Material Innovations

I received a birthday card from my Aunt today, so I called her to express my gratitude.  Auntie Annie was a flower child in the sixtes and grew up hanging out with Ken Kesey, Frank Zappa and Jerry Garcia.  She once went to Eugene court in defense of love as an ingredient in bread (they won the case).   During our conversation I asked her opinion on the difference between our current socio-environmental movement and her activist experiences during sixties and seventies.  I often wonder if our present social and environmental concern will be overshadowed like the  energy crisis that proceeded the excessive eighties?  Will we return to our Hummer marketing, clear-cutting past like relapsing alcoholics?  I asked my Aunt what seems different about todays movement.  She said today there is so much science to back the movement that we won’t be dismissed as a bunch of stoners.

Annie and her old crew come to mind when I look through the “Whole Earth Catalog”.  I find it interesting that the author initiated a public campaign to have NASA release the satellite photo of the earth as seen from space.  Stewart Brand was a visionary, realizing the effect this image would have on our society and using it on the cover of his 1969 catalog.  Earth photographed from space was the most powerful tool for educating people about the necessity for environmental conservation.  People were able to visualize our planet as a singular interconnected environment with no “away” where we can throw things.  This is even more clear today as we realize coal burning in China melts glaciers in Greenland which floods fishing villages in Indonesia.

Speaking of glaciers…

Thank you Ali for passing me the “Whole Earth Catalog” open to a page discussing climbing techniques.  On the adjacent page I saw a summary of the first edition of “The Freedom of the Hills”.  I own the 6th edition of the mountaineering bible, and consulted it for glacial travel techniques that morning.  Coincidentally I had just e-mailed my parents as a safety precaution for a Saturday climb:

Hey guys I’m headed to climb the north east route up Colchuck Peak.  It’s 18 pitches of 5.8.  Carl Kilmt and I are leaving today around 2pm we will most likely park a blue subaru at Stuart lake/Mountaineer creek trail head, (10 miles outside of Leavenworth) hike to colchuck lake and bivvy.  Saturday we will climb and should be back to the car late that night or maybe Sunday mid day.

It’s not too technical. Leavenworth ranger station 509-548-6977.

Will try to call Sunday night or Monday morning.

-David

The next evening Carl and I would be descending two thousand feet on forty degree glacier in the dark using techniques explained in that book.  Although it may exist with in a fringe group, “The Freedom of the Hills” continues to be by far the most comprehensive publication on mountaineering techniques and safety.

After perusing my 1971 copy of The Whole Earth Catalog I became intrigued with an ad promoting home windmills made by an Australian company called Quirk’s Victory Light Company. They were purchased many years ago by the Real Gas and Electric Company which is a full service wholesale distributor of sustainable energy products.

I became excited about the possibility of installing a home windmill to generate my home’s power needs.  Real Gas links to a company called Bergey, which sells actual windmill kits. Bergey brings up an important point, though. I perceive windmills as novelties, which could reduce my coal-fired energy consumption but are a far cry from being powerful enough to supply my house.   For many communities around the world where there is no grid the windmill can be a important survival instrument, if not a way to connect to modern life in some way by powering a radio, TV, or generator.

Bergey offers some writing on using windmills to pump water.  After searching Google for this I found OtherPower. They link to many exciting uses of wind power around the world.

They offer a homeowner kit for $1200 that will produce (hold your breath) 800 watts! That is six and one half amps, or what my toaster uses! So a windmill is not really practical for my use.  OtherPower offers a substantial blog on environmental energy use systems under the site fieldlines.com.

Discount solar offers a  “neighbor friendly” windmill for $700 that produces 400 watts.  Other than that, though, it looks like the home windmill has stalled out since the Quirk’s 1971 promotion.  I think the block is that it is just too expensive to set up for the costs. (Windmills produce DC current so a converter is needed plus a bank of batteries to store the excess power adds up in costs real quick.) After reading “Power from the Wind” by Dan Chiras I see that to operate at peak function windmills need to be about 110 feet of the ground.

There are a lot of exciting innovations though and I plan to explore this further.  I will update as I discover.

“Pick something from The Last Whole Earth Catalog that is interesting to you.”  With 452 pages each filled to the brim with half-a-dozen or more interesting things, the phrase, “option paralysis” comes to mind.  I don’t know a single person who wasn’t sucked out of the present upon the first internal gaze of the counter-culture tome.  Needless to say, I was overwhelmed with interesting stuff.  So, to tackle the assignment, I established a simple parameter: after closing the book, the first page I open to randomly will contain the item I’ll report on.  Joy. . .   The first was page 230 in the “Health” section, subsection “Sex”.  A book called, The Joy of Sex by Alex Comfort, PhD. first edition, 1971.

