In designing for this challenge, I drew heavily from the Niedderer reading:
This remarkable quality of craft seems to emanate from the emotion bestowed on craft objects both by the maker within their creation and by the owner through possession, display and use. They consist in material quality and sensitivity of a craft object which imbue it with personal emotions and meaning, values and memory that can be perceived as related to the idea of
the gift.
For this project, I chose an object from my childhood: a china or ceramic spoon that is used to give massages in a process called
“Gua Sha”. This process is soothing and usually used to “remove fever” from the patient or receiver. This is a very personal exchange between the administrator and receiver, as it entails a certain trust that typically exists between doctor and patient, or parent and child (as this is typically a folk remedy).
Thus, the kit that I provided is to make a personal massager that can be given as a gift. The kit that I provided includes:
- A vibrating core, composed of a NanoBug, air-dry clay, and tin-foil
- A tub of clay, for the kit receiver to create a shape that may mold to their own hand
- A pack of markers, to decorate after the clay is dry
- An instruction sheet
Both the process of making and using will imbue this simple item with emotional value from both the creator and the user.
