During my residency at VCUQ, I kept a microblog on Tumblr: repair culture. Most of the posts were URLs to websites we were using in the repair event, or discussing with the students. There are however a couple of quick notes about the Sallehlab. Re-accessing that a decade later (I'm sharing this in November 2024), it's interesting to notice how some of those references would reappear many times in further stages of my work.
I made a copy of the contents and reposted below, stripped of the tags and in direct cronology. I kept the timestamps as a reminder to myself of how long I've been reflecting about these topics. Some of the URLs are unfortunately broken, which is another sign of time passing.
What do you do with a chair when the leg has come loose? With a toaster that no longer works? Or a woollen jumper with moth holes? Toss it? No way! Repair Café
November 9th, 2014 9:14am
November 9th, 2014 9:14am
Manually eject console disc tray | Xbox disc tray stuck shut
November 9th, 2014 9:15am
"Ring of Death" redirects here. Xbox 360 technical problems - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
November 9th, 2014 9:16am
Red Ring Of Death FIX Tutorial Xbox 360
November 9th, 2014 9:17am
November 9th, 2014 9:20am
November 9th, 2014 9:21am
November 9th, 2014 9:22am
November 9th, 2014 9:27am
XBMC running on Xbox360
November 9th, 2014 9:30am
Bruce Sterling at Transmediale 2014 "Afterglow"
November 9th, 2014 9:50am
November 9th, 2014 9:51am
November 9th, 2014 9:53am
Technological Disobedience
November 9th, 2014 9:53am
November 9th, 2014 9:55am
November 9th, 2014 9:56am
BBC - Future - Turning waste into building blocks of the future city
November 9th, 2014 9:57am
"what happens when we take erosion, breakdown, and decay, rather than novelty, growth, and progress, as our starting points in thinking through the nature, use, and effects of information technology and new media?" RethinkingRepairPROOFS(reduced)Aug2013.pdf
November 9th, 2014 9:59am
November 9th, 2014 10:00am
An inspiring documentary on the Cradle to Cradle design concept. plugin:youtube
November 9th, 2014 10:01am
November 9th, 2014 10:02am
November 9th, 2014 10:03am
Open source 3-D printing of OSAT - Appropedia: The sustainability wiki
November 9th, 2014 10:05am
More videos
- Light Bulb Conspiracy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfbbF3oxf-E
- Estamira http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0427221/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
- E-wasteland http://www.david-fedele.com/E-WASTELAND_files/WATCH_FILM.html
- Island of flowers http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amg08t0TQOY
- Digital Handcraft http://v2v.cc/v2v/digital_handcraft
- Jan Chipchase, nine trends (…) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUyivefe0S0
- Waste Land http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUAavzJsTBw
November 9th, 2014 10:06am
November 9th, 2014 10:19am
November 9th, 2014 10:20am
Stories
Every object comes with a story. It is important to listen to the story not only to try and diagnose what the problem seems to be, but also to empathize with the object’s owner, build trust and hopefully learn something in the way.
November 10th, 2014 1:51am
Tools and testing materials
During our first repair cafe in Doha, it was worth noticing the amount of time we spent looking for the proper tools or testing devices. An organised bench should already start with some of these materials, but the preparation will never be extensive enough - so long as we can’t tell what kinds of objects will show up.
November 10th, 2014 1:54am
Repair Process - first draft
- Invite people to bring their broken objects or even only to help fixing others’ objects;
- Listen to the story of each object that arrives;
- Prove whether it is really broken by trying to reproduce the alleged failure. If it works, return to the owner (or forward it to someone else if that was the deal);
- Start with simple fixes: replace fuses, check whether safety buttons are properly placed and moving. If it works, return or forward the object;
- Open it up. Screwdrivers are often of help. Some objects won’t be opened unless you break a seal or sometimes even a part of its case. Check whether there are recommendations (service manuals, youtube videos, internet forum). If the object may be damaged, warn the owner beforehand;
- With the object opened, try to understand its inner working. You may end up needing to stop and learn about whatever this object is built on;
- Identify broken parts and try to replace them. This may require a visit to stores, online shopping, alternative approaches or removing parts from other objects;
- You will often find that the object can not be repaired. If that is the case, try to make something else out of it (that will be the subject of another post soon);
- Whatever the results are, give a destination to the object: return it to owner, forward it to someone else, use it yourself or discard it properly.
November 10th, 2014 2:10am
November 11th, 2014 1:42am
Rock Garden of Chandigarh - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
November 11th, 2014 1:47am
In its initial years, the Studio became known for establishing an ethos of recycling, reusing and remaking. In 2001, after the passing of Samuel Mockbee, Andrew Freear succeeded him as director. Since that time, Rural Studio has expanded the scope and complexity of its projects, focusing largely on community-oriented work. Purpose & History
November 11th, 2014 1:50am
Documenting over 100 exemplary projects from around the world, it is packed with practical and ingenious design solutions that address the need for basic shelter, housing, education, health care, clean water and renewable energy.
Design Like You Give a Damn [2]: Building Change from the Ground Up
November 11th, 2014 2:01am
Let's work together with the children, keeping in mind our idea of sustainability: we do not want to carry on making new things when we can use what we already have to create fun and games. Low Cost Design Park
November 11th, 2014 2:02am