Elena Hopwood, ‘Stuff’ – Finding meaning in the mess

Elena Hopwood

‘Stuff’— Finding meaning in the mess

AAD Dissertation Studio 10 2019–20

Extracts from Elena Hopwood, ‘Stuff’— Finding meaning in the mess

Dissertation Studio 10 Globalism Tutor: Harriet McKay

School of Art, Architecture and Design London Metropolitan University 2020

McCracken describes an idea as to how our things can be the element of the home that anchors us to this place, our refuge from the other conflicts of life. In amassing and arranging these objects in our domestic spaces, we are experiencing the all important act of settling, to become familiar and reassured, creating that all important feeling of home.

These decorative and ornamental objects can take almost any form, their most important facet being what they mean to their possessor, and the role they take in creating a home that narrates our lives and responds to us as individuals. As such it is hard to define the things that occupy our spaces in any concrete way. With their individual nature they reflect the nuances of the complex construct of human existence, including but not limited to, our cultural origins, belief systems, aesthetic sensibilities and memories. So, it could be argued that the physicality of the displayed object bears no significance, that although it ultimately creates a visual environment, this is not what is important, but rather only the meaning behind its material being. As Donald A. Norman writes in his exploration of emotional design; ‘What do people love and cherish, despise and detest?

Surface appearance and behavioural utility play relatively minor roles. Instead, what matters is the history of interaction, the associations that people have with the objects, and the memories they evoke.’ (Norman, 2005, P. 46). This is a fair reflection of the relationship we develop with the ‘stuff’ that surrounds us, working to create the security of our home environments in which we see a reflection of self. However, it may still be of value to consider the physicality of these objects we come to know so well and how the nature of their making can have an impact on how we relate to them and their place among the decorative displays of home. For example, in looking at the handmade and the mass-produced we see contrasting object characteristics that are established in their production; in the handmade we see something that is by nature unique, whilst anything mass produced is designed to be easily replicated and therefore one of many. How our ‘things’ are made may mostly not be relevant to the value we place on them but rather their importance to us is formed by how we respond to them as individuals, and their role in narrating the journey of our lives. However, it could be argued that some objects, being those that are handmade and therefore individual, have a more inherent ability to convey narrative, whilst with anything mass produced it is possible that an identical object can be owned by many different people and may therefore be less effective in representing the individual. Could it also be possible that it is in our interaction with and understanding of an object, whether handmade or massproduced, that its role in creating the individuality of home is found?

Handmade items hold in them the quality of the human touch, imbuing a feeling very different from a massproduced object. Here, in the consideration of its design and craft of construction, can be imagined the character of the person who laboured over the thing before you. In the handmade we see something unique that could never be replicated exactly even by the authors own hand. It is a material thing that has started its life as part of a person's expression of creativity, with a narrative that has informed its creation. Onkar Kular in the accompanying catalogue to the Crafts Council exhibition Crafting Narrative, explores the nature of crafted works. […] through conversations with the artists...it became clear that the way the works were being produced was the result of multiple influencers that reached far beyond the limitations of their disciplines. Personal 9

stories, contexts, impulses and hunches were fed into the mix as much as any technical skill or knowledge.

(Kular, 2004, P. 8)

The objects being discussed here are the efforts of trained artists and crafts persons, professionals who have found their path in life through the creation of handmade things. But they do not by any means represent the entire bounds of the realm of the handmade. This is a subject that, as with every concept involved in the material construct of our world, is vast. It can range, but is not limited to, the highly skilled products of the artist and their means of earning a living, down to the creations of a child, perhaps lovingly made for someone in their family (fig 6 & 7). What is key is the narrative they represent; in their production a relationship has been formed between the creator of the thing and the thing that is created. This becomes a part of the object and informs the personal meaning behind it, being special to those who are invested in it whether responding to it because of being immediately familiar with its creator or the craftmanship it demonstrates. So it’s journey in becoming part of the displayed, material environment, used in constructing a home comes with the understanding, whether conscious or not, that they are things with an existing narrative that becomes layered with any new or continued interaction.

