Objects free you, objects tie you down: which do you believe? Your new shoes are on the table, the ladder is being walked underneath and that horseshoe is hanging the wrong way round. It’s all in the mind and in our cultures, yet it pushes our behaviour in peculiar directions. Objects are activated by narratives […]
Read More“Objects are the clasps on the pockets of space” said Malcolm de Chazal. What do the lines between objects look like; can they be tied together with string or would that tie them down? In the process of mapping we erase what is there. Are objects what they are because of their connections? Hosted by Galen […]
Read MoreIs everything now so conceptual that we are forgetting what it feels to actually make something? David Hockney offers a relief to view his output in which there is more concern for making than meaning. And what of skills; they have had to reshape themselves as demand is for brands over high quality craftsmanship. We […]
Read MoreObject Abuse has been set up to provide a platform for people to discuss, provoke and question the very nature and orientation of objects. The aim is to readdress the unquestioned drives of our collective pursuits, to turn the tables on the object-subject dynamic.
This investigation’s relevance is reflected in recent developments in philosophy, shifts in our socio-cultural landscape and is finding expression in the visual arts. This questioning of our human-centric perspective is reflected through current ideas found in the works of Bruno Latour, Graham Harman, Quentin Meillassoux, Anselm Franke and others.
The question: what exactly is object abuse is by no means obvious, when you think about it, who is to say the object in question is passive and not active? Also it is worth asking where does the form of abuse originate from? What qualifies abuse, is it quantifiable, can we identify subtler variations? And for that matter; what is an object, or rather can we say what is not an object…with any real certainty?
OA‘s function is to invite a multidisciplinary engagement; to be a forum, a curatorial framework and an archival space.
We welcome expressions of interest and contributions to the ongoing debate.
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