Accident, determinism and hermeneutics: relationships between analogue and digital fabrication

The paper situates craft as a rediscovered force in new materialism, which places increased emphasis on objects and their capacity to empower and/or frustrate the actions of humans. It explores, through a hermeneutic lens, the present and future role of craft as an agent for change. The writing draws parallels between the nature of imperfection in digital and analogue forms, and draws on theoretical arguments in new materialism and the philosophy of technology to discuss how the interpretation of certain processes in analogue and digital craft/design, such as the glitch and the ’hand mark’, can provide new insights into methods of production that place digital and hand-made processes closer together than orthodox views might suggest