To everyone who has contacted me directly and replied here: thank you. I've a huge smile on
my face because of your generosity.
Ranjan, thank you for sharing Ken's advice to research students, it is very insightful. If you
have any other gems like this, rules of thumbs, things you wished you avoided in your own
research etc.—pls. do share.
------------------------------
Michael Yap
MFA Candidate
Interaction Design
School of Visual Arts (SVA)
tel (415) 317–3428
aim michaelryap
skype michaelryap
web mfa.exoatmospheric.com
------------------------------
----- Original Message -----
From: Ranjan MP <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Thursday, September 22, 2011 11:36 pm
Subject: Re: Material Studies
To: [log in to unmask]
> Dear Ken and Michael Yap
>
> To this very exciting list of high quality to which I would add one
> by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, better known for his book Flow and Good
> Businessetc.
>
> The particular book that I recommend is
> Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, The Meaning of Things: Domestic Symbols
> and the
> Self,<http://www.amazon.com/Meaning-Things-Domestic-Symbols-
> Self/dp/052128774X/ref=sr_1_14?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1316747899&sr=1-14>
> Cambridge University Press (October 30, 1981)
>
> This is great advise, I quote from Ken
> Quote
> ...One technique that I suggest to research students is the value of
> spending an hour or two with a book that sheds light on the topic
> even when
> they don't have time to read it completely. Careful work with the
> introduction, table of contents, first chapter, bibliography, and
> index open
> the book to inquiry -- and lets you know whether you ought to go
> further.This also gives you something to come back to when you find
> a later gap that
> the author fills.
> UnQuote
>
> John Chris Jones in his book The Internet for
> Everyone<http://www.amazon.co.uk/Internet-Everyone-Cyber-
> editions/dp/1899858202>talksabout different styles of reading to
> access his book such as the
> rabbit, goat and sheep..., yes knowing where to find an insight is an
> important aspect of research strategy.
>
> With warm regards
>
> M P Ranjan
> from my iMac at home on the NID campus
> 23 September 2011 at 9.00 pm IST
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------
> *Prof M P Ranjan*
> *Design Thinker and author of blog -
> www.Designforindia.com<http://design-for-india.blogspot.com/>
> *
> E8 Faculty Housing
> National Institute of Design
> Paldi
> Ahmedabad 380 007 India
>
> Tel: (res) 91 79 26610054
> email: ranjanmp@g <[log in to unmask]>mail.com
>
> <[log in to unmask]>web site: http://homepage.mac.com/ranjanmp
> <http://homepage.mac.com/ranjanmp>web domain: http://www.ranjanmp.in
> <http://www.ranjanmp.in/>blog: <http://www.design-for-
> india.blogspot.com>education blog: <http://www.design-concepts-and-
> concerns.blogspot.com>education blog: http://www.visible-
> information-india.blogspot.com
> <http://www.visible-information-india.blogspot.com/>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
>
> On 23 September 2011 04:45, Ken Friedman
> <[log in to unmask]>wrote:
>
> > Dear Michael,
> >
> > Several books by Daniel Miller explore the domain of material
> artifacts and
> > cultural anthropology:
> >
> > Miller, Daniel. 1998. Material Culture; Why Some Things Matter.
> Chicago:> University of Chicago Press.
> >
> > Miller, Daniel, ed. 2005. Materiality. Durham, North Carolina; Duke
> > University Press.
> >
> > Miller, Daniel. 2008. The Comfort of Things. Cambridge: Polity
> Press.>
> > Miller, Daniel. 2009. Stuff. Cambridge: Polity Press.
> >
> > To get a sense of how these questions work on different levels
> and scales,
> > I recommend a new study by David Doris:
> >
> > Doris, David T. 2011. Vigilant Things: On Thieves, Yoruba Anti-
> Aesthetics,> and the Strange Fates of Ordinary Objects in Nigeria.
> Seattle: University of
> > Washington Press.
