152606 - Object therapy.pdf (364.48 kB)
Object therapy: critical design and methodologies of human research in transformative repair
conference contribution
posted on 2023-05-23, 15:29 authored by Keulemans, G, Niklavs RubenisNiklavs Rubenis, Marks, AThis paper outlines the framework, development, methodologies and objectives of 'Object Therapy', a collaborative human research project and participatory exhibition concerning the public perception of broken objects and their transformative repair, which we define as repair that changes an object's appearance, function or perception. he process by which owners of broken objects were interviewed and their possessions collected for distribution tov Australian and international, emerging and established artists, designers and other specialists, for response, is described. his methodology is framed as an approach of critical design that connects a community with another, mediated and traced by the researchers, for the purposes of 'constructing publics', a concept developed from John Dewey by Carl DiSalvo and new materialism theorist Jane Bennet. he critical design aspect in this regard corresponds to making public the problems and perception of broken objects - problems of ownership, obsolescence, and lack of options for conventional repair - within a public exhibition presenting alternative, experimental approaches to repair and reuse. he paper argues that the process of commissioning transformative repair processes thereby constructs a public and, via a new materialist approach, reframes human/non-human relations in ways that acknowledge the agency of materiality in social ecologies.
History
Publication title
Proceedings of the 2017 Product Lifetimes and the Environment ConferenceVolume
9Editors
CA Bakker and R MuggeIPagination
186-191ISBN
9781614998198Department/School
School of Creative Arts and MediaPublisher
IOS Press BVPlace of publication
NetherlandsEvent title
PLATE ConferenceEvent Venue
Delft University of TechnologyDate of Event (Start Date)
2017-11-08Date of Event (End Date)
2017-11-10Rights statement
This article is published online with Open Access by IOS Press and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial License.Repository Status
- Open