Alix Bizet Social Designer
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About
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What are your aims as a Designer?
My goal as a designer is to create emotional connections with materials and/or objects that go beyond the aesthetic or the functional use of the material and which generate stories amongst participants or users. I don’t think that as a designer I can solve a problem, but maybe I can give visibility to a material, perhaps that is considered as a waste product, such as hair, and through engaging with the material in unusual ways can potentially be used to draw attention wider issues and concerns in our communities. My goal as a designer is to facilitate dialogue by highlighting concerns that can be addressed and push boundaries and taboos. Finally, through my practice I would hope to gather people together in order to use my project as a platform where exchanging support is the core part of the design process. 
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What was your experience like at the CCE@HGAED?
My experience as the artist in residence at HGAED was really mind opening for my practice but also one of my biggest challenges to date, in terms of organizing venues for three events creating 3 design briefs in collaboration with the CCE whilst maintaining a high level of engagement for the students through the entire project and across the 2 years of residency. Being over such a length of time meant I really got to know the students and support students to develop their ideas alongside the project. I enjoyed seeing them grow as artists and become more confident in their voice and creativity through collaborating with my practice. I had the best team of people supporting me in the school as an artist/designer that anyone could imagine. HGAED was always open and encouraging from the beginning to the end, helping, liaising and making time for this project. This project would have never been a success without the structure of the residency HGAED put in place for me and I think the result is the tangible combination of all our effort and the students hard work who were fully engaged from the start of my residency. I would recommend to any artist or designer who would like to engage with young people and work with a team of very open-minded educators to apply for this residency. |
Hairytage - some reflections
The Hairytage project was born after my residency at the Design Museum London and the work I did with the students from HGAED. The project called Hair by Hood (which you can see as part of Exploration Body Mapping) allowed me to look more closely into the Peckham community and its unique relationship with Hair and Afro Hair.
Hair is a material that I work with as a social designer and which allows me to look at different aspects of society but also that allows me to tackle some serious and difficult social-political issues; such as beauty standards, racism, discrimination, gender inequality or ageing in today society. It also offers me the possibility to tackle the problem of “how to design for and with the diversity? “
With Hairytage I wanted to explore the material of hair in the context of Peckham and current Gentrification. It was while talking to the local hairdressers that I realized the complexity of this subject. I began to realise how Peckham hair salons are tangled up in current topic of gentrification, as they are at the heart of the identity of Peckham. They are not only a place to get your hair cut, but a place to meet, to share stories, and therefore a place where people shape their identity. The afro hairdressers provide local resident with a space to belong and where multicultural heritage is celebrated.
During my previous workshops at the HGAED while using hair, students often referred to the topic of identity and heritage questions of their own family and neighborhood background were raised while talking about their relationship with their hair and hairdressers. In the context of gentrification students often shared the same concerns about the Afro hairdressers of Peckham, wanting to know whether their cultural heritage be still visible and part of the DNA of the high streets after gentrification has taken place, or will their heritage disappear from the high street with the displacement of the hair salons?
Hairytage, therefore, became a platform which offered a place for students to verbalize their concerns, their emotions and ideas around the topic of gentrification. Hairytage offered the opportunity to confront the pros and cons of gentrification and discuss the rapid changes that are taking place and directly effecting the lives of the students at HGAED. By offering the chance to talk and make with people outside of the school meant the research drew from a broad set of voices. By taking action and confronting difficult issues is itself empowering and supports young woman in having confidence to speak out and share their opinions with the outside world. But more importantly questions how we can bring people together through creative research, through design, to debate and reflect on the changes and to share their concerns, hope and regrets.
The Hairytage project was born after my residency at the Design Museum London and the work I did with the students from HGAED. The project called Hair by Hood (which you can see as part of Exploration Body Mapping) allowed me to look more closely into the Peckham community and its unique relationship with Hair and Afro Hair.
Hair is a material that I work with as a social designer and which allows me to look at different aspects of society but also that allows me to tackle some serious and difficult social-political issues; such as beauty standards, racism, discrimination, gender inequality or ageing in today society. It also offers me the possibility to tackle the problem of “how to design for and with the diversity? “
With Hairytage I wanted to explore the material of hair in the context of Peckham and current Gentrification. It was while talking to the local hairdressers that I realized the complexity of this subject. I began to realise how Peckham hair salons are tangled up in current topic of gentrification, as they are at the heart of the identity of Peckham. They are not only a place to get your hair cut, but a place to meet, to share stories, and therefore a place where people shape their identity. The afro hairdressers provide local resident with a space to belong and where multicultural heritage is celebrated.
During my previous workshops at the HGAED while using hair, students often referred to the topic of identity and heritage questions of their own family and neighborhood background were raised while talking about their relationship with their hair and hairdressers. In the context of gentrification students often shared the same concerns about the Afro hairdressers of Peckham, wanting to know whether their cultural heritage be still visible and part of the DNA of the high streets after gentrification has taken place, or will their heritage disappear from the high street with the displacement of the hair salons?
Hairytage, therefore, became a platform which offered a place for students to verbalize their concerns, their emotions and ideas around the topic of gentrification. Hairytage offered the opportunity to confront the pros and cons of gentrification and discuss the rapid changes that are taking place and directly effecting the lives of the students at HGAED. By offering the chance to talk and make with people outside of the school meant the research drew from a broad set of voices. By taking action and confronting difficult issues is itself empowering and supports young woman in having confidence to speak out and share their opinions with the outside world. But more importantly questions how we can bring people together through creative research, through design, to debate and reflect on the changes and to share their concerns, hope and regrets.
