MS II: Reading

Our dependence on objects is not only physical but also psychological. Most of the things we make these days do not make life better in any material sense but instead serve to stabilize and order the mind.’

Mihaly Cziksentmihalyi, ‘Why We Need Things’

My necklace collection and rings are some of the objects that I treasure the most on a deep emotional level. But recently, since starting this Masters program, objects such as my computer and phone are two objects that would cause me physical pain if they were to be broken, lost or stolen. This idea that there is a psychological dependence on objects is not a surprise to me. To this day precious artifacts are still being passed from generation to generation within families.

But there are moments in this article that make me pause. They create these divisions when comparing the power objects and the object relationships. With power objects they separate genders. This binary approach to analyzing the idea of power objects isn't applicable for this day and age. There are many who are gender non-conforming individuals, what power objects are associated with these individuals? Later on in the reading, when talking about the relationship between objects and individuals, they focus on teenagers | parents | grandparents. Yes teenagers focus on the here and now when it comes to objects, parents focus on all three (past, present, future), while grandparents dwell more on the past, but you can't create this general age line division. There are probably 15 other stages of someone's life that happens between teenager -> parent.

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Dunne & Raby, ‘Design Noir’

Contentious objects. That is what Dunne&Raby are discussing here. These objects are given functions that are not normally associated with its form. 'Suicide Computer' for example, are two words that are usually not put together in this way. Most people don't associate the physical object of a computer with suicide. Also, this is the first time i've every read about design and tech being used to create sex inventions. I wondering when this would show up in a reading, lol! I think it's interesting how these products were not made with the mindset of mass production. I'm still processing how I feel about this idea of noir and how it seems to always pertain to something promiscuous and mysterious.

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General Thoughts:

So far this semester we have been reading about the human body and it's interaction with the environment around us and how as designers/artists/creatives we can alter ones perception based on the altering the forms in which we interact with the environment around us. Our senses play a huge role in how we can distort these perceptions. But, with this reading we are challenged to see how objects play a major role in how we see ourselves and identify ourselves.

But, in a more general realm why do humans feel the need to place labels on themselves? Why do we use the objects we own and wear to express our opinions, economic status, educational status? Are our words not enough to express ourselves? What if our opinions and statuses change? What happens to the objects then?

Maybe objects are easier to throwaway once they're no longer applicable to ones identity, whereas words are harder...?

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Noir Baggage:

I took a course called tech and performance and one of our assignments was to create a performance or experience that came from the phrase 'Noir Baggage'

This video I made is my personal interpretation of "Noir Baggage".