Material Agency in the Urban Material Culture Initiative

Dados Bibliográficos

ID2289348
AutoresRobert Rotenberg (DePaul University)
Ano2014
Volume37
Fascículo1
Páginas36-45
Data de publicação2014-04-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoMuseum Anthropology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0892-8339 • E-ISSN: 1548-1379
EditoraWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/muan.12048
OpenAlexW2115867943
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas2
Referências citadas8

This contribution to the discussion of collecting contemporary objects reviews the implications of taking seriously how and what objects communicate, especially how we can identify the ways messages are coded in the forms of familiar objects. Of special interest are the conceptual tools that are available to differentiate these messages when objects are arranged in assemblages, including emergent implicit messages, the messages implicit in sets of objects. I advocate an approach to collecting in museums based on the tactics people use to create these assemblages at home. What theorizing about material agency offers to our collection program is a focus on objects in use rather than objects isolated from use. [material culture, consumption, agency, assemblage

Anthropological Studies and Insights · Fashion and Cultural Textiles · Museums and Cultural Heritage