Wild Things The Material Culture of Everyday Life

Author/creator Attfield, Judith Author
Format Electronic
Publication InfoOxford : Berg Publishers Gordonsville : Macmillan [Distributor]
Description334 p. ill 09.440 x 06.340 in.
Supplemental ContentFull text available from Bloomsbury Design Library Core Collection
Subjects

SeriesMaterializing Culture Ser.
Summary Annotation What do things mean? What does the life of everyday objects after the check-out reveal about people and their material worlds? Has the quest for 'the real thing' become so important because the high tech world of total virtuality threatens to engulf us?<br><br>This pioneering book bridges design theory and anthropology to offer a new and challenging way of understanding the changing meanings of contemporary human-object relations. The act of consumption is only the starting point in objects' 'lives'. Thereafter they are transformed and invested with new meanings that reflect and assert who we are. Defining design as 'things with attitude' differentiates the highly visible fashionable object from ordinary artefacts that are taken for granted. Through case studies ranging from reproduction furniture to fashion and textiles to 'clutter', the author traces the connection between objects and authenticity, ephemerality and self-identity. But beyond this, she shows the materiality of the everyday in terms of space, time and the body and suggests a transition with the passing of time from embodiment to disembodiment.<br><br>Shortlisted for the Design History Society Scholarship Prize 2001-2002<br>
Access restrictionAvailable only to authorized users.
Technical detailsMode of access: World Wide Web
Genre/formElectronic books.
ISBN9781859733646
ISBN1859733646 (Trade Cloth) Active Record
ISSN1460-3349
Standard identifier# 9781859733646
Stock number00123717