Wild Things: The Material Culture of Everyday Life

Things Mean is a groundbreaking book that explores the changing meanings of contemporary human-object relations, arguing that objects are not just passive things but have attitudes and identities that reflect and assert who we are. 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, and suggests a transition from embodiment to disembodiment with the passing of time.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 264 pages
Publication date: 17 September 2020
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

What do things mean? What does the life of everyday objects 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?

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 of objects' "lives." Thereafter, they are transformed and invested with new meanings and associations that reflect and assert who we are. Defining designed things as "things with attitude" differentiates the highly visible fashionable object from ordinary artefacts that are too easily 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. 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.

The book is a must-read for anyone interested in the relationship between people and things, and the ways in which design shapes our understanding of the world around us. It offers a fresh and thought-provoking perspective on the changing meanings of contemporary human-object relations, and will be of interest to scholars and practitioners in the fields of design, anthropology, and cultural studies.

Weight: 430g
Dimension: 156 x 234 x 270 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781350070714