every day objects that need customization, or it can be intellectual, and refer to images or habits given by the system, such as the image of women in the media.

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Reappropriation is a wide notion, but in my thesis I settle three category of things in which it can be applied : those are spaces, objects and images. The reappropriation of space can be illustrated by two german street artists, who simply dismantled a bin structure in the middle of the street, in order to put 2 beds in it. This hack can be seen as a symbolic action, showing the urgent need of shelter for homeless people, as well as the fact that everyone can «take action» and use their skills to help with that issue. When it comes to objects, the Sugru can be seen as the perfect tool for the reappropriation of these. The sugru is a sort of clay that looks like play-doh, but has the properties of silicone. It hardens and sticks to all sorts of surfaces, enabling users to repair or customize broken or non practical devices. Finally, images can be hacked, and therefore reappropriated, through street art for example, as shown by an artist that tranforms models from cosmetics or fashion advertisings. He sprays bright colors on those adds, on the eyes and mouth of the models, showing them as unatural monsters. His actions and hacks aim to show what the advertisement industry is really giving people to see : the fakeness and monstrosity of bodies and beauty standards.

These notions and this will for emancipation can be applied to and for everyone, but mostly for people that need to emancipate from one of the parts of the system. People that have been put aside of society, who no longer feel the impact they might actually have on their own lives and environment. Those people have a necessity for reappropriation, and some might already be doing it, out of this necessity.

To show that hacking and reappropriation are already assimilated in some communities, and has proven its efficiency, we can take the example of the green guerilla, which is one of the oldest of actions that can be considered as hacking. Its concept is to reappropriate an abandoned field and create a shared garden on it, in order for urban neighbourhoods to reconnect with nature, while constructing a strong community among each other. Green guerillas were created in the 1980s in New York city, and has now spread to the world, and can be also called «guerilla gardening».Other examples can be analysed, such as the makers movement, which is also spreading widely, and establishes a philosophy of constant creativity and ingeniosity, while emphasizing the importance of community.

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Finally, we can say that reappropriation is a way for people to thrive, since it is an act of creation, which requires individuals to put their skills to practice. This practice revalues their abilities and improves their confidence, as well as the feeling of power and control they might have over their environment. This action over things enhances the investment individuals might have in issues and matters that concern them and their way of life. Furthermore, every act of creation generates for the creator a feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction, that might be one of the ways to improve life and happiness.

In other words, reappropriation is a notion that embodies a wide range of actions, sectors and philosophies, which all aim in the same direction : the thriving of individuals through the regain of control and power over their environment. The actors of reappropriation can be divided into three groups : the individuals, people, who are at the center of it; since reappropriation is made by them and for them; hackers, who can be considered as models and whose philosophy highly inspired all the movements of reappropriation, and designers, who we can see as guides, a mediator that enables people to understand reappropriation and the need for it.

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ACTORS OF RÉAPPROPRIATION

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Individuals have never been as self-centered as they are nowadays, with what Gilles Lipovetsky calls «the age of narcisse», in his book l’ère du vide, written in 1987, that arises with the individualization of the post-modern society. Individuals are at the center of everything, or at least their artificial needs and confort are. They are constantly seduced by the multiplication of choices and the enhancement of their individuality, which provoques a slow desertion of the public sphere, since people are appealed to only have concern and motivation for their private consumerism confort. Reappropriation aims to re value individuals and their identity, their abilities as human beings, and not as consumers or contributors to the capitalist system. Unlike the individualization provided by the system, reappropriation aims for the enhancement of the public sphere and collective work, and therefore puts individuals at the center of it, in a positive and constructive way.

We can say that the internet is a tool at the disposal of any individual, and it gives them somes kinds of power. The power of information, firstly, since the internet is a never ending source of information. This information might not always be true or verified, but the simple fact that it can be given to individuals through numerous sources, shows that the internet can be a wonderful tool for reappropriation, since it relies on individuals’ ability to verifie the information they are given, and breaks in some way the hierarchy and control that analog media might have on people. The internet is also a network tool, and the power of instantaneous and massive broadcast it gives to people has changed our ways to communicate and to interact socially. It has also enabled populations to rebel against the system, as shown by the Arab Spring of 2010, when social networks were widely used to show the rest of the world how the protest was going on and to block the censorship established by the system. The internet has build up a new social sphere, that enhances the collective power of individuals, some even calling it a «counter power» for individuals, a democratic tool. But the hierarchy and the consumerist system of the real world is now also spreading on the internet, and the capitalist system has also found in it a useful tool for power. But the community of hackers is fighting to keep the internet free and as transparent and open as it was in the beginning. Hackers therefore have an alternative image, they belong to «the other internet», to a culture of cool disobedience, and they can be considered as models for most of reappropriation’s notions.

