This course explores the ways in which objects and material culture embody personal narrative. Moving back and forth from ephemeral traces of events and experiences to the culturally invested luxury goods that create legacy to the objects that facilitate daily life, this class will use, as its primary references, examples that draw from queer and African American cultures to underscore the potential of objects to tell the stories that not only reflect majority traditions and experiences but those of the disenfranchised, the details of whose lives are often obscured. In addition to readings that will provide background for class discussion, student will be asked to play the roles of detectives, archeologists, and curators at various sites around New York City. Each student will also be asked to create an annotated material record that reveals the public and private lives of one individual. That record may consist of texts, objects or any variety of media chosen or designed by the student. This blogs serves as an archive for the work done in the context of this course and related materials that become relevant to this exploration.

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Food for Thought: Vivian Maier

I had finally watched the documentary, Finding Vivian Maier last night and was struck by the amount of objects that were in her life. She was a very transient person, working as a nanny and housekeeper for various families, yet would lug around boxes and boxes of things whenever she moved. In regards to identity, she was extremely secretive, told very few people her name, and it is believed that the native New Yorker even faked a French accent. 


by Isabelle Hay
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)