The Back to Cave collection is an exploration of manual labor within the conditions of a contemporary hyper-accelerated society, where slowness is often perceived as inefficiency and the return to slow practices as a step backward. The project proposes to consider slowness as a conscious design method.

Work on the first object began five months ago. Each piece was created by hand as a sculpture. XPS foam was used as a structural core, while papier-mâché served as the outer shell. After applying each paper layer, the material required up to four days to dry — these intervals became part of the practice and determined the rhythm of production.

Observing the gradual “growth” of the form — from framework to shell — allowed the object to be understood as the result of prolonged bodily interaction with material.

The project addresses the question of what manual labor meant in pre-industrial societies and what significance it acquires today under conditions of digitalization and acceleration.

The Back to Cave collection is presented as an experimental investigation of slow production and the materiality of the object within the contemporary cultural and technological landscape.