Nicholas Cattie

Development

The passage of time is an inescapable condition that we all share. A way to measure time is by the changes we experience in our lifetime as consumers and how we communicate with each other. In particular, over the past 100 years. Since its invention in 1902, first patented by Alexander Graham Bell, the design of the telephone has reflected the aesthetic choices of society and the consumer. A way to visualize this would be to compare a telephone from 1920 to a Charlie Chaplin film, and one from the 1980’s  Star Wars movie.  My thesis, Development is an example of my exploration into the telephone as an object and the many variations and changes between the years 1920 – 1980. This 60-year span represents how society changes due to advancements in the field of technology and has reflected in our design of consumer products.  My process in making Development started with tracing telephones from a computer screen with tracing paper. I then present these in Installations as a way to show a non-linear timeline. These tracings act as a collective body to demonstrate the journey of the telephone design as well as the way consumer products have changed to adapt to technology. The final photograph is used to represent that journey of progression and change of society through telephones.