Useful Objects

Author : Reed Gochberg
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 266 pages
File Size : 52,9 Mb
Release : 2021-08-18
Category : History
ISBN : 9780197553503

Get Book

Useful Objects by Reed Gochberg Pdf

Useful Objects examines the history of American museums during the nineteenth century through the eyes of visitors, writers, and collectors. Museums of this period included a wide range of objects, from botanical and zoological specimens to antiquarian artifacts and technological models. Intended to promote "useful knowledge," these collections generated broader discussions about how objects were selected, preserved, and classified. In guidebooks and periodicals, visitors described their experiences within museum galleries and marveled at the objects they encountered. In fiction, essays, and poems, writers embraced the imaginative possibilities represented by collections and proposed alternative systems of arrangement. These conversations interrogated many aspects of American culture, raising deep questions about how objects are interpreted--and who gets to decide their value. Combining literary criticism, the history of science, and museum studies, Useful Objects examines the dynamic and often fraught debates that emerged during a crucial period in the history of museums by drawing on a wide range of archival materials and accounts in fiction, guidebooks, and periodicals. As museums gradually transformed from encyclopedic cabinets to more specialized public institutions, many writers, including J. Hector St. John de Crèvecoeur, Jane Johnston Schoolcraft, William Wells Brown, Walt Whitman, and Henry David Thoreau, questioned who would have access to collections and the authority to interpret them. Throughout this period, they considered loss and preservation, raised concerns about the place of new ideas, and resisted increasingly fixed categories. Their reflections shaped broader debates about the scope and purpose of museums in American culture that continue to resonate today.

Author : Reed Gochberg
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 273 pages
File Size : 55,5 Mb
Release : 2021
Category : History
ISBN : 9780197553480

Get Book

Useful Objects by Reed Gochberg Pdf

'Useful Objects' examines the cultural history of nineteenth-century American museums through the eyes of writers, visitors, and collectors. Throughout this period, museums gradually transformed from encyclopedic cabinets to more specialized public institutions. These changes prompted wider debates about how museums determine what objects to select, preserve, and display-and who gets to decide. Drawing on a wide range of archival materials and accounts in fiction, guidebooks, and periodicals, this text shows how the challenges facing nineteenth-century museums continue to resonate in debates about their role in American culture today.

Author : Paola Antonelli
Publisher : The Museum of Modern Art
Page : 296 pages
File Size : 45,6 Mb
Release : 2003
Category : Architecture
ISBN : 0870706969

Get Book

Objects of Design from the Museum of Modern Art by Paola Antonelli Pdf

Table of Contents Foreword 6 Preface 7 Acknowledgments 9 Objects of Design 10 Plates 23 1 Turning Points 24 2 Machine Art 46 3 A Modern Ideal 70 4 Useful Objects 94 5 Modern Nature 122 6 Mind over Matter 150 7 Good Design 186 8 Good Design for Industry 218 9 The Object Transformed 248 Photograph Credits 283 Index 285 Trustees of The Museum of Modern Art 288.

Author : George Edwards
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 70 pages
File Size : 45,9 Mb
Release : 1815
Category : Great Britain
ISBN : BL:A0021974192

Get Book

Three Most Important Objects Proposed by George Edwards Pdf

Author : Yair Shapira
Publisher : CRC Press
Page : 609 pages
File Size : 54,7 Mb
Release : 2009-06-19
Category : Computers
ISBN : 1439811482

Get Book

Mathematical Objects in C++ by Yair Shapira Pdf

Emphasizing the connection between mathematical objects and their practical C++ implementation, this book provides a comprehensive introduction to both the theory behind the objects and the C and C++ programming. Object-oriented implementation of three-dimensional meshes facilitates understanding of their mathematical nature. Requiring no prerequisites, the text covers discrete mathematics, data structures, and computational physics, including high-order discretization of nonlinear equations. Exercises and solutions make the book suitable for classroom use and a supporting website supplies downloadable code.

Author : Paul Betts
Publisher : Univ of California Press
Page : 366 pages
File Size : 45,5 Mb
Release : 2004-06-09
Category : Architecture
ISBN : 9780520941359

Get Book

The Authority of Everyday Objects by Paul Betts Pdf

From the Werkbund to the Bauhaus to Braun, from furniture to automobiles to consumer appliances, twentieth-century industrial design is closely associated with Germany. In this pathbreaking study, Paul Betts brings to light the crucial role that design played in building a progressive West German industrial culture atop the charred remains of the past. The Authority of Everyday Objects details how the postwar period gave rise to a new design culture comprising a sprawling network of diverse interest groups—including the state and industry, architects and designers, consumer groups and museums, as well as publicists and women's organizations—who all identified industrial design as a vital means of economic recovery, social reform, and even moral regeneration. These cultural battles took on heightened importance precisely because the stakes were nothing less than the very shape and significance of West German domestic modernity. Betts tells the rich and far-reaching story of how and why commodity aesthetics became a focal point for fashioning a certain West German cultural identity. This book is situated at the very crossroads of German industry and aesthetics, Cold War politics and international modernism, institutional life and visual culture.

