Caught out once again. Between recitations of address, phone number, social security number, member ID number, claim number, date of birth, date of service, date of last period, middle name, mother’s maiden name, family cat name, four digit password, eight digit password – alphanumeric characters only, I have sinned. I yelled at the customer service [...]

Ever since I started working with toasters I have been thinking a lot about toast. Following on from my washing machine obsession I had been keen to continue exploring the material and metaphorical opportunities represented in the transformative functions of everyday devices. The opportunity subsequently presented to me in the form of a toasting oven [...]

“Tycho Brahe was a great astronomer, but all we remember about him today is that in the course of a festive dinner at the emperor’s court he was too ashamed to go to the lavatory, so his bladder burst and he departed among the ridiculous immortals as a martyr to shame and urine.” Immortality, Milan [...]

One of the most enjoyable moments I had when I visited New York City recently was at the laundromat. Something about a moment of stopping. Being squashed into the the almost subterrain warmth and hum. A child moves from bench to bench uninhibited, chatting to the other washers. We all sit and wait for the [...]

I have been marking exams for a course on the sociology of new media. As I sit, reading through variations on the same answer to the same questions 53 times, I reflect on my role in this (exam garbled) information economy. I have come to the conclusion that I am a knowledge sweat shop laborer. [...]