How Materials Matter: Design, Innovation and Materiality in the Pacific

New
Illustrated
2019
$147.27

How does design and innovation shape people's lives in the Pacific? Focusing on plant materials from the region, How Materials Matter reveals ways in which a variety of people - from craftswomen and scientists to architects and politicians - work with materials to transform worlds. Recognizing the fragile and ephemeral nature of plant fibres, this work delves into how the biophysical properties of certain leaves and their aesthetic appearance are utilized to communicate information and manage different forms of relations. It breaks new ground by situating plant materials at the centre of innovation in a region.

Synopsis

How does design and innovation shape people's lives in the Pacific? Focusing on plant materials from the region, How Materials Matter reveals ways in which a variety of people - from craftswomen and scientists to architects and politicians - work with materials to transform worlds. Recognizing the fragile and ephemeral nature of plant fibres, this work delves into how the biophysical properties of certain leaves and their aesthetic appearance are utilized to communicate information and manage different forms of relations. It breaks new ground by situating plant materials at the centre of innovation in a region.

$147.27

Quantity

20+ in stock

More Information

Format: Illustrated
Pages: 224
Edition: Illustrated
Publisher: Berghahn Books
Published: 01 Mar 2019
ISBN 10: 1789202019
ISBN 13: 9781789202014

Media Reviews

The book is a welcome and novel addition to the anthropology of the Pacific through its exploration of the dynamics of materials and sociality while also introducing readers to the realities of working with digital renderings of heritage. Joshua A. Bell, Smithsonian Institution

Author Bio

Graeme Were is the chair and professor of Anthropology in the Department of Anthropology and Archaeology at the University of Bristol. He has a regional specialism in Papua New Guinea where he has conducted on-going ethnographic fieldwork since 2000. His published work includes Lines that Connect (2010) and Extreme Collecting (Berghahn, 2012) co-edited with J.C.H. King.