Don’t Settle for “Just Because”

I went to the Goldsmiths Design Graduate show on Brick Lane yesterday lunchtime. It was pretty good. Well there were 2 or 3 things that I really liked. You can get to the website here: http://pirateutopias.com

One guy in particular stood out.

Liam Healy has done a bunch of projects that I really liked. From the brochure he says:

Basically he’s the kid that when parents said “don’t do that”, he’d say “why?”. They’d say “just because”. Then he’d say “but why?”. And I don’t think he’s ever given up.

My favourite 2 of his machines are an experiment that jams a knife into a toaster to see if it can electrocute you – an early prototype here:

And a powertool that flicks a light switch on-and-off really really fast to see if it’s a bad thing. Here’s what happened when he took the ‘flickerer’ to his dad (the source of the original ‘myth’). Not only is it a great project, but the video’s bloody great too, apart from the volume levels :-(

And can eating Mentos and drinking Diet Coke at the same time kill you? I love the bit halfway through where one ‘pops back out’ – it’s LOLfunny.

Check his blog or Vimeo channel for more work – should you eat with a knife? Can you cook an egg with a mobile phone? Will a hairdryer in a bath kill you? Should you tap the top of a shaken up can?

It’s a bit like Junior Mythbusters, only there’s something more real and humble about it. I’m a fan.