Since an early age I have always liked feeling and touching things. My grandparents had a box of buttons that we always played with when we went round. I loved the variety of buttons, some where from clothes had 2 or 4 holes they could be covered with silk smooth cloth, be silver and have a textured pattern or made from bakelite and be very light in weight. They were very large with a metal loop at the back for shoes or might have come from military clothing the variety was endless and I loved them.
The question is could I have explained the buttons in this detailed way without touching them? We have such a perceived idea about what an item is when you handle it that its only when you take the touching away that you need to explore other ways of gaining the knowledge.
Grainne Swan gave us a great lesson in ways we can approach looking at items that can not be touched, which is quite often the case in museums. she laid out multiple design items which weren't allowed to touch. We then had to pick our favourite and she asked
us questions about the item, which we had to write down. These questions were:
Draw the back of the item.
What is the item made of.
How does the item smell.
What memory does the item provoke.
What does the item feel like.
What materials where used.
What does the item weigh.
These questions where asked in 5 minute intervals , so there wasn't a lot of time to procrastinate. Then afterwards we were allowed to pick up the item and compare our answers.
Some of the answers where right, but some like the weight and feel of the item was surprising. All in all the exercise was good fun and very thought provoking and will definitely make me think and explain items in a more involved way.
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