Author : Jared Kemling
Publisher : State University of New York Press
Page : 564 pages
File Size : 46,6 Mb
Release : 2021-12-01
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 9781438486185

Get Book

The Cultural Power of Personal Objects by Jared Kemling Pdf

The Cultural Power of Personal Objects seeks to understand the value and efficacy of objects, places, and times that take on cultural power and reverence to such a degree that they are treated (whether metaphorically or actually) as "persons," or as objects with "personality"—they are living objects. Featuring both historical and theoretical sections, the volume details examples of this practice, including the wampum of certain Native American tribes, the tsukumogami of Japan, the sacred keris knives of Java, the personality of seagoing ships, the ritual objects of Hinduism and Ancient Egypt, and more. The theoretical contributions aim to provide context for the existence and experience of personal objects, drawing from a variety of disciplines. Offering a variety of new philosophical perspectives on the theme, while grounding the discussion in a historical context, The Cultural Power of Personal Objects broadens and reinvigorates our understanding of cultural meaning and experience.

Author : Susan Pearce
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 357 pages
File Size : 46,9 Mb
Release : 2012-10-12
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9781134830374

Get Book

Interpreting Objects and Collections by Susan Pearce Pdf

This volume brings together for the first time the most significant papers on the interpretation of objects and collections and examines how people relate to material culture and why they collect things. The first section of the book discusses the interpretation of objects, setting the philosophical and historical context of object interpretation. Papers are included which discuss objects variously as historical documents, functioning material, and as semiotic texts, as well as those which examine the politics of objects and the methodology of object study. The second section, on the interpretation of collections, looks at the study of collections in their historical and conceptual context. Many topics are covered such as the study of collecting to structure individual identity, its affect on time and space and the construction of gender. There are also papers discussing collection and ideology, collection and social action and the methodology of collection study. This unique anthology of articles and extracts will be of inestimable value to all students and professionals involved in the interpretation of objects and collections.

Author : ESSAY.
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 228 pages
File Size : 42,9 Mb
Release : 1823
Category : Electronic
ISBN : BL:A0019667426

Get Book

An essay on the objects of taste by ESSAY. Pdf

Author : Sandra Blakely
Publisher : Lockwood Press
Page : 371 pages
File Size : 48,7 Mb
Release : 2017-07-01
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781937040802

Get Book

Gods, Objects, and Ritual Practice by Sandra Blakely Pdf

Conversations about materiality have helped forge a common meeting ground for scholars seeking to integrate images, sites, texts and implements in their approach to religion in the ancient Mediterranean. The thirteen chapters in this volume explore the productivity of these approaches, with case studies from Israel, Athens, Rome, Sicily and North Africa. The results foreground the capacity of material approaches to cast light on the cultural creation of the sacred through the integration of rhetorical, material, and iconographic means. They open more nuanced pathways to the uses of text in the study of material evidence. They highlight the potential for material objects to bring political and ethnic boundaries into the sacred realm. And they emphasize the role of ongoing interpretation, debate, and multiple readings in the creation of the sacred, in both ancient contexts and scholarly discussion.

Author : Denis Caromel,Ludovic Henrio
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
Page : 390 pages
File Size : 40,6 Mb
Release : 2005-04-13
Category : Computers
ISBN : 3540208666

Get Book

A Theory of Distributed Objects by Denis Caromel,Ludovic Henrio Pdf

Distributed and communicating objects are becoming ubiquitous. In global, Grid and Peer-to-Peer computing environments, extensive use is made of objects interacting through method calls. So far, no general formalism has been proposed for the foundation of such systems. Caromel and Henrio are the first to define a calculus for distributed objects interacting using asynchronous method calls with generalized futures, i.e., wait-by-necessity -- a must in large-scale systems, providing both high structuring and low coupling, and thus scalability. The authors provide very generic results on expressiveness and determinism, and the potential of their approach is further demonstrated by its capacity to cope with advanced issues such as mobility, groups, and components. Researchers and graduate students will find here an extensive review of concurrent languages and calculi, with comprehensive figures and summaries. Developers of distributed systems can adopt the many implementation strategies that are presented and analyzed in detail. Preface by Luca Cardelli

Author : Christopher Fletcher
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 302 pages
File Size : 44,8 Mb
Release : 2021-06-10
Category : History
ISBN : 9781000397031

