Narrative Objects

Objects underscore our lived experience. They are interfaces that expand our bodies to engage with the world, functioning as prostheses of the mind. The ‘material culture’ of our lives is a mix of both functional and meaningful objects. This studio explored these issues by closely studying everyday objects as representations and extensions of personal and cultural identity that create, what the historian Jennifer A. Gonzalez called, an ‘Autotopography’ or the use of objects to map the “self.” The studio engaged students in the study of objects, selected from their immediate environments, through drawing, systematic analysis, bricolage and storytelling. The interrogation sought to discover how the expressive qualities of objects operated and additionally served as material biographies of individual, family, community and cultural memories. Students then deployed multiple design and visualization tools to create mixed media dioramas of objects and narratives in the form of their own ‘Cabinets of Curiosities’ or ‘Museums of the Self’. Through this studio, students had the opportunity to engage with and reflect on major themes of consumption, aesthetics, value and obsolescence and come to understand the fundamental role of design in creating a meaningful material culture for contemporary society at every scale.