—CAUSE

Repair culture

—CLIENT

Self-managed + Artículo 41

CHALLENGE

We are governed by an economic system that is based on ever-growing consumption. This logic generates products that are conceived, from their design, to have both low durability and few possibilities for repair. In this way, once the products become defective, the consumer must acquire a new one. This paradigm, which has been maintained for the past decades, has created an excessive market that, as a consequence, constantly degradates socio-environmental conditions.

OUR TAKE

El Club de los Reparadores (the Repaires’ Club) is a civil organization that seeks to promote repairability as a sustainable practice and a responsible consumption strategy. We applied to a cultural fund with this group in order to develop 3 micro-documentaries that revalue repairability.

We decided to show the view of people that dedicate their time to bringing objects back to life in order to reconnect the viewer with this activity, approach disposable culture in a critical way, and rescue the value of craftsmanship.

THE RESULT

In the visual pieces, three principal objectives are considered: exposing one of the consumer societies’ issues, valuing the act of repair and portraying craftsmanship. For that, the construction of the story was made via the base of long interviews with the protagonists off camera. In these interviews, we guided each repairer prioritizing their experiences and wishes. From the analysis of the conversations, we identified the concepts that shaped the scripts. Then, we filmed the day-to-day life of the repairer using close-ups of objects, hands, and corners of the workshops in order to put these elements at the center of the attention.

The music, made out of decomposed utilitarian sounds, tries to discover what may be sonic landscapes of the craftsmanship. The visual pieces began their tour, being shown at the Interactive Map of Repairers presentation, another Club de Reparadores’ project.