About my Book:
Objects & People:
Anthropology in Industrial Design
Most fields will argue that the element of humanity they study is our je ne sais quoi. In this book, I explore the question of “what makes us human?” in the context of making, and find that humans have made everything we have ever needed, wanted, or the means to any end since the beginning of our existence. The resulting objects become archaeological time capsules containing all information not only about themselves and their creation, but also about the people (as individuals and as a collective) involved, including information about elements of human intelligence, society, and changes and evolutions that these undergo.
Put simply, what we make contains our reality because we imbue a part of ourselves in everything we create. The resulting object, this container of data about humans, is the technical artifact. The technical artifact lies at the center of our species’ essence, as evidenced by its presence both throughout our species’ existence on Earth and in all behaviors which we consider fundamental to our experience. Extending this line of thought further, I believe the technical artifact to be humanity’s je ne sais quoi. In particular, I have found evidence that our innate purpose for existing as a part of nature is to address perpetually more complex challenges through the creation of technical artifacts.
In this book, I combine the academic exploration of technical artifact creation for complex problem solving, with making as a form of applied research.
What could a world look like in which we have capitalized upon the powerful relationship between people, objects, and artifacts to drive the growth of our society and the evolution of our species?
Case Study II: A Possible Future for Sustainable Living
What could a world look like in which we have capitalized upon the powerful relationship between people, objects, and artifacts to drive the growth of our society and the evolution of our species?
Case Study III: Materials & Method
Part I: Materials Study - Measuring Sustainability in a Globalized Society
How do we learn to perceive objects in order to glean what information they encode about people?
Part II: What's in a wallet?
Bespoke design & fabrication vs Mass production: How has technological development and industrialization changed access to the information contained in the technical artifact?
How do we learn to perceive objects in order to glean what information they encode about people?
How has technological development and industrialization changed access to the information contained in the technical artifact?
Case Study IV: A Possible Future for Medical Data Collection Devices
How do speculative & all-digital designs change the user’s access to the technical artifact as a vehicle for human knowledge & connection
How do speculative & all-digital designs change the user’s access to the technical artifact as a vehicle for human knowledge & connection
Objects & People: Anthropology in Industrial Design
Thesis Defense
