The Art of Noticing

The Art of Noticing

Enemy Objects

Plus the Heard

Rob Walker
Mar 23, 2026
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Photo by GR Stocks on Unsplash\

We’re getting a new refrigerator today, which is not something I’d normally write about. I’m not even looking forward to it, really. But it’s got me thinking about objects (as I sometimes do), specifically about a material-culture category I’ve never really considered before: the object as enemy.

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