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I have a burning need to know stuff and I love asking awkward questions.

Thursday, September 25, 2014


Just Finished Reading: The Language of Things – Design, Luxury, Fashion, Art. How we are Seduced by the Objects Around Us by Deyan Sudjic (FP: 2008)

Rounding off my trio of books on Stuff and our relationship with it this was a well argued, knowledgeable, wide-ranging and often fascination study of how we became a culture drowning in its own manufactured products. Looking at the language of Design, the development of archetypes which resulted in the acknowledged classics of the design world, the history of luxury and its reinvention in a world where abundance is the norm (this was my favourite section), the growth in power of the fashion industry with its relentless need to change and force us to change with it, and the seemingly academic difference between art and design – even when design is presented as art – this book really made me look at things in a different way.

Everything we use, everything we see (apart from nature in the raw which exists almost nowhere these days), and everything we experience has at least elements of design about them. Designed objects exist in part to manipulate the way we feel and experience the world around us. It’s not just that objects are designed to be attractive to part us from our money (which is in itself a designed artefact) but in many ways our objects tell us who we are and advertise to the rest of the world who we want to be. Our natural tendencies to seek out new things, to acquire objects of value and to horde things in times of plenty to get us through times of famine have all been exaggerated and manipulated to produce perfect consumers who buy what we’re told to, when we are told to and to exchange perfectly serviceable objects with ‘newer’, ‘better’, and ‘more attractive’ replacements.

Looking at objects as diverse as the Anglepoise lamp, the Apple MacBook, the black Nikon SLR camera, road signs, the Citroen 2CV, the Olivetti portable typewriter, the Walther PPK (as used by James Bond no less), banknotes and the choice of faces on them, the Bakerlite rotary dial telephone, the Rolex watch, Chippendale furniture and much else besides, the author looks beyond the image, beyond the representation to see how and why these objects have become fetishized in the way they have. He examines what it says about us as human beings and what it says about the culture we have created to both produce these items and service the industries dependent on their manufacture and ultimate destruction. I have another of his books in the pile (about the architecture of power) which I shall look forward to reading fairly soon. He writes with an obviously deep understanding of his subject, with a definite wry sense of humour and an elegant wit. A delight to read from the first page to the last and, therefore, highly recommended.

5 comments:

VV said...

I'm a sucker for design of the 1920s-1930s, sometimes branching out a couple decades in both directions. So I'm always on the lookout for old things with beautiful lines. Old hurricane lamps are a passion for me. I'm constantly buying them in whole or in part and putting them back to working order, because for me, it's not enough to be beautiful, they should also serve a practical purpose.

Karlo said...

I'm not into owning things, but it sounds like an interesting book. I get the feeling that penchant for purchasing objects with which to litter our houses is much more of a cultural accruement than we realize.

CyberKitten said...

v v said: it's not enough to be beautiful, they should also serve a practical purpose.

Which is a pretty good way to tell the difference between art and design.

karlo said: I get the feeling that penchant for purchasing objects with which to litter our houses is much more of a cultural accruement than we realize.

Definitely. I think the basis is biological but the level is most certainly cultural - in our case Capitalism.

Ellie said...

This sounds really interesting. I sometimes think I have too many things and too much stuff. I've been trying to change my thinking so I appreciate what I have and don't crave more and more.

CyberKitten said...

It's very good and goes into the 'why' of design and what makes things so attractive to own.

BTW - I haven't stopped visiting your Blog. I just haven't got around to the registration thing....

Plus there's a book on running coming up (reading it soon-ish) which might give you a different perspective on things!

Plus I've always thought Woolf was difficult too. I have a few of her's but have been put off by their apparent difficulty. I'll give them a try at some point.