Forty years after The Last Whole Earth Catalog was published, and in-spite of countless attempts by various organizations around the world to curb or outright eliminate human sexual activity, it is with great relief that I report the following:  sex is still being enjoyed to the present day.  In fact, following its advertisement in the catalog, The Joy of Sex remained at the top of the New York Times bestseller list for eleven weeks and more than 70 weeks in the top five.  There have been several subsequent revisions and the love guide is now in it’s fourth edition called, The New Joy of Sex (2008) which packs twenty-five percent more material (positions invented since 1972?), updated language to adjust for shifts in social attitudes and 120 res-hot photographs and illustrations.

One key indicator that sex is happening is an increasing world population.  Midway into 1974, the world population reached 4 billion.  Only 40 years later, the population is near doubled at 6.7 billion with 8 billion projected for 2025.  Interestingly, though, the birthrate has dropped steadily since 1970, though not at a rate high enough to stabilize the global human head count.  A very interesting statistic register that displays dozens of related statistics in real-time is at WORLDMETERS.info.  I recommend a quick peek at this site.

In 1972 The Whole Earth Catalog sited “three recent trends [that] make access to good information about sex more important than ever.”  First, “highly visible controversies about pornography and abortion;” second, “the rise of the VCR’s popularity and the growing number of sexual videotapes;” and three, the “proliferation of sexually transmitted diseases.”  Well, in hindsight, it’s true that the VCR revolutionized porn.  It’s also true that a little more than a decade later, the internet revolutionized the porn revolution.  Here’s an eye-popping info graphic from BLOGTACTIC.com

enJOY!

Interestingly, the majority of the bicycle section in the Whole Earth Catalog documented variations and technological advances of the bicycle, few of which have made it into the mainstream. The bikes they depict (mostly folders and recumbents) certainly still exist and are still produced with commercial success, but their popularity is still minimal. It really goes to show that the basic fundamentals of the bicycle are already so well established that there will be no toppling of the traditional bike form as transportation anytime soon.

However, those same simple principals and fundamentals of the bicycle and the fact that the bicycle is one of mankind’s most profound and simple machines for increasing the efficiency of human power, lay the foundation for expansion and development of the bike as a more specific tool. Instead of just transportation of the rider, the bike becomes a tool for more developed transport and larger working capacities of our human power. Most notably, in developing countries we see the bike as the blank canvas for work, in which simple mechanical additions and transformations make the bike and its pedal power into a different tool necessary for that locale that would otherwise be unaffordable.

Even though the folding bikes we’ve looked at from the Whole Earth Catalog are based around streamlining the bicycle into its role with our daily lives by being able to hide it more efficiently, by looking at the trends of global bicycle use and transportation we see the path that the bike has taken is much more utilitarian. Instead of designing the bike to be hidden or transported more easily, we’ve begun to integrate the bicycle much more into daily use. Although the two photos above demonstrate the bicycle as a tool of necessity and in these cases poverty, we see these trends happening all throughout the social and economic levels, as the bicycle’s potential benefits for everyone are beginning to shine through the cracks of the ever disintegrating trend of the combustion engine. It seems to me that the next Whole Earth Catalog will be encouraging the utility of the bicycle, as the trend begins to grow. It’s certainly an exciting time for your feet.

I see kids like this all the time in Portland OR.  Crusty Punks.  Gutter Punks.  Freegans.  Walking around in a monotone pack, usually with a scruffy dog who doesn’t know any better.  (Dogs are wonderful companions in that way.)

I’m always interested in their story.  Not that I ask.  The layered gray clothes, half shredded and overly worn, always intrigue me.  I start thinking about the amount of time and what circumstances got those clothes to look like that.  And then this leads to the people themselves.(warning some graphic images here – add related)  Many scenarios play through my head.  Random evening news teen statistics and my mother’s childhood warnings discussed in our awkward but important talks ranging from drugs too sex start to influence the story in my head.  I look into their faces and realize that they are close to my age.  I wonder if was their choice or another unfortunate predicament.

