Objects in Purgatory and Hardware Hopes

Abstract

Paradox: overconsumption and the emotional repository of home
I am endlessly fascinated by the way we depend on the objects we surround ourselves with. We live in our homes
surrounded by familiar possessions, which serve a vital role as repositories for our memories and identities. It is well
understood that we consume too much, and in a way that isn’t sustainable, and that we need widespread cultural change.
Yet it doesn’t seem so easy to catalyse this change: our emotional selves are bound up with our things; we depend on
them.

Critical thinking about emotionally sustainable design
There are many developing concepts and theories concerning designing products for emotional sustainability,
exploring methods for encouraging us to cherish our possessions and keep them in the long term. I find some of this
debate inspirational, but also struggle with the plausibility of influencing emotional durability through design, as the
circumstances influencing emotional attachment to a product can be very idiosyncratic. Is it is truly possible to design for
emotional durability?

I have embarked on a series of creative projects that explore how the emotional resonance of a possession relates to its
design and material properties. Unpicking our emotional dependence on possessions raises some interesting questions.
How does emotion flow into artifacts and out again? Are some artefacts or materials resistant to emotion? Can the
design of artifacts influence attachment or keeping behaviours?

Making plays a vital role in these research projects. I am a maker, and to explore and interrogate these themes I have
had to learn how to reemploy making. Being a maker in a sustainable aware society has for me meant using making as a
vehicle for critical thinking and audience engagement.