Presented in context of the 2024 Designblok Diploma Selection competition, it's difficult for us to discuss Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague, UMPRUM, graduate Adam Kvaček's project The Paradox of Isoëtes. Future of Almost Lost Species in all too great detail as that involves reading a thesis we've not seen. But a thesis that having seen The Paradox of Isoëtes at Designblok we are keen to read.
What we can say is that, for us, and from our all-to brief time with the project as presented at Designblok Prague 2024, The Paradox of Isoëtes is and was less concerned with the isoëtes, those quillworts, those (semi-)aquatic plants of the title, and also less concerned with the disposable cutlery that Adam has created from a novel material based on the isoëtes of the title; but is and was primarily concerned with the question, "What if we turned endangered species into a consumer product?"1
A question as outrageous as Jonathan Swift's 18th century A Modest Proposal that the poor in Ireland raise money through selling their children as food, as meat.
And every bit as a penetrant.
A question that arose, if we've understood correctly, from considerations on how the human species seeks to preserve and maintain those plant species we've selfishly pushed to the edge of extinction; considerations that led Adam to appreciations that our main strategies are defining protected areas for the respective plants or maintaining such plants in artificial, human-developed, environments. Both of which not only fail to tackle the underlying problems, treat the symptoms not the disease, but also tend to alienate humans from the plant world, tend to a lowering of appreciations of the importance of the plant world and of the interdependency of the plant world and the humans world; leads to an unhealthy relationship between the human world and the plant world. Or perhaps more accurately, leads to an even greater alienation from the plant world and an even unhealthier relationship than that which led us to push so many plant species to the edge of extinction.
Considerations that, again if we've correctly understood, led Adam to look for an alternative strategy, one that reinforced the relationships between the plant world and the human world; a search which led him to the opinion, to the epiphany, that "The most common reason for growing plants is to meet human needs"2
An opinion, an epiphany, that reminds of the discussions by and from Plant Fever. Towards a Phyto-centred design at Schloss Pillnitz, Dresden, on human society's long, and ongoing, crusade to harness, organise, optimise, subjugate the plant world for our own ends, processes that are integral components of our alienation from the plant world, our unhealthy relationship with the plant world, and our contemporary environmental crises.
And an opinion, an epiphany, that lead Adam to the question, "What if we turned endangered species into a consumer product?"
Which he did. Creating disposable cutlery from a novel material based on isoëtes.
Disposable cutlery whose disposability is, physically and conceptually, one of the sources of our contemporary malaises.
Disposable cutlery whose production, marketing, distribution and disposal/recycling requires a myriad resources we can ill afford.
Disposable cutlery we don't need, but which if we produce and consume forces us to maintain and preserve plant species that we do need in order to ensure the balanced and continuing functioning of the planet we all rely on. Stops us threatening isoëtes.
Disposable cutlery we don't need, and which if we successfully produce and consume will invariably lead to the creation of vast swathes of isoëte monoculture to meet global industry's demand for a material for a product we don't need, that uses resources we do need; vast swathes of isoëte monoculture which through their impact on local ecosystems and habitats will put more pressure on the balance and functioning of the planet we all rely on. And on other plants we need. Which will then need to be commercialised, commodified, industrialised, in order to avoid them becoming extinct.
Disposable cutlery that reminds of so many of the solutions we develop to contemporary challenges: what to do about the ever increasing fleets of courier vans blocking up our cities while bringing us our online shopping, our online acquired clothes, books, shoes, furniture, groceries, alcohol, etc: Delivery drones. What to do about the need for ever more rare earths and ores for our digital technology: Mine the ocean floors. What to do about the ever more aggressive disinformation, fake news, bias and hate: Let AI systems compose our information streams. What to do about the high levels of poverty in 18th century Ireland: Eat the children of the poor. What to do by way of protecting plant species we're driving to extinction: Use them as the basis for consumer goods.
One of those solutions is a satire. One is a speculative design project intended more to raise questions than be an answer. Three are an indictment on 21st century human society.
¿Can you tell which is which?
¿And can you spot the accountability and answerability, the responsibility, of design and designers in context of global society?
¿And can you spot your personal accountability and answerability, your personal responsibility, in context of global society?
¿Is there actually a paradox?
¿Or as a species are we just rubbish at formulating questions. Too egotistic in our formulation of questions?
And if you don't formulate your question correctly, you'll never reach a meaningful answer.
Something Adam Kvaček, and Jonathan Swift, neatly and succinctly, and somewhat devilishly, demonstrate.
The rest is up to us all, individually and collectively......
Adam Kvaček doesn't appear to have website, but his Instagram channel can be found @adamkvacek_
Designblok Prague 2024 has now ended, more details on the event can be found at www.designblok.cz
1On screen quote in the video presentation that was part of The Paradox of Isoëtes. Future of Almost Lost Species presentation at Designblok Prague 2024
2ibid
