An introduction to material culture

# Describing objects

In very plain and simple terms, we might then say that object-centred approaches start with close description of the object and work outwards, while object-driven approaches start with the broader context in which objects are located and then work toward greater understanding of the object.

## Activity 3

Now return to think again about the object you chose in the previous activity.

Using the object-centred and object-driven approaches, write a description of the object, giving brief details of its composition, size and contextual significance. With respect to the latter, you might wish to consider its broader importance within your family, your local community, or even as an ‘historical’ artefact.

## Discussion

Thinking about objects in this way is helpful because it reminds us that our relationship to things is often highly contingent on a number of factors, some of which change over time. Sometimes the most unprepossessing of things take on a significance far beyond their economic value or practical use. Some objects we pass on to family members as heirlooms.

Like their owners, objects too have lives. This may seem an odd conceit as, clearly, inanimate or lifeless objects do not live and breathe as we do. But thinking about objects in this way can be highly illuminating. We might wish, for example, to think in terms of ‘object biographies’ or ‘life cycles’. Like us, objects are conceived, designed and created. They then have a use, are consumed and appreciated, and finally dissolve, disintegrate and ‘die’ (or, in some cases, are afforded a form of afterlife in museums). Like us, throughout their existence they are subjected to wider forces in the world that help to shape their destinies. They even go on their travels, like us, and in the process acquire new identities and meanings.

OpenLearn - An introduction to material culture
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