Molonglo

Object Therapy was a research and re-making project that explored creative transformation and notions of value and repair. The program included an exhibition and a series of public talks and workshops.

In May 2016, 29 broken objects were submitted by members of the public to a team of repair researchers before undergoing ‘therapy’. Items of furniture, ceramics, household appliances, textiles, jewellery, sentimental objects and a human, were all ‘treated’ and reimagined by Australian and international designers and artists including Trent Jansen, Liam Mugavin, Henry Wilson and Alison Jackson. Interviews were carried out with the object owners to understand how they came to acquire the object, how it broke and how they would like to see it repaired. In many cases these simple, straightforward questions drew out personal stories highlighting the power that objects have to connect us to people, places and the past. When the owners were asked to ‘let go’ of their objects they had to understand that the repair process might mean a complete transformation of the look and also the function of the object.

In transforming these loved but broken items, Object Therapy demonstrated not just innovative design solutions but considered the attachments we form with objects. As design psychologist Eleni Kalantidou asked in her essay examining the program: “What is repair then? Is it a means to instrumentally bring back to life an object that we need? Or a way to keep alive an object that we can’t live without?”

Object Therapy was developed through a partnership between Molonglo, UNSW Art & Design and ANU School of Art and Design. It has toured throughout Australia with ADC On Tour, the Australian Design Centre’s national touring program.