Objects of Ambiguity
Objects of Ambiguity are a collection of five household items which exist in the ambiguous realm between object, product, and thing. Devised in response to Bill Brown’s seminal essay entitled ‘Thing Theory’, the series aims to explore the philosophical boundaries between designed products, found objects, and unclassified things. By adopting an intuitive and holistic approach to finding form, a collection emerged that play upon conventional product archetypes and use manufacturing process, shape, and texture to exert their own sense of thingness in their existence as functional products. The collection comprises a candle holder, candle snuffer, vase, trivet, and pedestal.
THE STUDY OF THINGNESS
What is the difference between object and thing?
An object is a tangible article, something that can be seen and or touched.
A thing is less definable, existing more as a perception of an object than as an object itself. A thing is more transient, less concrete, a thing lacks classification, or is classified through impulsivity.
"We begin to confront the thingness of objects when they stop working for us: when the drill breaks, when the car stalls, when the window gets filthy, when their flow within the circuits of production and distribution, consumption and exhibition, has been arrested, however momentarily. The story of objects asserting themselves as things, then, is the story of a changed relationship to the human subject and thus the story of how the thing really names less an object than a particular subject-object relation." (Bill Brown, Thing Theory)
Ultimately, the notion of “thingness” is ambiguous. It is temporal and impulsive. It is intuitive and abstract - it exists outside the reach of classification.
How might these distinctions be explored as part of a design process?
AN INTUITIVE DESIGN FRAMEWORK
Using ambiguity as a core ideal, a process was developed that utilised impulsivity and intuition, and exploited the restrictions and affordances of working in the mediums of drawing, sculpture, 3D modelling and sand casting. The by-product is a group of things without classification, they don’t have overt functions - nor are they meant to - they merely exist as a series of abstract forms.
Each item was intuitively assessed, and a series of 5 were chosen to reconsider in archetypal product roles.
These include a vase, a candle holder, a trivet, a candle snuffer, and a pedestal.
A SKEWED DISTINCTION BETWEEN PRODUCT AND THING
Objects of Ambiguity aims to de-construct the boundary between object, product and thing by engaging with the user through a more visceral and obscured lens. The project invites others to re-evaluate how they perceive the things around them, and to contemplate their own relationship with objects in a less prescriptive and more open way.