Thursday, February 26, 2009

Synthesis: Enduring Object Relationships - Preventing Habituation through Dynamic Interaction

Humans adapt expertly — and soon become accustomed to the environments and things that surround us. Objects that at one time were novel transition to mundane. Habituation is this diminishing pleasure obtained upon successive occasions of having a particular experience. There are only two mechanisms to counteract habituation - variety of experiences and time between an experience.

I am investigating ways in which a single dynamic object can create variety and prevent habituation, including: unexpectedness, responsiveness, captivation, and wear.

Monday, February 2, 2009

The Invisible Subject-Object Conflict

I have been primarily approaching this project from the viewpoint of the object. How does it live, age, record, and show wear - essentially how the object receives a mark from the subject. But if I take the opposing viewpoint, in what ways can the subject actively mark the object? The oil, heat, and friction from human hands slowly take their toll on object surfaces, but we often can't see the results in real-time, continuing to believe in the myth of the pristine modern. And things are made to even further conceal those results - coating, hardening, tempering, and fingerprint-proofing.

Surfaces of objects are the imperceptible battlegrounds of a never-ending tepid war between subject and object, matter and entropy. This invisible transactional surface, much like hertzian space, is easily ignored. As Dunne and Raby's work encourages contemplation of the electromagnetic environment, what is the effect of making visual our physical interaction with the objects around us?