Lśniąca nowoczesność w ruchu. Projekt skutera Osa, relaks i konsumpcja w długich latach 60.

In recent history scholarship, the concept of the long Sixties characterized by cultural and social transformation expanded beyond the West to include, among other parts of the globe, the socialist world. In the West, one of the defining features of the long Sixties was the rise in leisure and the abundance of consumer goods. In the planned economies of socialist countries, consumer goods became a major consideration. In Poland, one of the premises of de-Stalinization in 1956 was the provision of objects for everyday life as the Stalinist Party had failed to meet the expectation of material abundance. And design was cast in the role of creating desirable objects under socialism in a similar way as in the West. Taking the Osa scooter as a case study, this essay examines the role that design played in consumption under socialism in Poland. To do so, the essay engages with the Production – Consumption – Mediation Paradigm, developed in design history by Grace Lees-Maffei. This model acknowledges consumption and mediation in the analysis of design objects. Following this, the essay considers how the Osa scooter appeared on the pages of Motor, a magazine aimed at motorists, and examines how the Osa was consumed. Designed to reflect the functions of the scooter, the body of the Osa represented modernity, and, on the pages of Motor, the Osa facilitated leisure and was promoted toward a male owner. In consumption, the Osa became a luxury item that while imbedded into youth culture was representative of the inequities of individual motorization. Keywords: socmodernism, motorization, consumerism, Osa scooter, Poland