One of the many facets of Material Culture is the study of people’s relationships with objects. It’s about how we interact with objects in a way that takes us beyond the surface.
But what happens when we stop engaging on a deeper level, stop asking questions and start creating narratives based on glances. What happens when we turn our stunted gaze on people.
Sarah Anne Carter is the visiting Executive Director, Center for Design and Material Culture and visiting Assistant Professor of Design Studies at The School of Human Ecology University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is the author of Object Lessons: How Nineteenth-century Americans Learned to Make Sense of the Material World.
In this edition of Radio Chipstone, contributor gianofer fields and Carter unpack the problematic pedagogy of using people as Object Lessons.
About the Host:
gianofer (JON nah fer) fields is an Art Historian and Material Culture contributor and curates the Radio Chipstone series. The project is hosted by the School of Human Ecology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and funded by the Chipstone Foundation; a decorative arts foundation whose mission is preserving and interpreting their collection, as well as stimulating research and education in the decorative arts.
About the Guest:
Sarah Anne Carter is the Visiting Executive Director of the Center for Design and Material Culture and visiting Assistant Professor in Design Studies at The School of Human Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is the author of Object Lessons: How Nineteenth-Century Americans Learned to Make Sense of the Material World.
Image: Cover of Object Lessons book.