Objectified

            From telephones to toothpicks, nearly everything that fills our world is designed. Objects look and work the way they do because someone made them that way. Director Gary Hustwit examines industrial design’s sweeping cultural impact in his documentary, Objectified. Many of the movie's subjects are well known in the design world -- they include Dieter Rams, formerly one of the chief designers for Braun, and Jonathan Ive, of Apple. Those people may not exactly be household names among us mere mortals, but as "Objectified" makes clear, they've made their presence, if not their names, known in our households. Hearing them talk about what they do puts everyday objects into fresh perspective and one can’t help but wonder, in an age where forms cannot possibly resemble the myriad of functions they now perform, what will our world look like? How does design’s drive for “new and improved” reconcile with environmental sustainability? And how do individuals express themselves through mass-produced “stuff”? Objectified is a fascinating look at our relationship with objects and the people who design them. 

 

            Thinking too hard about the power, mystery and beauty of everyday things can give you a headache. That headache can blossom into a migraine if you consider that everything around you was, at some point, designed by someone, badly or well or possibly just indifferently. Have you ever wondered why the handle of your potato peeler is shaped the way it is? Well after watching Gary Hustwit’s documentary Objectified you won’t be able to stop thinking about it. You’ll also start looking at all the everyday things that surround us in our lives, questioning whether or not they are useful, and asking how we got so attached to them in the first place.

            "Objectified" helps takes design out of the conceptual realm and into the practical world. One of its best moments is an interview with Parisian designers Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, who speak with great eloquence and sophistication (in French, no less) about design and then start fluttering around a certain chair, pointing out its attributes. They look at it this way and that, pointing out the curve of its arm and the shape of its back. Then they come around to what may be its finest attribute, its sturdiness: "So Australians who have drunk a lot of beer can plunk themselves down in it." The language of design, at its best, is just that plainspoken.

            Objectified is a movie that will open your mind to the hidden world of design that influences virtually every aspect of our lives. It’s a look at the creativity at work behind everything from toothbrushes to tech gadgets. It’s about the designers who re-examine, re-evaluate and re-invent our manufactured environment on a daily basis. It’s about personal expression, identity, consumerism, and sustainability. Gary Hustwit has taken a mundane concept and made something both compelling and artistic out of it. If you’re at all interested in design, this is a must-see film.