The Shape of Things
A Philosophy of Design
Published on 1. October 1999
Book
Paperback/Softback
128 pages
978-1-86189-055-9 (ISBN)
Description
Introduction by Martin Pawley.
This book presents for the first time in English an array of essays on design by the seminal media critic and philosopher Vilem Flusser. It puts forward the view that our future depends on design. In a series of insightful essays on such ordinary 'things' as wheels, carpets, pots, umbrellas and tents, Flusser emphasizes the interrelationships between art and science, theology and technology, and archaeology and architecture. Just as formal creativity has produced both weapons of destruction and great works of art, Flusser believed that the shape of things (and the designs behind them) represents both a threat and an opportunity for designers of the future.
This book presents for the first time in English an array of essays on design by the seminal media critic and philosopher Vilem Flusser. It puts forward the view that our future depends on design. In a series of insightful essays on such ordinary 'things' as wheels, carpets, pots, umbrellas and tents, Flusser emphasizes the interrelationships between art and science, theology and technology, and archaeology and architecture. Just as formal creativity has produced both weapons of destruction and great works of art, Flusser believed that the shape of things (and the designs behind them) represents both a threat and an opportunity for designers of the future.
Reviews / Votes
"There is nothing difficult or obscure about these essays. They are as sharp and lucid as precious stones because they proceed not by argument but poetically, by metaphor, story telling and myth." - Architects Journal Books of the Year"In Flusser, weve found our Wittgenstein. By that I mean, in the ways that 1960s conceptual artists found his Philosophical Investigations as granting them the necessary permission to see the world around them with fresh eyes, Flussers forays into media have framed, theorized, and unpacked the new complexities of our digital world. By empirically questioning received knowledge and recasting it within crisp lines of history and logic, hes made the digital legible in a time when its theorization is occluded and murky to say the least. Like de Koonings famous statement:History does not influence me. I influence it, its taken Flussers analog-based investigations in the 20th century to show how to be in the digitally soaked 21st." - Kenneth Goldsmith, Los Angeles Review of Books
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Dimensions
Height: 200 mm
Width: 120 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-86189-055-9 (9781861890559)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
06/2013
Reaktion Books
€18.99
Available for download
Person
Vilem Flusser was born in Prague in 1920. After emigrating to Brazil and then to France, he embarked on an influential career as a lecturer and writer on language, design and communication. He died in 1991.
Also available from Reaktion by Vilem Flusser is The Shape of Things: A Philosophy of Design.
Also available from Reaktion by Vilem Flusser is The Shape of Things: A Philosophy of Design.
Content
Introduction by Martin Pawley About the Word Design Form and Material War and the State of Things About Forms and Formulae The Designer's Way of Seeing The Factory The Lever Strikes Back Shelters, Screens and Tents Design: Obstacle for/to the Removal of Obstacles Why Do Typewriters Go 'Click'? The Ethics of Industrial Design? Design as Theology Wittgenstein's Architecture Bare Walls With As Many Holes As a Swiss Cheese The Non-Thing The Non-Thing Carpets Pots Shamans and Dancers with Masks The Submarine Wheels Biographical Note