Thesis argument:
Objects are symbols of human history. This history can get lost as they physically erode, rust, break, and disappear. Additionally, the nature of objects is changing: physical objects are being translated into immaterial software that is housed in high-tech hardware. Immaterial software and high-tech objects cannot be vessels of sentiment/nostalgia in the same way that physical artifacts can.
My project:
My goal is to save the history behind objects from disappearing as they physical erode. I will translate this history into a medium that is more compatible with today’s immaterial, high-tech object family to ensure the longevity of the history. My methodology will translate the physical attributes of objects as well as written textual input about their history into music.
Execution:
I envision making some or all of these three things:
- A contraption into which one can stick an object. The object will be scanned/photographed, or otherwise “read” by the machine. There will also be a keyboard that the owner can use to type the story of the object. The contraption will transform the image and text data into music. The owner will receive an mp3 of the music via email.
- A website that is like ancestry.com meets Ebay. Information about each object that has entered the contraption will be sent to a database that can be searched likeancestry.com. It will employ different methods of classification to visualize connections between and information about objects, as if they were members of your family.
- A type of sensor that could be placed on/in an object that stored the written history the owner has input. This sensor would also be able to detect other similar sensors within its proximity. When two objects with sensors “meet”, each of their historical data would be shared. They would “tell each other their stories” and then store each other’s history. This new connection would then be mapped onto the ancestry.com type of database described above.
Inspiration/precedents/tools:
- Etoy: Mission Eternity
- ARKive (objects as endangered species)
- Mark Dion, Scala Naturae, 1993, photostat, 33×24 x ½”
- Ancestry.com
- National Archives Experience
- Forensic science/crime scene investigation technology