Wylder Earth

In need some perspective? Power of Ten is a short film by Ray and Charles Eames. It’s a classic of science communication – using art to enable us to see the world in a new way.

The film starts with a couple having a picnic in Chicago. The shot is 1 metre square and taken from a distance of 1 metre. Every 10 seconds the camera pulls out by a factor of 10. 100 metres, 1,000 metres, 10,000 metres… Until we’re in space 100 million light years away and we can’t see the Earth, let alone the couple on their picnic blanket. And then we start to zoom back in. Closer and closer and closer to the couple on their picnic blanket. Until we’ve zoomed in so close we’re looking at a proton in the nucleus of a carbon atom in the man’s DNA in a cell in his skin.  

It’s a wonderful visualisation of the nested systems in which we live and depend on from galactic to the atomic scale. There are so many beautiful messages held within this simple frame. How insignificant we are compared with the vastness of space. Yet, how special Earth is – unique (as far as we know) in its capacity to support life. How complex and intricate the systems within us are – the biochemical interactions that enable us to live and think and breathe.

 The film was made by Charles and Ray Eames, a husband-and-wife creative team who worked across disciplines – from art and film to furniture design to architecture – making a significant contribution to modern design, including the Eames lounge chair.

Charles Eames considered constraints to be an important part of the design process.

‘Here is one of the few effective keys to the design problem – the ability of the designer to recognize as many of the constraints as possible – his willingness and enthusiasm for working within these constraints – the constraints of price, of size, of strength, of balance, of surface, of time, and so forth; each problem has its own peculiar list.’

Charles Eames, 1972

Maybe there’s something to be learned from this idea. Acknowledging planetary boundaries and learning to design within their constraints is part of a creative process. A process that is not only essential but ultimately liberating.

Through understanding how we are nested within and reliant upon these different systems, we can start to move forwards to more regenerative and reciprocal futures.

Let me know your thoughts on Powers of 10 or times you’ve worked with constraints in a creative and ultimately liberating way.