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The american writer Steven Levy wrote in 1984 a book entitled Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution, in which he described a “hacker ethic”, that consists of key points that he states: -Access to computers—and anything which might teach you something about the way the world works—should be unlimited and total. -All information should be free-Mistrust authority—promote decentralization-Hackers should be judged by their hacking, not criteria such as degrees, age, race, sex, or position-You can create art and beauty on a computer-Computers can change your life for the better

This ethic shows us that hackers advocate the fact that individuals have power, may it come from technology or not, and should use it to understand their environment and regain control over it. This is why we can say that hackers are models for reappropriation, and their philosophy already lives in all of the aspects of reappropriation.

During a TED conference in 2009, Tim Brown, CEO of a design agency explained that design used to be big. In a sense that it used to have greater aims than confort or aesthetics, as shown by the creation of the Great Western Railway by the british engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel. He tried to create an entire poetic travel experience, not only a technical innovation, and for that he represents the true essence of design : the hybridisation of engineering and arts.

Nowadays it has become a tool for consumerism, which narrows down its vision of the world and of human abilities. But design can become big again, by recognizing the fact that it has to aim towards human’s well being, not through confort or aesthetics, but through the comprehension of cultures and contexts and social analisis before action. Design should not generate passive consumption for individuals, but action and commitment, through a positive interaction between the designers and individuals. Designers should take into account the experiences and testimonials of individuals, and therefore create a constructive dialogue with them, enabling design to make sense again. The designer has a moral responsability, an ethic he has to follow in order to consider himself «eco» or «responsible». Victor Papanek said : « design has become the most powerful tool with which humans create their tools and their environment».

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He considers design to be a power, and therefore a responsibility comes with that power, which relies on his honesty. His role as a guide who provides a structure for reappropriation can only be ethic and responsible through his complete transparency with the individuals he is aiming at, since those individuals have the freedom to choose when they are able to understand.This also enable the designer to construct a trust relationship and a constructive dialogue with individuals, that will help them to understand reappropriation and take a chance for it.

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LEVERS FOR REAPPROPRIATION

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In order for individuals to understand this need for reappropriation, we need to apprehend all the various levers that can activate this understanding. First of all, it is important to communicate on what is at stake, on why reappropriation in necessary in our society today. For that the designer needs to educate, to inform and to adapt his tone to the individuals he is aiming at, and most of all the communication must not be a guilt lecture, which undeniably nevers works and always makes individuals lose interest in the subject. What must be emphasized is the positive aspect that reappropriation provides, all the alternatives that can be done through reappropriation. This way, we can give eco-design and «alternative» design a new image, more positive and simplified. Designers need to make reappropriation appealing to people, by showing that it is a simple process that can bring them a lot. And just as it is important that people get invested in reapppropriation, designers also need to commit to their projects, open their perspective, and try to answer to an ethical code.Reappropriation is subject to various stereotypes, such as the ones surrounding hackers for example. One of the goals of communicating on reappropriation is to dismount those stereotypes and to tone down the idea of ethic commitment and action. An Argentinian graphic designer created a campaign to collect funds against cancer, and managed to stay away from all the stereotypes and usual atmosphere surrounding cancer and the medical environment. His work was very efficient, which shows that «thinking outside the box» when it comes to design can be one of the levers to guide individuals towards reappropriation. Using humor might also be one efficient lever, and it has been proved numerous times by the non-governmental environmental organization Green Peace, with for example the denunciation of deforestation provoqued, among others, by the toy industry and Mattel, the makers of Barbie. The whole campaign was focused on Ken leaving Barbie for her responsibility in deforestation, therefore using humor for a serious topic and toning down ecology and its actors. After communicating on reappropriation, the idea is to give individuals the tools necessary for it. Tools for comprehension, creation and sharing. As explained before, the designer’s honesty and transparency will take a consequent part in his ethic and responsibility, and making individuals understand the process of creation is a part of that responsibility. Just like it is stated in the hacker’s ethic, individuals need to have access to information, to be able to understand properly their environment, their objects, in order to control them, and not the contrary. In order for this understanding to be developed, the designer will have to

