Material Culture

is the physical aspect of culture in the objects that surround people. It includes usage, consumption, creation, and trade of objects as well as the behaviours, norms, and rituals that the objects create or take part in.

​

Material Culture Studies 

is an interdisciplinary field that tells of the relationships between people and their things: the making, history, preservation, and interpretation of objects. It draws on both theory and practice from the social sciences and humanities such as art history,  history, historic preservation and museum studies, among others.

 

Overall Nature

A visual material culture studies;

Presentation: objects systems in museums, display strategies used in Bristol Museum, the relationship between text and image (labels and objects).

Observation/Consumption : visiting style of museum visitors; consumption by visitors

​

Questions

§Presentation:

How do objects achieve cultural value and significance? (The visual narrative of objects)

 What are the new icons/objects of significance?

§Observation/Consumption:

How do the public consume culture? How do the public engage with museum culture? How can the graphic arts facilitate this?

​

Overall Aims

Translate academic material culture studies into graphic arts via visual language.

Bridge the public and museum collections with graphic arts.