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Revised Summer 2024
Instructions
Once you have a material artifact at hand you can being interrogating it. Below are a series of 88 questions (give-or-take) you can use to begin this process.
First, turn to the category of questions on Materiality and answer them by closely inspecting the artifact and thinking about your relationship to it.
Next, extend your analysis by attempting to infer answers to the questions under the second and third categories of Production and Consumption. You may find it worthwhile to do additional research beyond simple inspection to answer these.
The last category, Webs of Signification, attempts to create bridges between earlier questions. The overall point of this analysis method is to start small and build out larger networks of meaning that converge upon the artifact.
Category One: Materiality
- What are the artifact’s most salient sensorial properties?
- Visual characteristics: What do you notice about line and shape (two-dimensional) and/or form (three-dimensional)? What do you notice about color (hue, shade, vibrancy, &c.), texture (porous, reflective, matte), and pattern (plain, banded, spotted, &c.)?
- Tactile characteristics: What do you notice about dimension and shape (flat, round, angular, &c.) and/or texture (tacky, smooth, rough, &c.)? What do you notice about density (soft, hard, malleable, &c.) and temperature (cool, warm)?
- Aural characteristics: Does the object seem like it is intended to make a sound? Is that sound pleasant or unpleasant? Does it sound like something (wind, music, birds, voices, &c.)?
- Olfactory characteristics:Does the object have a noticeable smell? Is it pleasant or unpleasant? Does it smell like something (flowers, citrus fruit, soil, &c.)?
- Gustatory characteristics: Does the object seem like it is intended to be ingested? Is the taste pleasant or unpleasant? Does it taste like something?
- What are the artifact’s most salient physical properties?
- Materials: What is the object is made from (paper, wood, stone, metal, plastic, &c.)?
- Size: What are the object’s measurements (length, height, depth, volume) or what can you say about its size (portable, awkward to grasp, imposing, &c.)?
- Weight: What is the object’s weight or what can you say about its weight (light, moderately heavy, immovable, &c.)
- Orientation: How is the object oriented? Is there a distinct front, back, top, bottom, inside, outside?
- Integration: Is the object one part or is it made up of many parts? Is there organization among the parts? Do parts move, open, or connect?
- Addition/Inscription: Are there parts or elements that seem to be added at later stages of the object’s life (inscriptions, stamps, modifications, &c.)?
- Subtraction/Wear: Are there parts or elements or that seem to have been broken, worn off, or rearranged?
- What is your initial relationship to the artifact?
- Do you have an emotional response to the artifact? What is distinctive, salient, or special about the artifact? How do you interpret or explain the artifact? Do you feel others would interpret or explain it in similar ways?
- How might the artifact impel people to act? Does the materiality (sensory and physical properties) of the artifact provoke a particular kind of response, action, or performance? Does its materiality (size, weight, odor, &c.) invite or restrain certain kinds of responses or uses?
Category Two: Production
- What do we know about the artifact’s physical origins?
- Fons et origo: Was the artifact human made, created through natural processes, or a meaningful combination of both? Is the artifact considered complete or is it part of something larger (part of an object, part of a set, &c.)? Is the object considered an original work or a copy (derivative of an original)? If the latter, what differences are there between the original (model) and the copy (derivation)?
- Maker: Was the artifact signed or can it be attributed? Was more than one person involved in its creation? Who was the maker (artist, craftsperson, publisher, &c.)? Was the object designed by a different person or entity?
- Age: When was the object created? Was it made in different stages and thus have different ages?
- Place: Where was the object created (country, workshop, publishing house, &c.)? Does this place have a close relationship (cultural, economic, religions, &c.) to this type of object?
- What do we know about the artifact’s creation process?
- Creation: What skills, methods, and techniques were necessary to create this object? What tools or technology were required? How long did production take?
- Materials: What raw materials were used to make the object or were otherwise crucial to its production? Are the materials rare, costly, or difficult to acquire? Did they have to be transported long distances to get to the object’s place of production?
- Timing: Was the object made during a special time? Was it made in response to a specific historical event or during a specific occasion?
- Uniqueness: Is the object singular or mass produced? It is part of a larger group or set of objects? Does the object have a special relationship to other objects? Is it part (or an expression) of a broader genre of item?
Category Three: Consumption
- What do we know about the artifact’s physical destination?
- Audience/Consumer: Was the object owned or used by a known individual or institution? Who is the type of person that would typically own or use this object?
- Acquisition: Where did the consumer purchase or acquire the object? Was it close to where the object was produced? Was the object new or old at the time of acquisition?
- Cost: What did this object cost? Was is relatively expensive, inexpensive, or free? Can appreciable cost be attributed to the object’s rarity, material composition, or the skill/time required in its production? What else might contribute to the cost of the object?
- Placement: Where was the object located during acquisition? Was it placed in different locations at different times (from artist studio to temple altar, from store display to bookshelf, &c.)? Was it transported a long distance from its place of production? Was it kept in a private space (home, workspace, personal shrine, &c.) or public space (outside, museum, temple, &c.)? Was it kept in isolation or displayed with other objects?
- What do we know about the artifact’s use?
- Material-use: How was the object used by the owner (held, displayed, hidden, &c.)? Does the object display signs of material use (oxidation, wear, modification, &c.)? Was the object used individually or collectively with others? Was it used by non-human species (eaten, buried and decomposed, &c.)?
- Time-use: When was this object used by its owner? Was it used daily/regularly or only during special occasions (holidays, festivals, &c.)?
- Place-use: Where was the object used by its owner? Is this location different from where it is stored? Was it used in private or public spaces?
Category Four: Webs of Signification
- Does some known aspect of the artifact’s origin (maker, material, age, &c.) provoke certain kinds of responses or uses? Does the singularity or mass production of the artifact impact its reception or use? How does the artifact existing as either an original or derivation (copy) impact its reception or use?
- Who is the intended audience of this artifact? Does possession or use of the object signal one or more group identities or affiliations (religion, class, race, gender, sexuality, nationality, &c.)?
- What is the intended purpose of this artifact? Does it signify other concepts, meanings, or associations? What roles does it play within social, religious, and economic systems? Does possession or use of the artifact convey (or confirm) power or agency (human or divine)?
- What is the artifact’s current context and relevance? What do we know about its provenance (history of ownership)? How might the current contexts differ from the artifact’s intended meaning, audience, use, and purpose?
- Questions of a “religious” nature:
- Does a divine presence “hold,” interact with, or inhabit the artifact? Does the object equate to divine presence (i.e. is the object an index of divinity)? Are there times when the divine presence is absent in regards to the artifact (i.e. profanation) ?
- Does possession or use of the artifact signify divinity or elevated status in the user? Do all people have equal access to this divinity or status?
- Do you feel the artifact, in its current material state and physical location, is adequately “religious”?
- Does a religious message “travel through” this material object?
- How does media shape the message of religion through this object?
- How does replicability or non-replicability of the artifact impact its religious meaning?
- Does the material object inspire belief or convey sacrality, divine power, or specialness?
*These questions were devised as part of a university course that explored religion and material culture. Feel free to use and adapt to your needs. Email: peter.romaskiewicz@gmail.com.
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