For some reason I want to believe it’s their choice to live that way.  And I’m like “Good for you, F the system!”, and all.  There seems to be reactive anger in this choice though.  Even a defeatist point of view.  By their physical appearance alone, they are making a major statement about the state of our culture and society.  Time and experience are values regarded higher than money.  Visually the monotone appearance is that of unity through the choice of what the norm would call struggle.  It’s a return to our roots in a way.  This perspective is all hopeful and positive though; something I see beyond their worn appearance when I look into their youthful faces.

Ed Buryn’s book and guide Vagabonding in the USA written in 1983, as found in the Whole Earth Catalog under the Nomadic section, is a resource for people who are also interested in choosing the value of time over money through the transient lifestyle.  The Catalog seems to make this point through out it’s pages.  But the Vagabonding motive, unlike these contemporary crusty kids, seems to be more about exploring self through travel, not denying self by rolling over and getting fucked up all the time.

Concurrently there’s Pat who has changed his whole life based directly one Buryn’s book.  He says he’s a Digital Vagabond.

“The Internet enables me to make my living – any time and place – and share my life and ideas online like an open book.”

Now, this guy has his roots in hitting the road in a beat up VW like so many stereotypical sole searchers, but the fact that he’s making cash from wandering around as a lifestyle seems a little insincere if not a joke. Maybe, he believes he deserves it, having lived the life for so long. He also rides around in a Winnebago which he calls “My Destiny”. (Similar to this.)

Jessica Degroot’s message is a positive example that seems to be more fitting with the values learned from time spent in wanderlust.  Here the values of community, people, and time over money, extend beyond self indulgence for the benefit for others.  She says ”We really shouldn’t have to choose between career aspirations and family aspirations,  but  before more of us can do this, we need to continue to push for more flexible organizations, supportive public policy, and progressive conversations at home.”

I’m not advocating to be a stay at home family member, nor am I saying we should all hit the road and live the transient lifestyle.  But there can be values learned from travel exploration that we can start to incorporate into our understanding of values and ways of life if done in a positive manner.

The Barter Network Handbook last published in 1983, is described by Stewert Brand in The Whole Earth Catalog as “Another one of those slightly fusty do-gooder manuals, but the subject is one that, like open air farmers’ markets…can do alot to connect a community. Sometimes you barter goods, but mostly people barter services; either way, you leave the IRS out of it. Village economics in an urban world, self-rewarding”.

Although this book is listed as out of print  on Amazon, the notion of bartering has made its way onto the internet in a wide array of forms and in a range of communities. From this Boston Globe article from April 2009 “Some indicators suggest the number of bartering exchanges is increasing. Earlier this month, a popular advertising website, Craigslist, announced that its barter listings increased by 100 percent during the past year. A bartering website, www.u-exchange.com, which reports 60,000 members in 82 countries, said its membership has nearly doubled over the same time”

These online sites usually work with a credit based system;  you can list your goods or service and determine the amounts of credits they are worth, you are then linked to a network of other individuals and businesses who want to barter.  This way, you don’t have to make direct exchanges to get what you want, rather you earn or lose credits within the network you are part of!  An old studio mate of mine used to exchange her stained glass for dog food through Greenbarter. The benefits of the barter system are numerous in that it is a flexible and customizable way to meet all the participants needs, a great example of the innovation possible is written about in this 2002 Seattle Times article that describes barter systems being used at small private colleges.  “Six families have swapped their swine for scholarship, trading hogs that are worth little on the open market for classes on Lindenwood’s tree-lined suburban campus. They have filled the cafeteria’s freezers with fresh-off-the-farm sausage, bacon — even whole pigs, which are smoked on an outdoor barbecue spit before home football games.” The article goes on to describe another campus that is providing students who volunteer on campus and in the community with tuition rebates.  As the economy declines and structures dissolve,  it begins to allow old models to become viable and regain credibility. And, with the ever expanding net of the inter-web the options for barter become expansive.

I have often thought it would be interesting to organize regions within the US to exchange goods via barter with other regions within our borders, promoting economic security and internal interdependence, it may also serve as a unifying paradigm for regions that tend towards political animosity.  The Northwest trading Blackberries to the Southeast who trades peanut oil to New England who sends Maple Syrup to the Southwest who trades chilies to the Midwest who sends Corn to the Northwest.  People interested could join co-op’s specializing in this kind of exchange to ensure users were getting what they needed and bartering their surplus.  This type of exchange could also be a major boon to government and community organizations trying to feed and diversify the diets impoverished citizens living in a land with a bounty of growing climates and food resources.  That may just be the “the fusty do-gooder” in me but I think a barter based economy can be a more legitimate economy then one based on Mortgages-backed securities and derivatives.

