Click to download a copy of this brief as a PDF.
Object Narratives
... patterns of design, manufacturing, distribution and recycling that are maintained in fine-grained detail. These are the microhistories of people with objects: they are the the records of made things in their transition from raw material, through usability, to evanescence and back again to raw material. These microhistories are subject to well-nigh endless exploitation.
Bruce Sterling, Shaping Things, p45, ISBN 0-262-69326-7
Aims
To investigate the flows of matter that make up our world and to narrate your findings in an engaging and graphically sophisticated way.
Brief
Research an object or a product, like a brick or a grenade or a cup of tea, but not a helicopter. Then create a graphic narrative explaining what that product/object is, how it works and how it exists over time. Don’t create a mere schematic, you must show a partial or complete life-cycle of the product/object and how it weaves its way through society.
Considerations
The object you decide to research needs to be chosen carefully. Ubiquitous and everyday objects are likely to be richer in terms of their story as they will find their way into a great many different situations and circumstances. Helicopters, while dramatic, are fairly rarified and don’t take much of a role in society at large. Try to pick an object that you can research first-hand. The more original your research, the more interesting the story you’ll be able to tell. Can you visit the place where it is made; the place where it is bought and sold; the place where it is used and discarded?
References
- Daft Punk, Revolution 909 video
- Lord of War title sequence
- Sesame Street, How crayons are made
-->
