Learning from the zanies

It is often said that great things come from small beginnings. Throughout history, many of the big events that shaped the world and our destinies happened not in a flash, but oddly enough, began from modest origins.

My discovery of the topic at hand was born from my daughter’s insistence more than anything else. The surprise, however, was quick, and as a parent, it caused me amusement. As a person who thrives in creating an environment for modern living, my thoughts began to flourish as my eyes panned around the room. What stood in front of me were animated forms of ideas that had been cleverly assembled. And proudly standing side by side, these Grade 2 kids of The Beacon School were eagerly awaiting response. The kids were prepared to show how their inventions worked; they were not timid at all about their creations. They seemed to have understood their current landscapes and had a better grasp of the world they live in than one might give them credit for.

It is because of these sensibilities that inspired me to write once again.

The room was borrowed from another class, I was told, and it was just roomy enough to get all the tables in, all 31 of them, now expanded because some had more than one invention. The patent certificates were all visible, and it was an assurance that visitors like us would have fewer chances to copy or else we could get sued in court! The patent certificates were there also to make these children realize the value of such a document and protecting one’s invention in the real world. They all had a chair to sit on while they patiently waited questions from visitors.

Forget about mathematical calculations or scientific breakthroughs, because what these kids presented were spontaneity, rigor and common sense, giving their creations enough plausibility for acceptance.

As children, their world is somehow limited. Their affinity for animals speaks of innocence, a kind of purity. To them, it is important that their pets or playmates obtain a kind of respectability and prominence. They care about the daily ways by which these animals confront life. They become the imaginary "breadwinners," and it is their tasks that their animals are fed, and given a sense of socialization similar to what we adults consider social ties. The young girls also show maternal instincts in the way they give comfort and warmth to their puppies, a luxury that animals are left often without. They create labyrinths – spaces with no significant borders, only defined by movements. Because animals like cats or mice do not have a specific hierarchical pattern of behavior, their design acclimatizes to such patterns and movements. One student went as far as suspending the enclosure up in air, and making it visible for the insects to play from another viewing perspective, like gazing up into the stars.

To some of the inventions, the domestic landscape prevails as a territory where the need is to correctly situate its environment in terms of cleanliness, order and comfort. It is funny that perhaps due to the incessant reprimands we adults subject our children to clean up their rooms, that they begin to create in their own minds their own way of dealing with the chore. They see how their robots are able to clear up demons, so why not make robots clean up the room while they sleep or watch TV, and perhaps make them even serve their meals? Others find space saving important, as in safety boxes that are hidden above sight, only to come into view when needed. One inventor uses his toy car to pull a rubbish bag in tow and while in motion, the rubbish bag gobbles anything that gets in its way. Others find a need to create new inventive ways of fun cleaning, like the Cleaning Motion or the Wheel O’Drive.

Then we have the "thinkers" who prefer to throw in analysis to establish a premise for the solution. Consider a simple game like skating, where there are certain flaws inimical to one’s anatomy or gameplay, where makers usually find ways to continually improve on their product and avoid accidents. Or what about those moments that cause embarrassment, becoming the starting point for someone to think of an invention such as a pencil wrapped with silly putty and incense? The pencil exudes a counter-measure to neutralize farting, relieving the agony of bearing the odor even for a while.

The diversity of ideas went to extremes, as with a coin tree that suggests a more expedient way of taking money when needed without breaking the bank, or a study of how ants could live in a more comfortable micro-room equipped with enough facilities for activity. One girl took pains to underscore some need to minimize, if not eliminate, unwanted rodents with a cleverly trapping device operated manually. A special ruler, with a built-in container, and a long red tube that is actually attached to an alarm clock does its job without waking up others. A design that shows a person’s sensitivity towards her neighbor, in which she senses a need to create an object that would disallow her roommates to be disturbed in their sleep. Then we have the cause-and-effect hypothesis where an incident is set up to create another occurrence such as the balloon popper. A key holder that is suspended with a glow in a darkened room is a big help to jetsetting night owls.

Because they’re kids, there will always be one that conceives of a new game toy, like the Sling Pong or a better conceived Frisbee glider that aids a better hand throw, a chocolate dispensing machine called the Sweet Tooth Catcher, a personalized frame box, all those that leave tell-tale signs of fantasy and want.

Water was the theme for a number of inventors. The Waterer is actually a pole with a spout on top that connects to the main pole (or spine) all the way to a base disc that also functions as its foot, where water is dispelled for plants. There are provisions for supply reserves and another drinking spout that could be attached to a bottle for drinking. Another was a seed planting device, where seeds are poured on one side, and water on the other side of the "head." The boy’s idea is that while the seeds are dropped, the water would help plant them. Gadgets similar to those well-sought items in Brutus or Nonno (Japanese gadget magazines) came in a form of a cap equipped with flashlight for night vision, and a juice/water receptacle for camping out or trekking. Another invention was a headgear with two bottles, one on each side for summer hiking to the woods, with a fan-like mask that could be drawn up into the face as a sun/sand protection tool.

Food was likewise explored as in an oat-wheat concoction to nourish horses, and keep them trim and sprightly. And so was a fruit salad mixer that will always be a favorite to many.

In these highly diversified assortment of inventions, the originality can be clearly seen in the way each child had to enact his/her ideas through the manipulation of the material, giving form to what were mostly refuse and found objects.

One explored the techniques of Japanese paper folding, using origami as his way of creating new hero characters. Others were more spontaneous, electing to use ordinary crate boxes then translating their ideas with some personal touches. The almost impromptu approach of "what you see is what you get" makes these objects attain a more intimate and somewhat endearing quality that is more invaluable than what the market already sells, as each would seem to have a "soul" built in them. It is commendable that the teachers allowed the children to explore ideas without the use of sophisticated materials, or textbook references. Rather, through their own experiences, they were able to make such connections between intuition and fruition.

One of the important aspects in product reviews is communication. What each child did surpasses that condition, with an illustration and concept definition. I remember witnessing a number of product reviews here and the design jury would always find it difficult to make the connection between product and concept because of lack of visual communications in the part of the presenter. I chose together with the inventions a number of illustrations that reprised their product models. Some had hilarious titles like The Skater Stayer, The Waterer, The Burper, or Putty Incense Farty Pooper, to name a few.

All told, greatness here may be an exaggeration, but for what these second-grade, seven to eight-year-olds did is indicative of what the younger generation could be like, if given the guidance. While it may seem evident that these exercise remains a school project, they nevertheless present how the young are able to associate themselves with their surroundings.

Design must, after all, be a way of life, and not a mere economic means. When a nation acquires an innate creative sensibility, an identity is born. I was asked to make a commentary very recently on the ongoing idiom in Filipino design. My answer was that it is in a healthy state. Although there is no specific idiom that can be noted immediately in a generalized term, there are pockets of interesting landscapes that abound our domestic scenery. These vignettes amplify a cluster of personal idioms with traces of the traditional, the contemporary and the modern. What has yet to happen is the merging of all these landscapes to become one nationalized idiom. For now, what I saw and experienced at the Beacon’s Inventors Convention may very well be the start of a larger picture of the youth showing the way as we learn from them, in a bright but zany way!