Fig 6 | Handmade ceramics

Fig 7 | Child’s craft object

The mass-produced object is by definition not unique as it has been designed to be quickly and cheaply made, making it accessible to many and therefore not individual. Again, as with the handmade, the scope of the topic of mass-produced objects is vast. Focusing on the ‘stuff’ of the home environment, we can see examples of objects including the souvenir or keepsake, created as a memento of experiences in a person’s life, and the knick-knack, designed with the specific if not limited function of ornamenting the interior (fig 8). These objects are most likely what makes up the majority of the ‘clutter’ displayed in the average domestic environment because of their propensity to be true to their intended purpose; to accessorise the home with the hopes of ensuring that a homely environment is achieved. But with these objects being so obvious in their purpose and pushed upon the consumer as such (fig 9), do they really hold the ability to reflect the individual and create a space that achieves more than being a veil of home? Is it rather in the mass-produced object that is

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repurposed from its original function that we can see a more powerful creative choice that goes to forming a home that truly reflects the individuality of the inhabitants?

Fig 8 | Traditional ornaments on display

Fig 9 | IKEA home accessories inspirational image

The ‘everyday’ item, created to serve one very specific function, could be considered ‘throw away’, with no value beyond a practical application and therefore not intended to become a sustained part of our lives. This ‘ordinary stuff’ is prevalent in our world because of fast and cheap production methods (fig 10) but is often dismissed as purely functional. However, it is here we can see a particularly interesting journey in the relationships formed with our things. What is originally considered of little value, as being insignificant and inconsequential in its role in our lives, with a limited narrative, can be transformed into an object that becomes special to the individual. This change happens through a greater understanding and appreciation of its previously overlooked function. Which leads to a developing sense of sentimentality for the complexity of the material components of our lives and the reimagining from an objects original purpose to gain an honoured place in the decoration of home (fig 11). It happens then, that unexpectedly, the mass-produced object has a role in creating the sought after feeling of home for its ability to ‘[demonstrate] the strangeness of the everyday material world and its uncanny propensity to mirror the inner state of the observer.’ (Bird, 2012).

Fig 10 | Matchbox mass-production line

Fig 11 | Matchboxes as part of a windowsill display

We can begin to understand, with even a brief exploration of the different themes of object types, the wide breadth of the material environment, employed in creating a home. Constructing a homely space of emotional security fundamentally relies on the individual's relationship with their decorative and displayed objects.

However, it can also be recognised as such by others, unfamiliar with the environment, because of the 11

understanding of the level of perceived narrative in different material possessions. We will have an individual opinion on what level of displayed objects creates the most inviting domestic environment. But most will have a general belief that our ‘stuff’ plays an important role in the creation of home. As Rybczynski remarks ‘Hominess is not neatness. Otherwise everyone would live in replicas of the kinds of sterile and impersonal homes that appear in interior-design and architectural magazines. What these spotless rooms lack, or what crafty photographers have carefully removed, is any evidence of human occupation.' (Rybczynski, 1986, P. 17).

What Rybczynski highlights here is what the objects displayed in the home offer. Beyond their individual relationship with the inhabitant, there is a point of recognition in others of a place of dwelling: a place where lives are lived and comfort, both physical and emotional, can be found. In the act of displaying objects in the home people create an environment which they respond to and can be recognised as a place of dwelling. But there is a fine line, in this activity of display, between decoration and mess and so it can become necessary to enact a level of control over a collection of things. In this curation of our ‘stuff’ we see another opportunity for the expression of the individual, with varying levels of care taken in the choices and arrangement of objects.

But most importantly does this manipulation, of the ornamental displays seen within the domestic environment, have an impact on the feeling of home?

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‌ School of Art, Architecture and Design London Metropolitan University 2020

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