Things, objects, documents, artifacts, material culture

“Imagine a world without things. It would be not so much an empty world as a blurry, frictionless one: no sharp outlines would separate one part of the uniform plenum from another; there would be no resistance against which to stub a toe or test a theory or struggle stalwartly. Nor would there be anything to describe, or to explain, remark on, interpret, or complain about – just a kind of porridgy oneness. Without things, we would stop talking.”

Louise Daston, 2004, p. 9

Documents (objects of material culture) have been referred to as ‘representational agents of change’ (Hodder, 1997). They carry meaning and they evoke meanings. In the study of material culture and social change, one might study the objects themselves, as well as the narratives that are evoked by the objects. Objects and things can also be used in a representative way visually through installation.