Digital objects topologies: Transition between utility, form, and intent

Abstract

Digital layer manufacturing technologies continue to mature; gaining footholds in increasingly diverse sectors; challenging conventional models and logistics of production, distribution and consumption. We might rightly ask of these technologies; what consequences or challenges, culturally or socially will a world full of on-demand RM ‘ready-made’ artifacts create. Making sense of these objects meaning might involve developing more nuanced understanding of our relationship with these products production and intent. The present chapter attempts to develop a critical examination based on notions of personal contextual specificity, drawing on Kopytoff’s concept of ‘objects biographies’, Deleuze’s temporal notion of ‘objectiles’ and Duchamp’s concept of ‘infra-thin’. This chapter will develop the notion of contextual digital object topologies, becoming a critical driver in contemporary digital design practices using DM and LM processes, in responding to contemporary cultural milieu.