Influx

Modern business has become ruthlessly efficient at producing low cost goods, so much so, it’s very easy to ignore the complexities involved in the global sourcing and manufacture of these items.

The Toaster Project by Thomas Thwaites, a student at RCA, is an attempt to come to terms with the complexity. Thwaites takes a $10 toaster and tries to manufacture his version that takes him on an interesting journey into mines, meetings with energy consultants and even smelting iron ore in a microwave.

Step 2, Attempt 2: Smelting Iron Ore in a Microwave from Thomas Thwaites on Vimeo.

Thwaites sums up the real point of the project as follows;

“It seems the need to buy more stuff to save our economy and the need
to buy less to save our environment are on a collision course.  So, we
either have to value what we’ve got a lot more, or spend as much time
and effort taking things apart and disposing of them as we do putting
them together.”

Posted by Ed Cotton