What's good

about What is the relevance of a functional object without function? The twin factors of obsolescence and replacement, and wearing down through usage or neglect, push once-valued things into the dusty shelves and soggy cardboard boxes of material purgatory. A brief window exists to get a grasp of these things as they pass from discreteness to aggregate, and our only option is to take them as they come.

Find a "design piece" you've seen only representations of and you may be surprised by how little it can do for you outside its intended time and place. This project is an argument for a quality that remains independent of something's original purpose. Anticipation of unselfconscious usage evaporates and leaves behind a mist of directionless, unprogrammed visual and tactile interactions.

This project is an attempt to create rich and rigorously objective replicas of found objects that possess this quality. Available here are digital models, each based on a close reading of an object's surface. It is my hope that the process heightened my sensitivity to this quality, and that the models can themselves be used as references, when the originals are not available, for what might be formally "good".

searching A location is sought out where interesting things might be — continent, country, region, city, neighbourhood, address. This search takes into account placements and displacements during manufacturing, distribution, and disposal. A manufactured object, spotted in a rummage sale, secondhand store, or flea market, has a certain immediately appealing quality. It is picked up and checked over for intactness. A quick online search is done to find contextual information, alongside what is learned through conversation with the seller or others around.

sorting Purchased and taken home, the object is carefully cleaned to better understand its condition. Electronics are plugged in, or batteries are installed. An attempt is made to get it to perform its original, intended function. If it is reasonably functional, a place is found for it, integrating it into daily routines. If it is partially functional, an adapted role can be figured out that takes advantage of what works. If it is not functional, it must be worth keeping for some other reason. This is typically the quality that made the object appealing in the first place.

recording If the object fits the standards of the project, it is first drawn from different angles. Using basic tools like calipers, a ruler, and a protractor, detailed measurements are recorded. Deviations in measurements from round values are interpreted. Is this design intent, engineering compromise, or wear over time? Minute adjustments are made accordingly. Without disassembling the object, a detailed digital replica of the surface is created based on the drawings and measurements. This replica is the basis for models and visualizations.