Wunderkammer Objects and Meaning

7/29/2019 Wunderkammer Objects and Meaning

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Andrea Peach

Stage 1

Contextual & Critical Studies

Wunderkammer:Objects and Meaning


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Andreas Gursky99 Cents, 1999


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Andreas GurskyAtlanta, 1996


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Tracey EminMy Bed, 1998


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Kath Kidson2001


7/35Tim HeadState of the Art, 1984


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If individual objects

are touchstones ofcurrent thinking in

societies, what are they

telling us?


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If individual objects are

touchstones of current

thinking in societies, what arethey telling us?

ratonara - Spanish rat trap


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The Chapman Family CollectionJake and Dinos Chapman 2002


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Redesign of Modern Movement ChairsAlessandro Mendini, 1978

Wassily Chair

Marcel Breuer, 1925


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Original design:

Charles R. Mackintoshs 1902Hill House 1 chair

Maarten BaasSmoke furniture2004


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MaartenBaas

Smokefurniture2004

Original design:Gerrit T. Rietvelds 1918

Red and Blue chair


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Maarten BaasHey Chair Be a Bookshelf

http://www.maartenbaas.com/

Surrounded by all kinds of objects,Baas created an assemblage, inwhich all objects gained a newfunction. A chair became abookshelf; a lampshadebecame a vase, a violin a coat rack.
http://www.maartenbaas.com/http://www.maartenbaas.com/


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For this design, Baas collaborateswith several second hand stores inthe region of Eindhoven, saving productsfrom the rubbish container which couldnot be sold in the shop. Since theproducts are always different, everyHey, chair be a bookshelf! is aunique piece.

Maarten BaasHey Chair Be a Bookshelf

http://www.maartenbaas.com/
http://www.maartenbaas.com/http://www.maartenbaas.com/


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Cornelia ParkerCold Dark Matter:An Exploded View1991


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Q: When is a sheep not a sheep?A: When its a work of art.

Damien Hirst, Away from the Flock, 1994


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Toothpicks and LogosJohn Heskett

Utility and Significance in Everyday Objects


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Toothpicks and LogosJohn Heskett

Even the smallest utilitarian objects are capable of

embodying values


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Roland BarthesMythologies 1957 (1993)

Semiotics

Objects as signs


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Semiotics

Citron DS (Desse) - 1955


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Semiotics - the study ofsigns

Signifier:

its physical form(ie: a diamond ring)

Signified:the mental concept itrefers to(ie: engagement)


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Every object in the world canpass from a closed, silent

existence to an oral state


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What are increasingly

produced are notmaterial objects,

butsigns

Roland Barthes

Perfume = signfier

Physical Allure = signified


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a photograph will be a kind of

speech for us in the same way as a

newspaper article; even objects will

become speech


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Jeans = signfier

Beauty

= signified


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What areincreasinglyproduced are notmaterial objects,but signs

Roland Barthes

Polo = signfier

Strength = signified


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Tamagotchi


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TamagotchiBecoming familiar with something but in away that keeps changing.

Whats it about?

Is your understanding ofit ever fixed or does itchange as you change?


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Tamagotchi analysis of items in box

DECONSTRUCTAsk your objects questions.

How do they relate to these topics?

Physical Historical Psychological

Actualline, volume mass

Structure

CulturalEvents, places artefacts

Society

EmotiveMemory,associations

Personal


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Tamagotchi analysis of items in box

Do the ideas revealed have parallels elsewhere?Make connections

How could you use the ideas found?Mirrored, Contrasted, Subverted, Emphasised

RECONSTRUCT

Create layers of meaning by referring to theabove physical and emotive characteristics when

you decide on the structure of your final object


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Henri Lefebvre (1901-1991)Why should the study of the banal itself be

banal? Why wouldnt the concept of

everydayness reveal the extraordinaryin the ordinary?


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To launch an

investigation into thetheoretical practices of

those who attend to

everyday life requiresattention to everyday

life itself.

David Shrigley

Imagine the Green is Red, 1997


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Object,

Image,Meaning


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Reminder:

Moodle Training

Wednesday October 17 andWednesday October 24

Check timetable for details!

Wunderkammer Objects and Meaning

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