The Social Lives of Objects

When I think about the social lives of objects I think about what one particular object can mean to a certain group, and how it can change from culture to culture across the globe. I also think of all the little things that we use in our everyday lives that singled out could show a lot about an individual. For instance, clothing. Clothing is an object that we are able to have a lot of freedom with, and every morning when we get dressed we have a little time to “make special” when we piece together our attire for the day. Some people don’t find the event of getting dressed a special or exciting thing, but others put more effort. Some of the objects that we chose to wear are small representations of who we are.

There are also objects that are significant to an entire community. I’ll use the American flag as an example. The flyin’ stars and stripes is an image that can be recognized globally. It stands for a nation and its entire history.  It is displayed all across the world as a representation of the USA. To Americans this image may be comforting and hold a sense of nationalism; to others in the world it may mean something else.  The American flag is a common symbol that has be used in art to still represent the USA, but with a different twist. There is a lot of political art that has been created with the American flag from artists displaying how they feel about the USA.

This is a photo created by Dread Scott in 1989 was extremely controversial. This was on display in the School of Art Institute of Chicago. He placed the American flag on the floor leading up to a book where viewers were encouraged to write their answer to the question, “What is the proper way to display a US flag?”  On the wall just above they book there is a photo of South Korean students hold up anti-America signs and burning the flag. So here we have a symbol that is known across the world, but obviously doesn’t mean the same thing to everyone. Congress members were outraged by this display, while Scott is proposing a serious question.