objects

Objects objects objects. They are everywhere. Around you, around me, around everyone. Everything that you see around you is an object. I have redefined the meaning of an object through the course of time, from my experiences, my travel, meeting new people and learning from almost everything. Anything that carries a story but does not breathe is an object. It tells us about time, people, history, philosophy if one digs deeper they could even tell you how and where did humans originate from. A cup is an object, a branch, a key, a gutka packet, cement, or a piece of paper. I guess it isn't that hard to understand what an object is. What is interesting about objects is, they carry a narrative, probably even emotional journeys at times. I remember crying looking at an empty saline bottle in an empty government hospital. The saline bottle was as dry as the soil outside. Objects have opened doors into the past, in scientific terms, “carbon dating”. I still do not understand how this radioactive process works though.

Objects around us when looked closely can be disintegrated into a million stories. Be it a rubber tube, a plastic water bottle or a bolt from a shipyard. An object speaks about its creators, its purpose, material, what it has been meant to be used for and what was eventually used for. Its shape and condition tells us about time. Its texture and colour tells us about its making and conditions it has been through. A cloth which was used in the potter's house to tie his roof together came from his wife’s saree which once was bought by her in the good old days. Objects can help us go back in time. Objects are time capsules.

Do we call only the objects in a museum an “artefact”. I agree all the artefacts placed in the museum have a story behind them….. So does a half eaten gutka packet on the banks of a river. Is it so because, the artefacts in the museums talk about great kings and aristocrats or early primal human bones which fascinate young teens and historians. These objects that are found on the banks of rivers and a kitchen have stories too. Stories of common people, stories of everyday people who are writing the history of a place. These objects are talking about political issues, riots, communal harmony, rituals, myths, legends and folklore. These aren't in the museums because no one has found a reason yet, it is as simple as describing how much we loved dwelling in the past.

Objects, materials. A set of objects collected and presented together can represent a place, “field” in academic words. Objects are also great conversation starters. Developing the object libraries through my research practice, i have understood that collecting objects is actually very much fun!. Almost every person i have created libraries with absolutely loved going around and picking up things. It is very interesting to see how these collected “things” change from one age group to another and even gender. Doing the activity with children is so different from doing it with adults which is quite different from doing it with grandparents. Each person’s collected object describes the same place from different perspectives. We have heard emotional stories, and seen weeping woman holding an object in hand. Memories, stories, traumas, lived and perceived experiences; objects can behave as a beautiful starting point(ice breakers) and have potential to build a connection between people.

As a field researcher and traveller, sometimes it does get very difficult to break the ice and develop a sense of comfort for people on the field and for self. Where do you begin? And how do you begin? What to ask and what not to? How to know if someone is in the right headspace or what is a person’s headspace? Objects. A simple object library has answered a lot questions for me. Collecting objects and putting them in ziplocks is one of the simplest but very interesting activity to do. I have seen children run around, ask locals in the temple to tell them about a particular lamp or a tile which has a half erased motif/symbol on it. What about everyday objects excite everyday people so much?....hmm, i don't know. I don't even know why i'm so excited about collecting objects. Probably because each object is letting me dig into a story, tell me something new, helping me learn and satisfying my curiosity.

When you look at an object, realise that it is designed. Somewhere by someone using something. From toilet paper(which has 2-3 layers and a perforated pattern), to an eraser, pen cap, spoon, ice-cream stick to an F1 car. It is made by someone, it is designed. Almost every object has a proper manufacturing process, assembly and packaging step. Each object looked closely one would see details that were not observed before. Multiple perspectives can be explored like engineering process, material origin, packing details or something very alien like finding a coin with a mysterious symbol. Look at objects, look at them, closely with patience. Just because we are used to looking at them everyday, we do not ask anything about them. Look at any object around you and you would realise there are so many questions.

The versatile nature of objects allows one to use it as a tool on the field and in everyday life. I would say it's a great means for the ones who are curious in life. Any object in itself is a history book, it connects unexpected contexts and sometimes links stereotypical and radical thoughts. Objects can be political, objects can be conflicted (religious, racial, gender, environmental). Finding these stories can help one build a huge map of related, unrelated, contextual, alien, historical, mythological, theoretical,, superficial, philosophical and political stories, facts, lies, assumptions, theories, methodologies, processes, belief systems, cultural practices and stereotypical nations.

While museums are stories of the past, objects are museums of the present. One should ask, while we are so interested in historical museums, why aren't we building museums of the present?

~ Anchita Kaul