My Second Plane

The repeatable pattern of the ladder, which can begin and end at any point, symbolises the closed loop system required to survive on Earth’s finite resources. Through the Ladder Research Observatory, Sean Fisher leads a community to collect disused ladders, from which the aluminium is melted and cast into aircraft components. The absurdist approach is based on pataphysical design, an imaginary science of inventing solutions to fictional problems. In our increasingly unstable world, these problems may yet become relevant. My Second Plane questions just which design rules are being broken when following whims — what is common sense, after all?