Film – Rams

Last Saturday morning before I met my friend Justin for breakfast, I rewatched the recent documentary by Gary Hustwit about Dieter Rams. I could pick out many excerpts from it but these two below stayed with me in that moment.

Towards the end, Rams warns:

1 hr. 1 min. 53 secs. – “I think that all this digitalisation is becoming more and more a part of our life. I think it diminishes our ability to experience things. There are pictures that disappear, one after the other, without leaving traces up hear [pointing to his head]. This goes insanely fast. And maybe that’s why we can, or we want to, consume so much. The world that can be perceived through the senses exudes an aura that I believe cannot be digitised. We have to be careful now, that we rule over the digital world, and are not ruled by it.”

These lines are accompanied by images of him sitting on a chair in his Japanese inspired garden gently and meticulously pruning a bonsai tree. He’s then joined by his wife Ingeborg and we see a tender interaction between them as they talk about the tree, hold hands and smile. It’s one of the most endearing and touching scenes and a reminder about the importance of human connections and relationships.

In an earlier moment, Mateo Kries, director of the Vitra Design Museum, gives us another glimpse into Mr. Rams’ thinking:

53:41 – “He’s very clear about the people he likes. He’s also from that generation where designers dared to say ‘This to my opinion is bad design’. Today you would more often here ‘This is interesting.’ and you never know what that means. Yes of course, I think the whole world is interesting but I’m currently asking myself whether we’re not entering a time where this question, is it good or not good, is maybe becoming more important again. We just can’t afford to be so indifferent.”

I think this is a huge point, very applicable not only to design but everything we do today. Resources are finite, we should not waste them.