Stamps Directory
Bruce M. Tharp
Associate Professor, Stamps School of Art & Design
Contact
Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Office: 2073 AA
Curriculum Vitae
BS, Mechanical Engineering, Bucknell University
Post-Baccalaureate Fine Arts, Pennsylvania State University
MID, Industrial Design (Distinguished Graduate), Pratt Institute
MA, Sociocultural Anthropology, The University of Chicago
PhD, Sociocultural Anthropology, The University of Chicago
Biography
After studying mechanical engineering at Bucknell University and graduating from Pratt Institute's Master of Industrial Design program, Bruce went on to receive a MA and PhD in sociocultural anthropology at the University of Chicago. As an anthropologist he spent two years living with the Amish of Indiana studying their material culture and the production and consumption of value. His dissertation work was published as "Ascetical Value: The Materiality of Spirituality among the Old Order Amish."
Bruce, along with his wife and fellow Stamps faculty member, Stephanie M. Tharp established their creative studio, materious, in Chicago in 2005. "Materious" is an archaic word that means both "substance" and "substantive," reflecting their concern for imbuing deep meaning, messaging, and value within domestic products. At times aiming for provocation and pertubation, while at others sustenance and service, their practice spans the four fields of commercial-, responsible-, experimental-, and discursive design. This four-field approach to design theory and practice was conceptualized by them and has been incorporated into design thinking and classrooms across the globe.
They have patented and licensed designs that are sold commercially, been awarded commissions from Moet-Hennessy and the Art Institute of Chicago, and also engage in self-production and wholesale/retail sales. Materious has exhibited in global design capitals like Milan, Paris, and New York, with their work represented commercially in Japan, China, Singapore, Australia, Russia, across Europe, Canada, Mexico, and Central and South America.
Bruce and Stephanie Tharp are co-writing a book entitled Discursive Design - a realm of expanded design practice that they have helped to problematize and legitimize over the past decade. Recently he wrote, "Consumer Product Dispossession: Value Production through Rejection and Divestment," for a soon-to-be-published Anthropology of Arts Reader (Bloomsbury).
Prior to the Stamps School of Art and Design, Bruce helped plan and build the Designed Objects graduate program at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He most recently was the Director of Graduate Studies for the School of Design at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Prior to teaching, Bruce worked in the contract furniture industry within Haworth’s think-tank—the Ideation group—helping to bridge the gap between research on the built environment and implementable design solutions.
Gallery
Click thumbnails to view full size.
-
BABYBOTTLE: Dual chamber feeding bottle for on-demand mixing of powdered formula
-
BABYBOTTLE: Dual chamber feeding bottle for on-demand mixing of powdered formula
-
MASTERSWITCH: Wireless, energy-harvesting pull-switch for any electrical device
-
DYAD: Seating for conversation
-
DYAD: Seating for conversation
-
POWERSTRIP: Synchronized power strip for convenient router and modem re-start
-
OPENAXLE: Measuring tape with hollow arbor
-
FALLEN: Rocking bench
-
HOMER: Home Reliquary
-
XOSKELETON: Mountain bike helmet series inspired by nature
-
XOSKELETON: Mountain bike helmet series inspired by nature
-
FILLANDFLIP: Measuring cup and funnel
-
ADIEU: Fireplace 'logs' for the ardent modernist
-
ADIEU: Fireplace 'logs' for the ardent modernist
-
UMBRELLAS FOR THE CIVIL BUT DISCONTENT MAN
-
FLASHJUMP: Music-responsive and jump-move signaling jump rope
-
BONELAMP: A nature-inspired exploration in repurposed PVC sewer pipe
-
BONELAMP: A nature-inspired exploration in repurposed PVC sewer pipe
In the News
- Bruce and Stephanie Tharp Book Launch
- Stamps School Co-Organizes 2019 Ewha International Design Conference
- Stamps Hosts Third Annual D++ Design Salon
- Caring for the Caregivers: 2018 MDes Thesis Talks
- Bruce and Stephanie Tharp Featured in University Record
- Design@Michigan Convening
- Bruce M. Tharp: Carnegie Mellon Panel on Discursive Design
- Rx for Reading
- Stamps Design Salon at 2016 Detroit Design Festival
- Bruce and Stephanie Tharp Announce Core77 Design Awards
- Stamps Faculty: AMSA XXIV Poster & Art Exhibition
- Bruce and Stephanie Tharp: Core77 Design Awards Jury Captains
- MDes Design Charette
- Bruce M. Tharp Lectures at CCA
- Core77: Bruce Tharp on the Stamps MDes