Conserving Active Matter

Peter N. Miller, Soon Kai Poh

ISBN 10: 1941792324 / ISBN 13: 9781941792322

Published by Bard Graduate Center, Exhibitions Department, US, 2022

About this Item

Considers the future of conservation and its connection to the human sciences.  This volume brings together the findings from a five-year research project that seeks to reimagine the relationship between conservation knowledge and the humanistic study of the material world. The project, "Cultures of Conservation," was supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and included events, seminars, and an artist-in-residence.  The effort to conserve things amid change is part of the human struggle with the nature of matter. For as long as people have made things and kept things, they have also cared for and repaired them. Today, conservators use a variety of tools and categories developed over the last one hundred and fifty years to do this work, but in the coming decades, new kinds of materials and a new scale of change will pose unprecedented challenges. Looking ahead to this moment from the perspectives of history, philosophy, materials science, and anthropology, this volume explores new possibilities for both conservation and the humanities in the rethinking of active matter.

Seller Inventory # LU-9781941792322

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Conserving Active Matter
• Publisher: Bard Graduate Center, Exhibitions Department, US
• Publication Date: 2022
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1941792324
• ISBN 13: 9781941792322
• Binding: Hardback
• Condition: New
• Weight: 865 grams

About this title

Synopsis

Considers the future of conservation and its connection to the human sciences. 

This volume brings together the findings from a five-year research project that seeks to reimagine the relationship between conservation knowledge and the humanistic study of the material world. The project, “Cultures of Conservation,” was supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and included events, seminars, and an artist-in-residence. 

The effort to conserve things amid change is part of the human struggle with the nature of matter. For as long as people have made things and kept things, they have also cared for and repaired them. Today, conservators use a variety of tools and categories developed over the last one hundred and fifty years to do this work, but in the coming decades, new kinds of materials and a new scale of change will pose unprecedented challenges. Looking ahead to this moment from the perspectives of history, philosophy, materials science, and anthropology, this volume explores new possibilities for both conservation and the humanities in the rethinking of active matter.

About the Authors

Peter N. Miller is dean and professor at Bard Graduate Center.

Soon Kai Poh is a Conservation as a Human Science Fellow at Bard Graduate Center.