Thomas Thwaites built a toaster from scratch. For art school. He is delightful. The project was curious but his presentation this morning set off a whole long train of thougths about where and how everything around is made, used and the thrown away.

He says about his project:

The practical aspects of the project are rather a lot of fun. They also serve as a vehicle through which theoretical issues can be raised and investigated. Commercial extraction and processing of the necessary materials happens on a scale that is difficult to resolve into the domestic toaster.

The contrast in scale between between consumer products we use in the home and the industry that produces them is I think absurd – massive industrial activity devoted to making objects which enable us, the consumer, to toast bread more efficiently. These items betray no trace of their providence.

His presentation was a delightful start to the second day of the Design Indaba in Cape Town

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