Research Catalog

Title

Surface tensions : surface, finish and the meaning of objects / edited by Glenn Adamson and Victoria Kelley.

Publication

Manchester ; New York : Manchester University Press ; New York : Distributed in the U.S. exclusively by Palgrave Macmillan, 2013.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Additional Authors

• Adamson, Glenn.
• Kelley, Victoria.

Description

xiv, 215 pages, 32 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (chiefly color), maps; 25 cm.

Summary

Surfaces are often held to be of lesser consequence than 'deeper' or more 'substantive' aspects of artworks and objects. Yet it is also possible to conceive of the surface in more positive terms: as a site where complex forces meet. Surfaces can be theorized as membranes, protective shells, sensitive skins, even thicknesses in their own right. The surface is not so much a barrier to content as an opportunity for encounter: in new objects, the surface is the site of qualities of finish, texture, the site of tactile interaction, the last point of contact between object and maker, and the first point of contact between object and user. This book includes sixteen essays that explore this theoretically uncharted terrain. The subjects range widely: domestic maintenance; avant-garde fashion; the faking of antiques; postmodern architecture and design; contemporary film costume. Of particular emphasis within the volume are textiles, which are among the most complex and culturally rich materialisations of surface.

Series Statement

Studies in design

Uniform Title

Studies in design.

Subject

• Textile fabrics > History
• Textile fabrics > Texture

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN

• 9780719087516
• 0719087511

LCCN

99962672410

OCLC

• ocn833341826
• 833341826
• SCSB-9573829

Owning Institutions

Columbia University Libraries