workshop: Density of Lessness
tutors: Maria Blaisse (NL)
when: 6 – 10 October 2017
where: International Graphic Art Center (MGLC), Ljubljana, Slovenia
organiser: Oloop Design
As part of a project month “Hands are watching, eyes are touching” organised by Oloop Design at the the International Graphic Art Center (MGLC).
The workshop is named after the title of the poem ‘Density of Lessness’ by architect Trude Hooykaas, written for the book ‘The Emergence of Form‘.
Maria Blaisse and the Oloop group met during a colourful October in Tivoli City Park. The International Centre for Graphic Arts in Ljubljana supported the project and offered working space surrounded by nature.
The method is based on tuning in to nature, its processes and the forms found there. So ideas for design are not created in our minds first, but through slowing down, by “listening one octave higher,” as Maria explained, sensing with the whole body, and focusing on what attracts our attention in nature. The creative process that Blaisse invited us to take part in is a method for becoming present and aware. In this sensitive state, we are able to learn from nature, and about how forms are emerging.
However, this is not only a way of creating design that is more in tune with nature, but it applies to our lives more generally and allows us to better connect with ourselves and with each other.