Response #2 Herman Miller

Response 2
Herman Miller

My interest for this excerpt leid mainly within the description of tools and techniques used by Charles Eames, after having moved his entire laboratory work space into his home on the West coast. The details are as such to describe a scene in which Charles and Ray are working together as silent, independent designers…creating for themselves in the privacy of their own living room. It is easy to see why considering a furniture designer working as a silent genius in the obviousness of his and her own acutal living room space is beautiful in its self. Where else would a designer find better inspiration for the matters of everyday living? More importantly however, I found the relationship described between Charles and his tools to be sympathetic to the entire genre of DIY art and music. The text explains, “the primitive facilities were, in a way, an advantage, for they forced the invention of techniques”. This is many times the case of the independent artist who attempts to record his or her own music. While anybody who buys an Apple computer will have the free music recording program Garageband, most home recording musicians do not own expensive recording gear. This means microphones, digital mixing interfaces, cables, additional software and sometimes even instruments themselves. In one instance, specifically, I discovered ways to make the sound of a bass drum without the help of a drum machine, synthesizer or physical drumset at all. I have had to use the rubber tops of tupperware, or flicking my thumb against a pad of notebook paper. Another time, I duct taped a guitar pickup to the face of a drum set instead of using a drum microphone. These are all simple metaphors for my own personal attempts at treating limitations as tools, rather than discouragement. I feel that the most beautiful thing about DIY music is that it is born out of a process that must be configured according to the artist’s surroundings. In such a way, the elements and tools used by the artist are personally aware of their importance as being mere reflections of the artist’s situational state. For instance, a project created with primitive tools acts as a self portrait in that it is self referential to the artist’s current limitations.
I also find it interesting that Charles Eames’ success is due in part to his situational disparate attitude. It seems so funny when the affection and sympathy for difference is realized through a creative means unheard of by the commercial world, and ultimately acclaimed. I find it difficult at times to believe.