The Effects of Museums and Private Collections on Ephemeral Objects: Exploring Commoditization, Demand, and Movement
Major
Anthropology
Anticipated Graduation Year
2020
Access Type
Open Access
Abstract
How do museums and collections impact the lifecycles of objects, especially those which are typically ephemeral? I argue that museums and private collections create demand for objects, converting objects into commodities when they otherwise may not have made that conversion. In converting objects into commodities, the ideal life that the object’s creator may have envisioned for it may no longer be possible. This project uses a case study of Cora Holy Week masks.
Faculty Mentors & Instructors
Dr. Catherine Nichols, Department of Anthropology
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
The Effects of Museums and Private Collections on Ephemeral Objects: Exploring Commoditization, Demand, and Movement
How do museums and collections impact the lifecycles of objects, especially those which are typically ephemeral? I argue that museums and private collections create demand for objects, converting objects into commodities when they otherwise may not have made that conversion. In converting objects into commodities, the ideal life that the object’s creator may have envisioned for it may no longer be possible. This project uses a case study of Cora Holy Week masks.
Comments
This year-long research project culminated in a 7,000 word thesis, available upon request.