| This research investigates the personal and cultural dimensions of technology, with special attention to heritage preservation, including today's collaborative, intercultural efforts in conservation/restoration. The author's extensive practice as a conservator/restorer of antiquities in diverse environments, combined with a knowledge of materials science, revealed multiple associations and symbolic content in the materials and technological processes involved. Often overlooked, the meaningful dimension of the physical component of our contemporary technologies merits investigation, particularly now, in the rapid globalization of technology.; This dissertation addresses the evident need for a conceptual strategy to retrieve and interpret these influential environmental associations. To this end, the concept of metaform is introduced and developed as a conceptual tool recognizing technology as a phenomenon that is both instrumental and symbolic. Accordingly, this research is directed toward an holistic understanding of technology, in the sense of the mediating role of technology in human relationships.; The research is interdisciplinary, the methods multimodal, emergent, interpretive and reflective, developing the core concept of metaform through diverse examples and case studies. These research sources, supplemented with textual research, artifact analysis, interviews and visual media, inform an interpretation of technology and related activities as situated phenomena, a synthesis of matter and meaning.; Preservation technologies have particular significance to this research as they engage a deep investment of knowledge across disciplines; they represent a tangible commitment to certain choices in the selection, care and restoration of objects of cultural importance. More commonly perceived as a tool, technology functions as an extension of the human in all aspects—psychological, spiritual and physical. By examining the motives, aspirations and fears that account for our inventions, we reclaim our membership in technology as an expression of human relationships at various levels with others and with the world at large.; Examples draw on studies of both ancient and contemporary preservation practices in Canada, the United States, China and Japan. Parallel technologies in medicine are explored to illustrate the broader applications of metaform. Global studies in conservation provide a context in which the relevance of metaform emerges in cultural exchanges in technology.; This research demonstrates the transferability of the concept of metaform, first as it applies to preservation technologies, then as it serves as a conceptual device to elucidate the human element inherent in the use of any technology. In conclusion, technology as metaform presents a new means of knowledge development, compatible with a holistic model for intercultural exchanges in technology. |
