TRIVIAL TECHNOLOGIES OF EFFECT IN THE HOME
- Publication Type:
- Article
- Issue Date:
- 2007-10-05T01:21:45Z
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Most accounts of how new technology has transformed the domestic realm focus on the
provision of comfort, sanitation and labour-saving devices. In parallel, but typically not visible in
these histories, there has been a minor strand of development that we identify as trivial
technologies of effect. These are gadgets and devices whose utility cannot be separated from
wonder and delight. They bring a kind of non-essential utility for private enjoyment, and so
occupy a distinct ground somewhere between function and entertainment. In this sense they can
be thought of as aligned to the practice of architectural design, which similarly pursues both
functionalism and art.
The paper explores this category of trivial technology through two significant examples of
mechanised houses. The first is the house of Jean Eugene Robert-Houdin, a nineteenth century
magician and noted amateur inventor. From this case, the form of the magic trick provides a
metaphor for our analysis of technologies of effect. The second example is the penthouse
addition of the appartement de Beisetgui, designed by Le Corbusier. Here we trace the same
lineage of devices in the modernist guise. Finally we briefly examine the present-day
phenomenon of the ‘smart house’, and other attempts to rekindle wonder in domestic digital
technologies through the designs of Bill Gaver.
In conclusion, we use the inherent ambiguity and irony of trivial technologies to explore the
modernist mantra of the machine a habité in a different light, that is less about satisfying
functionalism, and more about producing automated and sensory effects.
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