Book Signing and Accompanying Talk

25 September 2012

THE PERFORMATIVITY OF MATTER:
A DEMONSTRATION BY ZOE LAUGHLIN

Materials perform. Stuff is constantly getting up to things. Matter is constantly doing, at varying scales of time and space, in order to exist and generate the world of objects.

The Performativity of Matter is a demonstration-led exploration of materials, where the micro is rendered macro, the inanimate is shown to be animate, and material science meets performance. Join us at WORK to encounter some of the most wondrous matter on earth: from shape-memory paperclips to magnetic liquids, non-Newtonian fluids and radioactive fruit bowls—not to mention the lightest solid in the world.

How do jet aeroplanes rely on crystals to fly? What connects light bulbs and the sublime? And is there a better way to get that last bit of stubborn tomato sauce out of the bottle? Zoe Laughlin, Creative Director of The Institute of Making, has the answers to these questions and more!

Zoe will be signing copies of her recent publication Material Matters: New Materials in Design, coedited by Phil Howes and released by Black Dog Publishing, directly following the demonstration. Copies will be available from PAPERWORK Bookshop on the night for a special price of £15 (RRP £19.95).

LOCATION: WORK Gallery and PAPERWORK Bookshop, 10a Acton Street, London WC1X 9NG
DATE/TIME: 6.30-8 pm on Wednesday 26 September 2012