The Liminist

The opposite of the specialist is not the generalist, but the liminist. Where the generalist picks the low hanging fruit of knowledge, the liminist operates in the liminal interzones between them.

In a world of disconnected silos stretching vertically into the sky, the Liminist stretches horizontally across them. They function as guides, navigating people across these intersecting planes to comprehend the work and ideas of their unrelated peers.

It is very much its own specialization, but where all other domains specialize in Form, the liminist specializes in Non-Form. The evidence of their work exists at the intersections between objects.

These intersections have their own space, presence, and tangibility. They are just as “original” and “unique” as the objects that the intersection weaves together.

A talented Liminist must be a master translator, able to communicate and comprehend across domains. They must be a master weaver, able to take individual strands across many domains and pattern them together. A master diplomat that can manage the egos of others. They must be comfortable operating in ambiguity, which is their playground.

Western architecture has become preoccupied with its creations towards eternal permanence, and recasting function as fine art. We find our digital space commandeered by a similar naivety. Unfortunately, software's fragility is inherent in its form. These vast entities deploy vast treasures to preserve their soft structures, as they're slowly consumed by sand.

Motion as the intersection of time and space.

We might consider Ambient Product Design as a "Peripatetic Design Practice" that prefers mobility and presence to a mistaken monumental permanence.

As previously articulated, ambiance need not embody a kind of magical invisibility, but rather a contextual harmony between individual and environment so that the intervention does not leave behind any marks.

In embodying motion as a central principle, a designed object would be in harmony with fundamental human behavior, moving, guiding, progressing and, finally, permanently fading from view

"When water is drawn from the well, something as simple as washing hands becomes a sociable, two-person affair with one person soaping and the other pouring water from the jug."

-Observation from a recent Studio D newsletter.

Ambient Product Concept 016

An infinite feed you calmly scroll through to attain nirvana.

Combining the perceptual dulling of the infinite feed, meditation instructions and the pleasant monotony of physically scrolling across your trackpad / mouse wheel to initiate a tranquil state of calm.