> >
> > The issue of how objects take on meaning and store is necessarily
> a story
> > of the web of human interactions, activities, and participations
> in which
> > the object plays a role. Catharina Blomberg wrote a book on
> samurai swords
> > that examines the single artifact of the sword from multiple
> perspectives> that address, making, use, and meaning:
> >
> > Blomberg, Catharina. 1994. The Heart of the Warrior. Sandgate,
> Kent: The
> > Japan Library.
> >
> > The great sociologist Patrice Flichy noted often that all
> technologies are
> > social technologies. His book on communication systems, networks,
> and the
> > cultures into which they grow and around which clultures take new
> shape> examine aspects of your question at a systems level.
> >
> > Flichy, Patrice. 1995. Dynamics of Modern Communication. The
> Shaping and
> > Impact of New Communication Technologies. London: Sage Publications.
> >
> > One of the classical anthologies on how people buy and sell
> things, trade
> > them and use them was edited by Arun Appadurai. It's a quarter
> century old
> > now, and still a classic.
> >
> > Appadurai, Arjun. 1988. The Social Life of Things: Commodities in
> Cultural> Perspective (Cambridge Studies in Social and Cultural
> Anthropology).> Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
> >
> > To understand the ways that objects become invested with meaning,
> it is
> > useful to understand the networks that create meaning and the
> exchanges that
> > imbue objects with meaning. One of the classics in this regard is
> Marcel> Mauss's book on the gift.
> >
> > Mauss, Marcel. 2000. The Gift: The Form and Reason for Exchange
> in Archaic
> > Societies. New York: W. W. Norton and Company.
> >
> > If you take a week or so to read your way through these nine
> books, they'll
> > give you a broad frame while introducing you to some of the key
> thinkers who
> > address the issues that concern you. Without arguing that you
> should adopt
> > the specific perspectives of any one author, you'll get a chance
> to see how
> > people think about artifacts from the perspectives of several
> disciplines.> The two anthologies (Appadurai 1988, Miller 2005)
> will also give you a
> > chance to look into reasonably short contributions by a couple dozen
> > excellent writers whose different perspectives, disciplines, and
> writing> styles will shed light on the challenges you face.
> >
> > If you have time for only one or two books, my personal favorite
> remains> Blomberg because she unfolds the web of action,
> affiliation, and meaning
> > that coalesced around one specific kind of artifact over several
> centuries.> To get the most useful overview of the field, try
> Miller's (1998) Material
> > Culture and Miller (2005) Materiality. If you have to decide
> which books not
> > to read, Mauss, though interesting and important, will be less
> useful, as
> > will Flichy.
> >
> > One technique that I suggest to research students is the value of
> spending> an hour or two with a book that
> > sheds light on the topic even when they don't have time to read it
> > completely. Careful work with the introduction, table of
> contents, first
> > chapter, bibliography, and index open the book to inquiry -- and
> lets you
> > know whether you ought to go further. This also gives you
> something to come
> > back to when you find a later gap that the author fills.
> >
> > Warm wishes,
> >
> > Ken
> >
> > Professor Ken Friedman, PhD, DSc (hc), FDRS | University
> Distinguished> Professor | Dean, Faculty of Design | Swinburne
> University of Technology |
> > Melbourne, Australia | [log in to unmask] | Ph:
> +61 3 9214
> > 6078 | Faculty www.swinburne.edu.au/design
> >
> > -
> >
> > Michael Yap wrote:
> >
> > --snip--
> >
> > I was struck by how objects act as containers, holding "great
> personal> and collective meaning and carry stories of particular
> times, places,
> > and events."
> >
> > For thesis, I hope to create conceptual designs that augment common,
> > every-day mass-produced objects with short-range RFID, so that
> they may
> > hold the same meaning and stories they always have, but online,
> and, to
> > discover new uses to meet existing needs. I wish to fortify my
> efforts> with a better understanding of:
> >
> > - the social and cultural meaning of every-day objects
> >
> > - the role that objects play in our every-day lives
> >
> > - other considerations that I am unaware of but you are compelled to
> > share
> >
> > Can you recommend specific books, articles and other resources to
> > advance my understanding?
> >
> > --snip--
> >
>
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