Zane Homka
Born 21 April 1983. In 2004, graduated from the Environmental Design Programme of the Riga Secondary School of Design and Art. Since 2004, she has been studying at the Environmental Art Department of the Latvian Academy of Art. An active participant in Latvian and international design exhibitions. Winner of the project competition for a video information feature in RoΩu laukums, Liepåja (“Rose Time”, together with Juris Krümiñß, 2005). Joint first/second place in a sketch competition for a children’s playground within the frame of the Kalnciema iela Development Project (“Cosmos”, 2006). Winner of the competitive exhibition SaloneSatellite Moscow, part of I Saloni WorldWide at the Crocus Expo in Moscow (the “murmur” association, together with Juris Krümiñß, 2006).
Every story about a young person’s first serious efforts in the field of design is stimulating. Every step along the way involves sharpening of one’s abilities and aspirations on the whetstone of experience, and sometimes there are disappointments, too. The situation in Latvian design is wide open: between the exalted visions of the optimists, and the scorn and gloom of the sceptics, the future of design is in reality in the hands of those active young people who have what it takes to break through the wall of competition and bureaucracy and achieve the realisation of their ideas.
Zane seemingly began winding the ball of her knowledge from the opposite end – from the outside. The Riga Secondary School of Design and Art, a teaching establishment with a fundamental tradition in applied art, responded to social change in the 1990s by starting to restructure its curricula in the direction of design. It retained an emphasis on the aesthetic aspects, on visual appreciation of objects, on graphic perfection, on the role of philosophical thinking and art. The creation of a methodology and a technical basis for design studies, in order to come up with prototypes for industry, is by no means a simple process. Zane’s diploma work for graduating from the school, was, in a way, akin to the avant-garde Latvian kinetic art of the 1970s, at the boundary between design and art: a play of light-emitting diodes on a ground stainless steel plate, presenting a graphically pure picture of the unceasing flow of time. The Latvian Academy of Art opened up a view of the deeper meaning of design – the constructional principles of creating an object, analysis of the social situation in order to identify people’s need for a particular object, and an appreciation of ergonomics and the possibilities of materials.
May Zane’s experience encourage future pioneers in the field of design: the many-stage route to a design prototype is an adventure sometimes embellished with amusing situations. So, here is one story from beginning to end. The motto of the Index Cumulus exhibition in Copenhagen (2005) was “Improve human life”. For the international exhibition, the Academy of Art conducted an internal selection contest, and a group of artists, consisting of our main protagonist, along with Elîna Bußmane and Anastasija Mass, won the right to take part in the exhibition in one of the five categories (“The Game”). The six months devoted to the work began with a study of the situation. The original idea was that of improving the safety of ice fishermen, by creating a special sitting platform for this purpose. It would also be a way of promoting this winter activity and generating new interest. However, interviews with ice fishing enthusiasts revealed that such an object did not hold much interest among these people, since the danger and adrenalin rush they experience adds a touch of spice to their hobby. However, the artists did not give up their idea, and simply transferred it to a different season. The seat, named Plüdnis, was intended for individual comfort, and could be used for solitary meditation or in social activities. Physicists were brought into the project: they calculated the buoyancy of such a polyurethane object – the volume and weight. The prototype was tested in the VEF pool, passed the tests and, at scale 1:2, was presented at international exhibitions (and was demonstrated to the Latvian audience at the “New Shoots” exhibition in the Museum of Decorative Arts and Design).
Although Zane has spent only two years in academic studies, these have been enough to clearly reveal the subject of Zane’s interests – seating. And each product aimed at fulfilling the apparently simple function of “sitting down” involves a different problem. The item featured in the above story was intended for sitting on water, while the plywood Stoolx (the name under which it was presented in international exhibitions) or eblix (as it was known to the Latvian viewer) elaborates more on the technical approach to the object itself. It is assembled without adhesives or metal fittings, is easily manufactured, and can be packed away compactly for transport and storage. Tension is provided by ropes, while the seat of the chair is slightly elastic and physically user-friendly. This approach to the chair utilises basic geometric forms, and because of its vivid appearance, assembling it becomes a game that’s suitable for a particular group of users, such as kindergartens. The laconic, mobile sTuTs is a solution for a completely different sphere: it’s not a chair in the accustomed sense, but is intended to provide a brief rest between stages of movement. It is intended both for indoor and outdoor use (becoming stationary in the latter), for example at public transport stops or recreational areas, in the event that the municipal authorities can find a place for it. It could certainly be used by tour groups visiting the future Contemporary Art Museum, which is bound to attract droves of visitors when it opens. However, currently most highly rated is the “Loop” (together with Juris Krümiñß) – a studio assignment to create a replica of a particular technical principle. Inspired by the form of the design classic Ribbon (Cesare Leonardi & Fraca Stagi, 1961), a chair was created that made use of a single trapezoidal piece, devoting particular attention to the ergonomics of an elastic, low back. The route to the prototype is not as laconic as the result, and hitches along the way inevitably arise due to technological inadequacies: the form, uniformly covered with felt, hides the plywood structure underneath and the stainless steel loop for the back. The visual perfection that forms the basis of her education is present in Zane’s work. An original, admirable logo for the product is part of design management, as is a stylish name for the work.