In the search of the Found: My faschination with found objects
On 9, March 2020 | By Nantia Koulidou
Found objects fascinates me and the search in itself intrigues me. Found objects have their starting point and they become “hybrid artifacts” merging their existing narratives with my practice as a design researcher and jeweller in the field of interaction design and HCI research. They seek to tell stories about their history, their materiality and the specificity of the place where they were found. We just need to pay attention! For example, when the material is a found tin can, it symbolises an industrial heritage. As an object it can be read as a relic of everyday urban life. Scraps of posters covey other types of knowledge – material process of use, time and the layering of information. Found objects are physical objects with certain material qualities that inspired us to interpret their relevance in the digital age. The use of found objects in art is nothing new. In design research, it is new and exciting. Found objects are beautiful, sumptuous, exquisite, surprising and conspicuous in many ways.