Throughout Bennett’s chapter “A Life of Metal,” I was rather inspired by her comment: “Humans, inexplicably, are ‘excited’ by what we otherwise believe to be ‘altogether inadequate stimuli’” (Bennett 61). Such a statement brought me back to the lecture Jeffery Cohen gave on stone. Moreover, it made me think about the seemingly inexplicable attraction we, humans, have with the world matter.
Going by the idea that “apparently dead things” have a sort of “neutral sexuality,” I thought about how this idea is manifest in the world we live in (61). Not very long after, it became almost frighteningly apparent how intimate we are with the material world. Now, it can easily be argued that humans have an overwhelming affection for objects, but when we look at this material lust through the lens of Bennett, it becomes clear there is a vitality, an energy that drives us to need them and be close to them.
However, it seems that although this vitality could be witnessed in just about every object humans create, the most pure form of it comes through in natural, unaltered materials. One such example that came to mind, was countertops. Yes, the surfaces that are found in kitchens everywhere. However, it seems that every aspiring homeowner dreams granite or marble countertops, which brings to mind a seemingly logical question: why? Is it simply due to their asthetic beauty, and if so, why are they more beautiful than a manmade material? Or, is it because they provide a touch, or a feel, that seems so steadfast and genuine that we are almost left in a state of awe and respect their silence. All of these reasons may be correct, but I think they ultimately show how the inorganic has an immovable —almost primordial— grip on our us, that maintains an intimate bond with ageless materials.