>2 Resources (Objects 11-20)

I think it was Rousseau who eloquently explained that only human beings are to blame for the existence of private property. He said that once upon a time some human being decided to put a fence around a piece of land and call it hers (or his, who knows). Since nobody questioned such apalling measure -because there was plenty of land around so that everybody could do the same- the notion of private property was born. If only the other human beings had not allowed that first proprietor to arbitrarily privatize the land that belonged to all, private property would not exist today. This second set of objects (11-20) deals with the changing value of things: what today is chic, tomorrow will be passé; what today is important, tomorrow will be superfluous. The set begun with experience-based designs –Environmental Transformer and Flogiston Chair- and it ends with water-related objects that have the potential of becoming polemic soon. Indeed, the value of water is still not an issue in our comfortable Western part of the world because we have plenty. But predictions of the increasing desertification of the planet and the subsequent reduction of potable water available will make water a valuable resource very soon. When that happens, what today is an innocent product –a bottle of mineral water we carry in the subway with us to stay hydrated- will acquire a whole different value: shall we still think it is OK that a few global corporations control our planet’s water sources?