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.

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?

Thesis Direction - Materially

There seem to be two main paths to explore the concept of wear explicitly:

1) Utilizing existing, patinated materials in a new context. While history and use are already imbued in the new object, a user lacks strong connection to that history. Using existing materials is also a definite advantage. I would need to source these materials immediately.

2) Develop a blank canvas to receive wear. The user is quite possibly more invested in the object, but it probably requires new materials or finishes. In this scenario, I would probably need to amplify or accelerate wear in an obvious or blatant way. If the wear is imposed through touch, in what ways can the human hand leave a mark? Heat and oils of the skin are the first two obvious options. Materially, what type of finishes, coatings, or raw materials respond to touch? Paper could be an interesting material choice since its essential function is already to receive marks.

365 Days of Wear

A photographer put together a video documenting the wear developed on a pair of raw denim jeans over the course of a year.

A New Material?

Can I create a new material that is recyclable, non-composite, or renewable that shows wear, records use, or develops patina? This Eindhoven student created a new material, a 'yarn' from newsprint, to produce objects.

What is Wear?

A friend just told me about his father's truck. It has over 300,000 miles on it and a couple interesting wear marks on the interior from being used so much. The edge of the driver's side seat is rubbed bare from getting into the tall vehicle. Also, the middle section of the front bucket seat shows wear from the driver's arm resting there. These examples remind me that wear isn't just a recording of the object's life, but often is direct evidence of people's use, behavior, and interaction.

Wabi-Sabi for Artists, Designers, Poets & Philosophers

This book by Leonard Koren is a fantastic brief overview of the wabi-sabi aesthetic. I found the following excerpts particularly valuable and relevant.

Things wabi-sabi are expressions of time frozen. They are made of materials that are visibly vulnerable to the effects of weathering and human treatment. They record the sun, wind, rain, heat, and cold in a language of discoloration, rust, tarnish, stain, warping, shrinking, shriveling, and cracking. Their nicks, chips, bruises, scars, dents, peeling, and other forms of attrition are a testament to histories of use and misuse.

"Things wabi-sabi are appreciated only during direct contact and use."

And maybe most importantly, things wabi-sabi are simple: "Pare down to the essence, but don't remove the poetry."

Raw Denim Values

The values that I identify with in raw denim:

Durability - These jeans are meant to last years - even with everyday use. The seeking of wear, only acquired through extended, repeated use encourages keeping and using them for a long time.

Conservation - Energy required to wash and sand most jeans isn't wasted. These are processes that attempt to create the illusion of long-term wear, but greatly decrease the lifespan of the product.

Authenticity - The wear marks of raw denim are legitimate, 'earned' evidence of commitment to an object and a process.

Individuality - Because the denim isn't pre-washed or pre-worn, the jeans break in and conform to the owner's body - permanently making them uniquely theirs.

History - The jeans become a record of the events and objects in one's life, with physical evidence of the bike crash, spray paint can explosion, or cell phone.

Materials, Wear, Beausage, and Wabi-Sabi

Continuing the post about the impact of material choice on an object, the physical material of the object also has the potential to extend and deepen the human-object relationship. It can become a visual and haptic recording of its story and use, literally aging with its user. However, there is a key difference between materials wearing in and wearing out. Natural materials, like leather, denim, and wood, can age with dignity, becoming more beautiful over time. Grant Petersen, founder of Rivendell Bicycles, and designer of the renowned RB-1 Bridgestone, created the portmanteau beausage to describe the beauty that can develop over time through the use of a product. Grant said, "In general, real materials develop beausage, and synthetics look like old junk." These synthetics, instead of developing a patina and a recorded history of its 'life', just look dirty. Even though we might have a plastic computer mouse that still works, we replace it because it looks grimy and stained. But there are ways to design plastics that acknowledge the inevitability of wear. This concept car design understands that bumpers will get scratched and worn.

The Japanese philosophy of wabi-sabi accepts the transience and embraces the beauty that is "imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete". The wabi-sabi aesthetic recognizes that time will pass and materials will wear - and designs for it.

The simplicity of wabi-sabi is best described as the state of grace arrived at by a sober, modest, heartfelt intelligence…Usually this implies a limited palette of materials. It also means keeping conspicuous features to a minimum. But it doesn’t mean removing the invisible connective tissue that somehow binds the elements into a meaningful whole. It also doesn’t mean in any way diminishing something’s “interestingness”, the quality that compels us to look at that something over, and over, and over again.

In addition to the source of the above passage, Wabi-Sabi: for Artists, Designers, Poets & Philosophers, I should look at About Time and Eternally Yours: Design in Time, a collection of writings on product endurance and durability.

Investigation Possibilities:

Document my own relationship with my raw denim. I can take photos that record the wearing in of my jeans.

Document relationship with a new object. I can find something that I would love to have and document my thoughts and feelings as I research, covet, purchase, unbox, use, and become accustomed to the object.

Compile photos of objects (and the actual objects, when possible) that have gained character, developed a patina, endured over time, depict beausage, and embody wabi-sabi.