Among a decent if not especially vintage selection of Diploma projects on show at the Bauhaus University Weimar Summaery 2012 exhibition, the one that was getting the least attention when we were there was also, in our opinion, the best.
Schwarz auf Weiss by Jenni-Fee Hahn.
Modern communication is all well and good. It's quick, it's easy, it's universal. But we all know it is also, as Blur so very nearly put it. Rubbish.
It doesn't satisfy us. It doesn't motivate us. It doesn't inspire us.
Schwarz auf Weiss by Jenni-Fee Hahn does.
A concept more than a product per se, Schwarz auf Weiss is in essence little more than a writing set complete with a postage stamp. And the perfect antidote to sitting in a coffee shop checking Facebook or taking another Instagram photo of a cappuccino to tweet to your friends who are invariably doing the same.
Write a letter. Make some notes. Sketch something.
Rediscover that wonderful feeling of losing yourself in your thoughts and imagination. Oblivious to what the rest of the world is doing.
Digital communication is a necessity. Analogue communication is a pleasure.
Honest!
The real beauty of Schwarz auf Weiss is of course that it provides a means for escaping the digital. Many of us know there is more to life than what we currently accept, but breaking the cycles is difficult. Finding that moment to step out of life and do something stimulating isn't that easy.
A writing set that you can order with your coffee is perhaps the simplest, most delightful way imaginable to help us reclaim our space in the world and our sense of self. Because it involves no effort. Just the desire to do such.
And that is what really appealed to us.