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provide individuals clear and transparent information on his creative process, and in the meantime challenge his relationship with his work and individuals.The essence of reappropriation is to make people act, become creative and realise that they have more abilities than they might think, and for that the designer will have to also provide tools for this creativity. The designer’s role will be to guide individuals, advise them, but also to let them be and create on their own. The work of the designer here is to know when he has to interact or not, the individual’s freedom is the key to reappropriation. Finally, in order for reappropriation to really spread and be efficient, it has to become a collective movement, and for that designers have to provide sharing tools, and maybe get inspired by all the internet platforms such as «instructables», a website created by the MIT and which gathers tutorials and diy projects, created by and for individuals. In order for individuals to fulfill reappropriation and believe in their abilities, their creative act or commitment should have witnesses, in order to generate pride and proof. That is why it is important to give individuals this sharing tool.

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CONCLUSION

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The consumer society and the capitalist system have led to a new era, which Gilles Lipovetsky calls «postmodernism» . This era is characterized by a paradox: on the one hand , society is supported by a perverted individualism, putting the needs of comfort and pleasure of the people at the center of all concerns. On the other hand, it causes a materialistic environment to arise, producing more and more material goods, but it also jeopardizes the true happiness of individuals, who have never felt this disconnected from their own lives.In this context, new actors and movements are appearing, and are trying to put the actions of individuals, rather than their passive social activities, in the heart of society. This shows us that individuals are seeing the limits of materialism, and are feeling the need to look for boundaries, frames, patterns of life leading to happiness, and not towards growth and hyper consumption . This feeling is embodied by reappropriation, the idea that individuals should reinvest themselves in their environment, through action and commitment, a notion that we can call “empowerment”.Reappropriation can get its inspiration from the hacker’s ethic, be guided by design and all it has to offer to individuals. The designer will be a mediator and a guide, giving individuals various tools, may they be physical or spiritual, and communicating to activate the levers that allow individuals to become aware of the necessity for reappropriation and empowerment.Reappropriation is a process working to change society, at all levels, and to revalue the individual and collective happiness, opposed to consumerist pleasure and comfort, which don’t seem to grant anything positive to mankind.

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SUMMARY

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Nowadays, individuals have lost a lot of the control they have on their environment, in which they don’t invest themselves anymore. The reappropriation of this environment, through hacking for example, has become necessary, in order to start a positive change in society. This change would revalue individuals’ roles and qualifications among themselves and the society.How then, in a society advocating individualism and the pursuit of pleasure , can we restore the power and happiness of individuals over mere physical possession ?

Spaces, objects and images that surround us form the environment that has to be reappropriated. Reappropriation enables us to thrive and emancipate from society’s unfair contraints, as well as to reinvest ourselves in this society and find our rightful place.

The actors of this reappropriation are first of all individuals, who are at the center of my topic, then hackers, who can be seen as role models, and finally designers, whose roles are to guide individuals, to offer rules and a setting for reappropriation. The latter will be activated and efficient through a smart and innovative communication, as well as through the provision of tools, that will facilitate the action of individuals.Therefore, reappropriation will be able to place itself into a process of open design, rehabilitating individuals, their creativity and their role in society. In the meantime, designers will be able to also rehabilitate their humanity and their identity.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

DIGITAL MEDIA

http://www.ted.com

http://www.instructables.com

http://www.sugru.com

http://www.owni.com

http://www.graphism.fr

http://www.geekpolitics.be

http://www.wikipedia.com

http://www.telerama.fr

http://www.barbican.org

http://www.geekpolitics.be

http://www.lemonde.fr

http://www. siliconmaniacs.org

http://www.bbc.co.uk

The following bibliography was elaborated to sustain a piece of research carried out in French.

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ANALOG MEDIA

Steal like an artist “10 things nobody told you about being creative” de Austin Kleon,

ISBN 978-0-7611-6925-3, workman publishing company - New York 2012 L’éthique des hackeurs de Steven Levy,

ISBN 978-2211204101, Édition Globe - 2013

L’ère du vide, “Essais sur l’individualisme contemporain”, de Gilles Lipovetsky

ISBN 978-2070325139, Édition Gallimard, 13 avril 1989