Image from the book "Hands on Weaving" by Barbara Liebler

The Whole Earth Catalog from 40 years ago certainly has its share of items that seem ridiculous today.  Or maybe it just seems ridiculous that any subject under the sun can be turned into a hobby.  I guess average people don’t have time for or interest in hobbies and crafts as much these days, or they will just go out and buy the thing they need, for example, textiles for the home.  However, the section on weaving and other fiber arts is full of how-to guides, which I’m sure promoted the popularity of weaving everything that possibly could be woven.  I love images like this drawing, where it shows that the resident is clearly an enthusiast of this craft.

I noticed a particular book featured in the Whole Earth Catalog- “The Techniques of Rug Weaving” by Peter Collingwood (1968).  This is a book that my mentor today is telling me to check out.  I guess it is kind of a bible on this subject, and a more complete version has yet to replace it.  It is incredibly dense and full of illustrations of every possible weaving technique or knot that you could need.

Will I do anything with this information?  Will I end up actually producing rugs for a living, or is this not a market that will favor me in a western country?   After all, so many rugs come from factories in developing nations, which keeps them affordable for most people.  And if I also work in other techniques, will I ever be expert enough at weaving to draw the consumer for my rugs over other rugs?  Hopefully I will draw enough of a niche audience, as I take on the challenge of creating more of an art rug, rather than a traditional one, and not just leave myself as a hobbyist.

I really appreciate the efforts of the following artist.

Travis Meinolf weaving in Dolores Park, San Francisco. From SF Chronicle.

Travis Meinolf, a recent graduate of California College of Arts, (actionweaver.com), has set up many projects where he brings the process of weaving to people who might otherwise know nothing about this essential process of creating the cloth that is a part of our everyday lives.  He has built a portable loom which he rolls out into a park or other public place where he just weaves and interacts with people who are curious.

"The Weaving Place" Photo from Cup of Red Blog. Click image to go to source page.

For a project called “The Weaving Place,” he placed simple laser-cut looms in the Vancouver Art Gallery for the public to use.  The resulting small weavings were sewn together to create 15 blankets which were distributed to the homeless and to a women’s shelter.

Although cheap and convenient factory textiles abound, the homemade ones still outshine the rest.  They are the ones you don’t replace; they are the ones that carry on through generations.  They are made with love.

In the 1971 edition of The Whole Earth Catalog, I looked for bamboo.  There were two entries, one for the book, Bamboo, by Robert Austin (page 149) and a second for Bamboo Pipes, Making and Playing (page 371).  I happen to have Bamboo in my personal library, so thought I would investigate the staying power of the book.

“The adoration and utilization of a towering weed.  Civilization as seen by material.  Every single thing that plastic isn’t.”  Stuart Brand wrote these thoughts at the beginning of the section devoted to Austin and Ueda’s book.  He quoted two paragraphs from the book and selected an image from the book of a bamboo fence on a rock wall.  The book could be ordered directly through TWEC or from the publisher, John Weatherhill, Inc. in New York.  The book retailed for $17.50.

Bamboo is a classic and was one of the first books on bamboo available in the United States.  The original idea for the book came from Robert Austin, a graphics consultant and book editor for Reader’s Digest in Tokyo.  He collaborated with Koichiro Ueda, a professor emeritus of Kyoto University, president of the Japan Bamboo Industries Association and the leading authority on bamboo in Japan.  The photographer for the book was Dana Levy, a graphic designer and creative director of the Tokyo offices of McCann Erickson-Hakuhodo.   The text was written by Austin with technical information and input from Ueda.  The first edition was printed in Japan.  There are three sections:  Bamboo:  Its Lore and Versatility, Bamboo:  Its Beauty and Uses, and Bamboo:  Its Growth and Cultivation.  It is an excellent reference book with basic information and beautiful images in black and white and color.

Regretfully, it is out-of-print, but still available through Amazon.com or from sellers of out-of-print books from $4.37 to $160.10.  I own a first edition, 1970.   There were other editions in 1978 and 1985,  as far as I could determine from the available books online.

Forty years later, several new books on bamboo have been published.  David Farrelly’s, The Book of Bamboo, is a first rate resource book.  Here are some additional favorites: