Synopses & Reviews
Pause and look, and you will see that you are surrounded by glass: light reflects off and refracts through your windows; it encircles a glowing filament above you; it's in a mirror hanging on the wall; it lies shattered in a dented corner of an iPhone; you're drinking water out of a pint glass. Taking up a most common object, rarely considered because assumed to be transparent, this book draws evocative connections between historical depictions of glass and emergent discourses within the technology sector that envision glass as holding unique promise for new forms of interaction. Grounded in examples familiar to most readers, this book offers a series of surprising-often counter-intuitive-insights into how we see the world and see ourselves in the world.
Synopsis
Object Lessons is a series of short, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things.
Pause and look around: you will see that you are surrounded by glass. It reflects and refracts light through your windows; it encircles a glowing filament above you; it's in a mirror hanging on the wall; it lies shattered in a dented corner of an iPhone-you're drinking water out of a pint glass. Taking up a most common object, rarely considered because assumed to be transparent, John Garrison draws evocative connections between historical depictions of glass and emerging visions that see it as holding a unique promise for new forms of interaction. Grounded in everyday examples, this book offers a series of surprising insights into how we increasingly find ourselves living in a world made of glass.
Object Lessons is published in partnership with an essay series in The Atlantic.
About the Author
John Garrison is Assistant Professor of English at Carroll University, USA. His work has appeared Cultural Critique, DoubleTake/Points of Entry, Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts, The Gay and Lesbian Review, Medievalia et Humanistica, Milton Quarterly, Literature Compass, Literature/Film Quarterly, Postmodern Culture, and Studies in Philology, as well as in the scholarly collections Women in Science Fiction and Scotland as Science Fiction. He is the author of Friendship and Queer Theory in the Renaissance (2013). Prior to pursuing a career in teaching, he helped develop technology and marketing innovations for leading companies including Sony Electronics, Marvel Entertainment, Yahoo!, Panasonic, and Warner Brothers Pictures.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Section I: Looking Glass Realities
Section II: Through a Glass, Interactively
Postscript
Index