Get Book

Everyday Political Objects by Christopher Fletcher Pdf

Everyday Political Objects examines a series of historical case studies across a very broad timescale, using objects as a means to develop different approaches to understanding politics where both internal and external definitions of the political prove inadequate. Materiality and objects have gradually made their way into the historian’s toolbox in recent years, but the distinctive contribution that a set of methods developed for the study of objects can make to our understanding of politics has yet to be explored. This book shows how everyday objects play a certain role in politics, which is specific to material things. It provides case studies which re-orientate the view of the political in a way that is distinct from, but complementary to, the study of political institutions, the social history of politics and the analysis of discourse. Each chapter shows, in a distinctive and innovative way, how historians might change their approach to politics by incorporating objects into their methodology. Analysing case studies from France, the Congo, Burkina Faso, Romania and Britain between the early Middle Ages and the present day makes this study the perfect tool for students and scholars in the disciplines of history, art history, political science, anthropology and archaeology. Chapter 7 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781003147428

Author : Jessie Hohmann,Daniel Joyce
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 591 pages
File Size : 54,7 Mb
Release : 2018-12-20
Category : Law
ISBN : 9780192548962

Get Book

International Law's Objects by Jessie Hohmann,Daniel Joyce Pdf

International law's rich existence in the world can be illuminated by its objects. International law is often developed, conveyed and authorized through its objects and/or their representation. From the symbolic (the regalia of the head of state and the symbols of sovereignty), to the mundane (a can of dolphin-safe tuna certified as complying with international trade standards), international legal authority can be found in the objects around us. Similarly, the practice of international law often relies on material objects or their image, both as evidence (satellite images, bones of the victims of mass atrocities) and to found authority (for instance, maps and charts). This volume considers these questions; firstly what might the study of international law through objects reveal? What might objects, rather than texts, tell us about sources, recognition of states, construction of territory, law of the sea, or international human rights law? Secondly, what might this scholarly undertaking reveal about the objects - as aims or projects - of international law? How do objects reveal, or perhaps mask, these aims, and what does this tell us about the reasons some (physical or material) objects are foregrounded, and others hidden or ignored. Thirdly what objects, icons and symbols preoccupy the profession and academy? The personal selection of these objects by leading and emerging scholars worldwide, will illuminate the contemporary and historical fascinations of international lawyers. As a result, the volume will be an important artefact (itself an object) in its own right, capturing the mood of international law in a given moment and providing opportunity for reflection on these preoccupations. By considering international law in the context of its material culture the authors offer a new theoretical perspective on the subject.

Author : Liz Farrelly,Joanna Weddell
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
Page : 216 pages
File Size : 53,8 Mb
Release : 2016-01-28
Category : Design
ISBN : 9781472577245

Get Book

Design Objects and the Museum by Liz Farrelly,Joanna Weddell Pdf

Design Objects and the Museum brings together leading design historians, curators, educators and archivists to consider the place of contemporary design objects within museums. Contributors draw on a wide range of 20th century and contemporary examples from international museums to consider how design objects have been curated and displayed within and beyond the museum. The book continues contemporary global debates on the ways in which museums of design engage and educate their public. Chapters are grouped into three thematic sections addressing The Canon and Design in the Museum; Positioning Design within and Beyond the Museum; and Interpretation and the Challenge of Design, with chapters exploring museological practice and issues, the roles people play in creating meaning, and the challenges contemporary design presents to interpretation and learning within the museum.

Author : Tara Hamling,Catherine Richardson
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 357 pages
File Size : 53,5 Mb
Release : 2016-12-14
Category : History
ISBN : 9781351938112

Get Book

Everyday Objects by Tara Hamling,Catherine Richardson Pdf

This book is about the objects people owned and how they used them. Twenty-three specially written essays investigate the type of things that might have been considered 'everyday objects' in the medieval and early modern periods, and how they help us to understand the daily lives of those individuals for whom few other types of evidence survive - for instance people of lower status and women of all status groups. Everyday Objects presents new research by specialists from a range of disciplines to assess what the study of material culture can contribute to our understanding of medieval and early modern societies. Extending and developing key debates in the study of the everyday, the chapters provide analysis of such things as ceramics, illustrated manuscripts, pins, handbells, carved chimneypieces, clothing, drinking vessels, bagpipes, paintings, shoes, religious icons and the built fabric of domestic houses and guild halls. These things are examined in relation to central themes of pre-modern history; for instance gender, identity, space, morality, skill, value, ritual, use, belief, public and private behaviour, continental influence, materiality, emotion, technical innovation, status, competition and social mobility. This book offers both a collection of new research by a diverse range of specialists and a source book of current methodological approaches for the study of pre-modern material culture. The multi-disciplinary analysis of these 'everyday objects' by archaeologists, art historians, literary scholars, historians, conservators and museum practitioners provides a snapshot of current methodological approaches within the humanities. Although analysis of material culture has become an increasingly important aspect of the study of the past, previous research in this area has often remained confined to subject-specific boundaries. This book will therefore be an invaluable resource for researchers and students interested in learning about important new work which demonstrates the potential of material culture study to cut across traditional historiographies and disciplinary boundaries and access the lived experience of individuals in the past.