Short Abstract:

With the continual 'offer' of new 'must have' artefacts this workshop invites participants to creatively assess and evaluate their own objects before developing and re-creating imaginative new outcomes. NB! Please note that the lab is limited to 18 participants. Please use the emailing tool above to pre-register.

Long Abstract:

The role of storytelling thorough materials and objects has always been key to anthropological, social and cultural research; this workshop aims to experiment with a haptic design process to identify, acknowledge and sensitize our particular relationships with everyday 'things'.

Participants will be guided through a variety of multi-sensory tasks to assist with the exploration and investigation stages of the process before being encouraged to use their own creativity and imagination to develop and design a 'new object' that relates to their research!

Using sections of objects participants will 'draw' and design a hermaphroditic artefact that possesses some of the qualities of the data generated and the stories told about them.

Key points of discussion during the workshop will include:

• Purpose, usefulness and performance of data objects

• What are our 'feelings' for them and how does this relate to form, function & aesthetics?

• What are the morphological qualities of the data objects? - shape, color, materials, surface

• Construction - how things are put together eg. the reinforcement ribs on the inside of parts

• How do we understand the detailing? - change of scale, duplication of texture, form etc.

• What could the new object be used for and does this relate to the original objects?

What new understandings have been gained and how might these aid participants to write about objects in more depth?

NB! Please note that the lab is limited to 18 participants. Please use the emailing tool above to pre-register.