The Life of Artifacts
Martha Lampland
Syllabus: CAT1_FA11_Lampland_Syllabus.pdf
The purpose of this course is to explore the rich cultural terrain residing in the material world surrounding us. Embedded in every object and every technique—be it useful or playful—is a core set of cultural beliefs about nature and society. These features determine how something is conceived, assembled, and used, by whom, and why. Our investigations into various technologies from different cultures and various time periods are intended to provoke questions about the boundaries between art and technology, and between physical objects and sociocultural processes. Finally, we will speculate on the limits these boundaries place on our imagination.
