Ernesto Morales is quite the jack of trades. He runs a design firm; he’s a DJ known for a party in Boston called Picó Picante; he’s a video producer, inventor, photographer and brand strategist, and now he’s entering the world of fine art with a project called Object Solutions.
At first you might not see Object Solutions as an artistic endeavor but upon closer inspection, the project reveals itself as multifaceted. Object Solutions is a semi-fictitious design firm inventing and producing products that provide solutions to dark and obsessive first world problems. Take a look at the videos and you’ll see an array of products aimed at curing exaggerated emotions like poisoning resentments and obsessive compulsive cleanliness.
One of the videos in his series explains the Full-Body Moist Towel as “a personal, portable hygiene blanket.” The targeted audience for the Full-Body Moist Towel is a person who wants to devour a particularly messy meal like saucy ribs without restraint and leave no trace of their sticky consumerism. This product taps into the human desire for an uninhibited hedonism where all the consequences can pristinely be wiped away. “Life offers an onslaught of filth at every turn and the full-body moist towel offers a refreshing alternative,” the narrator explains.
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We’ve all seen the As Seen On TV ads for gadgets that fix life’s small yet troublesome tasks like fast vegetable choppers or wall devices that release high-pitched sounds only animals can hear and act as bug and rodent repellent. My mother is obsessed with these devices. I own a ridiculous plastic tuna can strainer and several soda tops that retain the carbonation for your unfinished canned soda because of her appreciation for little inventions. Mexican moms love things that promote conservation.
The products of Object Solutions share qualities with these As Seen On TV or SkyMall products, but include a twang of irony. Other products include a magnifying spoon that allows you to inspect food in public before eating it. Then there’s the rotisserie patio table, which allows dining partners equal sun distribution when sitting outside. The quiet resentment that builds when your partner has the optimal seat is described as the time when “a moment of would-be beauty becomes a moment of private agony.” And then there’s the lint investment system for chronic recyclers. Expelled lint can be accumulated and reused as a new piece of clothing– “a simple laundry cycle becomes an investment into the future of fashion.” Can product design go beyond fixing task efficiency and actually delve into the realm of optimizing emotional equilibrium?
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One might view the videos as sketch comedy, others may see the critique of consumerism embedded in the sarcasm. Then there are those who want to actually buy the products. Maybe it’s design theatre or a new form of philosophical invention art, but maybe there’s something deeper and darker about the human condition to be seen in these absurd fabrications. Check out Object Solutions at http://www.objectsolutions.net/ and decide for yourself.