The Secret Lives of Objects
by
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“The secret lives of objects are our secret lives. In this extraordinary book of linked essays Jane Graves manages with remarkable lucidity to say something for once inspiring rather than doctrinaire about the connections between psychoanalysis and art; and in the process she brings back both the word and the things to a new kind of life. Anyone who makes anything will make much out of this book.” Adam Phillips
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About the Book
This book looks at everyday, and not-so-everyday objects from a psychoanalytical perspective as well as the practice of art and design. It is an entertaining interpretation of the creation, consumption and culture of things we take for granted.
About the Author
Jane Graves trained as a ballet dancer at Sadler’s Wells. Subsequently she read English at Oxford and then went on to the LSE. She began work as a cultural studies lecturer in 1968 at Central Saint Martins, teaching psychoanalytical theory and sociology. For her last ten years she organised and taught a cultural studies programme for three MA’s in design. During this time she became increasingly involved in the studio and the making process. She also trained and worked as a specialist dyslexia tutor whilst undergoing eight years psychotherapy training. After retiring in 1996 she lived and worked as a psychoanalytical psychotherapist in the East End of London. Before and after leaving Central Saint Martins she published widely in design journals (many of these are included in this book). In 2006 she wrote ‘On making interest matter in art and psychoanalysis;’ ‘Conversations heard and unheard;’ ‘On seeing through pattern; glass and the Lacanian gaze.’ Throughout her life she was very fond of a good time, which included reading, writing, sewing costumes for family pantomimes, walking and camping. She died in March 2011 after a long illness borne with great fortitude, and is survived by her husband, Stuart, four children and four grandchildren.