Visible decay is not just the result of long use, of neglected care, of cheap materials, of aggressive circumstances or of sheer bad luck. It can also be a form of expression, a way to express detachment from material perfection, to communicate depreciation in a world that obsesses over increasingly fragile shiny plastic (remember the good old times when car bumpers or wrist watches still contained metal?).
I prefer a focus on function, on essence, on true core content. In case of our coffee machine it is the quality of the coffee that counts. The drink you get not the superficial beauty of the device being used to make that drink. But then they say that beauty *is* only skin deep (because who cares whether you have a beautiful pancreas) and they do have a point. However, an exaggerated focus on the superficial perfection of items, of things, of material posessions, that can really get in the way.
Now, our coffee machine is not rusty or decayed. At least not as much as it may appear. I made ample use of Dominic Wilcox’ sophisticated rust stickers. Beautiful, isn’t it.
