What was I thinking? Material thinking

Join us to explore how materials can be active participants in design.

Can the stuff we design with carry knowledge? Does plastic hold ideas? How about a plank of Australian hardwood? Or a pile of soil from your local Melbourne park?

In this talk, we discuss how materials have meaning. Our speakers reflect on their time making, carrying out fieldwork and handling materials, and how these experiences spur on certain outcomes. They also reflect on the importance of provisional objects and how these can be hugely generative tools and prompts.

Join us to discover how materials can be active participants in design and research, plus share your own stories about making.

‘What was I thinking?’ is a pair of talks that dive deeper into the themes of the ‘Methods of Matter | Matter of Methods’ exhibition. They are prompted by the moments of learning and uncertainty that carry through every PhD process.