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

Comments

This year-long research project culminated in a 7,000 word thesis, available upon request.

Streaming Media

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

Share

COinS
 

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.