Polemical, always controversial and frequently baffling, "this exhibition speaks about the uniqueness of our relationship with objects and our fascination with them," says its website – which could mean anything.
Marie Kondo's KonMari method states that we should "keep only those things that speak to the heart, and discard items that no longer spark joy". Her method reaches straight to the core of the human relationship with objects.
The hours of labour and skill that goes into bladesmithing demands a different relationship with objects, presents an appealing worldview where not everything you own is trash.
Basically, the idea is that lots of physical objects that were once a part of our world, inextricably tied to our daily lives and memories, have been replaced by digital versions books, letters, photographs, records are no longer vital as physical artifacts, and "this exhibition examines the changing nature of our relationship with objects and even with time".
"Our relationship with objects goes back longer than any other cultural form and in a lot of the work I make, both collages and objects, I'm interested in the role artefacts play in informing the narratives we construct about ourselves.
As he described it, 'the child was only able to proceed to a full emotional relationship with objects after he had rendered them permanent and substantial' (ibid.: 258).
Another consequence of attachment is that it results in specific protective behaviors, because people cherish their relationship with the object and want to preserve the object.
Humans form lasting and meaningful relationships with objects.
"We have always had relationships with objects where we treat them like they are alive, from playing with dolls to saying 'my car doesn't want to start today,'" says D Fox Harrell, an associate professor of digital media studies and artificial intelligence research at MIT and author of the new book Phantasmal Media: An Approach to Imagination, Computation and Expression.
Our relationships with objects, characters and avatars is always at a distance -- we are interacting with the representation of something, rather than the thing itself.
