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• 2011 IDEA Journal

2011 IDEA Journal

IDEA

Interior Economies: IDEA JOURNAL 2011

Guest Editor: Julieanna Preston

PROVOCATION:

Originally identifying the household or family as the basic unit of society, the term "economy" implicates the social and material relations of a prominent type of interior, the domestic sphere. The notion of economy has expanded in contemporary usage to denote systems of production, distribution, exchange and consumption at a global scale. In much of today's world, to be economical is to make the efficient use of resources, even to the extent of frugality. And yet, in sharp contrast and with immediate relevance, "economy" conceptually refers to a face to face relational exchange, an active sharing and social interaction which has the capacity to occur in interiors other than those inscribed by physical enclosure or geographical locale.
The forthcoming issue of The IDEA Journal calls for contributions in the form scholarly essays, visual essays and theorized creative practice on the topic of Interior Economies. The following questions serve as provocations:

What forms of interior environments emerge in response to twenty-first century economies to support new gender, ethnic and ethical relations?

If considered as sites of exchange, production and distribution, how might domestic, industrial, commercial, virtual, temporal and liminal interiors be re-imagined?

What is the value of efficiency within interior design? What kinds of practice expand and/or challenge the tendency for efficiency as cost-effectiveness?

Economy's thrifty, frugal and practical sensibility could suggest certain vestiges of modernism's hold on interior aesthetics and its supposed abolition of ornament and decoration. How does this identity lead one to reconsider concepts of materiality and immateriality in interiors?

The interface of interior and economy warrants mention of the financial encumbrance of sourcing materials, fixtures, furniture and finishes. What relation do these finishes and props of inhabitation have with global networks, politics and/or sustainable preservation?

Publication: early 2012

GUEST EDITOR:

The guest editor for the 2011 IDEA Journal is Julieanna Preston, Director of Research and Postgraduate Studies, Institute of Design for Industry and Environment, College of Creative Arts, Massey University. Julieanna is a spatial/ interior designer recognised internationally for her transdisciplinary creative practice research on the politics of interior environments and material surfaces. This work draws on her knowledge of building construction, geology, architecture, landscape, installation art, exhibition design, literature, feminist theory, philosophy and practice-led research. In her research she navigates between theoretical inquiry and material invention explored through sculptural objects, performative installations, visual images and scholarly-based publications. These works disclose an affirmative feminist agency applied to every day interior space and furnishings previously established in "Pinned Structure and Folded Surface: Sewing Operations on the Eiffel Tower" (RISD 2002, Surface Consciousness/ AD 2003, Architectural Design Research 2005) and "Moments of Resistance" (Archadia Press 2002). In recent years this speculative research has advanced knowledge on material vitality and gendered space in the context of curated exhibitions such as BLAZE, No Fixed Seating, SHEAR: SWELL and 13%: This is my feminist survival kit. Her design-writing practice includes two edited books, "INTIMUS: Interior Design Theory Reader" (2006 with Mark Taylor) and "Interior Atmospheres" which curate new and existing texts to reconceptualise interior design within multidisciplinary discourse. Both volumes have been credited as leading influences to interior design's emerging identity. Forthcoming works include her creative practice contextualized in visual essays "Lining Stories: Conversations with Inside Trades" (Fairchild, 2012), "Neutral, Not So" (Berg, 2012), "Blazing Inter-alia" (Princeton Architectural Press, 2011) and "Live Matter" (Berg, 2012).