I just love it when something interesting you see on the web leads you to something else that’s equally interesting. And that’s just what happened when the Make blog reported on Katrina (Kat) Jungnickel’s presentation on “Stickytape” (she includes anything that’s in tape form and is adhesive or sticky: Sellotape, Scotch, Gaffa, duct, fusion, packing, invisible, double-sided, electrical, insulation, and masking), and the realization that it’s “not only a technology you cannot live without but it is also a metaphor for life.” There are plenty of examples in her slides (at her blog link below), but I particularly liked the following statement by her:
The world is full of stickytape stories – and to some they are a poor fix, a lazy response. It is easy to mock them. But what I argue is that there is innovation at play in many cases. It gets you involved in making stuff - makes you think you can do things, change things – re-imagine how things might be. Stickytape epitomises an experimental approach. It is emblematic of being able to fix anything.
Then her reference to the Institute of Backyard Studies and its writeup on tinkering sent me off to check that site.
I found several things there that I liked, not the least of which was their “Show and Tell Sheds” section, and a neat t-shirt with the 5 principles of shed science:
Toolmongers are everywhere.
Talk At The Science Museum - Stickytape! [Kat's Blog]
Tinkering [Institute of Backyard Studies]