some ways to consider objects
Provide the following information about your artifact:
a) History: Where and when it was made, by whom, for whom,
and why; and any successive changes in condition, or function.
b) Material: What material/s is the object made from?
c) Construction: What are the techniques of manufacture employed? Is
there any evidence about workmanship?
d) Design: What is the structure, form, style, ornament, and iconography
involved in this object?
e) Function: What is the intended role(s) of this object in the culture
it was made for?
PART II. Description
Now look carefully at the object. Consider its' form and decoration. It will
help to try to draw it yourself in order to be able to describe it. Pretend that
you are telling someone about the object in a letter or over the telephone. That
person cannot see the object and is not familiar with it.
Describe it in your own words. Tell about the size and shape of the
object and the pattern on the surface. How well can you convey the appearance of
an object through words?
Test yourself and your description. Without looking at the image, read what you
have written and try to draw the form and ornament precisely as you have
described them. Have you said enough about the shape? Have you stated how the
parts relate to each other or where the ornament is positioned?
Please note that while here you are asked to describe a single object so
completely that you could then draw it, most descriptions are not as complete.
They usually say only enough to satisfy the immediate purpose.
PART III. Fleming's Four Operations
Now turn to Fleming's four operations to answer some of the important questions
we can ask about an object. Choose any ONE of the three objects for this
part of the exercise.
A. Identification
Based on your identification label, how would you classify this object? Is it
authentic? What is it?
B. Evaluation
How good an example is it of its' kind? How would you rate its aesthetic quality
and workmanship?
C. Cultural Analysis
And now you are ready to explore the cultural context of the object. You can
analyze it in terms of your own experience. Some questions may be helpful
in your thinking about cultural context.
Consider your object. Who might use it? What might they do with it? In what
situations? What kind of human relationships does the object suggest? What is
the significance of the relationships? And therefore, what does the object tell
us about us and our culture?
Consider the object as a vehicle of communication - what does it say in
terms of status, values, feelings, meanings?
Consider the object as a vehicle of delight - what does it say in terms
of form and decoration?
D. Interpretation
An artifact is not subject to just one `correct' interpretation. This will vary
by audience and by the person interpreting it. What is your opinion of the
object? Why do you hold that opinion, and how did you arrive at it?