Objects Quarterly

Volume II: Trinkets and value; things not owned; much more.

May 30, 2024

OBJECT HIERARCHIES

I got a query from a reporter working on a piece asking: “What is it about original works that is special? What is lost when something like Michelangelo’s David is trinketized to the point where it loses meaning and perhaps value?” This was inspired by concern that the “religious and political significance” of David “is being diminished by the thousands of refrigerator magnets and other souvenirs sold around Florence focusing on David’s genitalia.” I never heard back about whether the piece was published or if my response was included, so here it is!

It’s possible that trinkets (and memes) that seem to trivialize an iconic object like David actually enhance the appeal of being in the presence of the real thing. It becomes less about the object than about the experience — which of course for many becomes something to document and share on social media. It’s like the “most photographed barn in America” in White Noise: the point of seeing it is an opportunity to participate in the documentation. Whether this makes us any better at really seeing, appreciating, experiencing the object is debatable, but I think the desire to do so (and to prove that we’ve done so) remains pretty powerful.

COLLECTING WITHOUT OWNING

I just love Friend of TAoN and fellow object-student Joshua Glenn’s new series at HILOBROW: “Not Today, eBay.” In it, he shares “examples of stuff that he was tempted to purchase from eBay… but, heroically, didn’t.” I’m pleased that he’s found a way to collect these objects that he has resisted owning.

ICONIC OBJECTS, EXAMINED

“Why do so many maple syrup bottles have a tiny little handle?” Explained.
“For many of us, the cardboard box is our closest touchpoint to globalized trade, structuring our relations with people in distant places.”
“The drinking fountain button is tragically misunderstood.” A defense. (An entry in The Verge’s Button of the Month series.)
Orange “steam funnels,” a somewhat mysterious “symbol of New York,” explained. (NYT gift link.)
“Brick Index is a collection of named bricks and the unseen makers marks stamped by brickworks from across the UK. It celebrates the humble brick. … The book features 155 photographed bricks, printed at actual size.” By Patrick Fry. (Via Things Magazine.)

LIT OBJECTS

Joseph Mitchell’s objects.
Cormac McCarthy’s objects.

OBJECTS IN THE NEWS

Beyoncé’s cowboy hat. Nuff said.
Objects stolen from the presidential plane: “everything from engraved whiskey tumblers to wine glasses to pretty much anything with the Air Force One insignia on it.” A rampant practice, according to Politico.
“Artist Crushes Tesla With Colossal Olmec Head Sculpture.”
Costco is selling gold bars. (Column by me.)
“Pet rocks, a kooky and best-forgotten fad of 1970s America, are resurfacing in South Korea.” WSJ gift link.
“Mementos left on the graves of those lost to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan at Arlington National Cemetery,” in its 14-acre Section 60. “A collection of more than 3,250 keepsakes gathered over the past 15 years from Section 60 [is currently] locked out of sight in a climate-controlled underground corridor not far from the Tomb of the Unknowns.” The cemetery is looking for an organization to take and store the objects. Details and lots of pictures in this Washington Post story (gift link).

BOOKS ABOUT OBJECTS

“Without nails and other simple inventions, we wouldn’t have bustling megacities of today.” Roma Agrawal’s book Nuts and Bolts: Seven Small Inventions That Changed the World (in a Big Way) is about “simple inventions such as the rivet and string that we don’t think of as particularly revolutionary but which carry all the innovations of today on their shoulders.” Interviewed here on KERA’s Think.
Pencil, a book: “Its history, famous users, manufacturers & why it has stood the test of time as a daily tool.”

WHAT IS THAT THING?

Café Anne investigates a Mystery Object. (Short follow-up here.)

I JUST LIKE THIS

OKAY THAT’S IT!

As always, I value your feedback (suggestions, critiques, positive reinforcement, constructive insults, etc.), as well as your tips or stories or personal noticing rituals, things we need a word for, and of course your icebreakers: consumed@robwalker.net. Or use the comments.

The Art of Noticing

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