That objects are the raison d'être of our sociality is on one hand not rocket science -- rocket science being my container for all the difficult 'answers' that explain the universe, but that remain mysterious, puzzling, and perpetually beyond my reach. If I sound a little obsessive on this topic, well I am and there will be more. Because it occurs to me again (and again) - that for librarians, the transformative power and action of objects is ... just ... well ... no big news. Librarians and library patrons and library collections of 'objects' go together like hands and a pair of gloves, like sommeliers, wine and wine glasses, like viewers, paintings and walls, like subjects, light and photographs, for example. The point is that when we speak of the power of objects, it's pretty easy to understand how objects themselves change us, act on us, socialize us, when those objects push any one of our senses into being differently. Ask someone about their favourite songs, recipes, food, drink, books, artists, paintings, photographs, piece of nature and you will hear them talk about how any one or more of their senses is set off, or is moved and changed. Questions then abound about whether the change is made durable by these objects, whether the change "sticks." Marketeers are desperate for such changes and we are inundated with exposure to their objects.
But in part because I am a librarian, I am pre-disposed to sorting - that is, I often want to sort things into categories - there are many non-librarians who also share this inclination. And everyday we as individuals are being asked to 'sort' more and more of our objects into categories for various purposes (garbage quickly springs to mind). So what about all those hunks of plastic, or inanimate objects that surround us - do these objects also transform you and me? I was trolling through used furniture and 2nd hand treasure stores this weekend and objects abound. When do such objects become "matters of concern that modify a state of affairs by making a difference" (Latour, 2005). When do these treasures move me in durable ways? And how will I know? Objects that 'speak' to me are easier to understand as creatures socializing me - but sometimes a desk is just a desk and a chair just a chair.
I still think the Subject-Object-Subject arrangement is how I and others are able to 'BE in the world' - and what Latour calls for is more prominence for these objects as veritable 'actors'. I'm still waiting for the next chapter in rocket science when I hear that our latest rocket scientists have discovered a new category of objects that reflect, think, feel, cry, gasp in pain, and laugh uncontrollably without provocation or assistance.
But in part because I am a librarian, I am pre-disposed to sorting - that is, I often want to sort things into categories - there are many non-librarians who also share this inclination. And everyday we as individuals are being asked to 'sort' more and more of our objects into categories for various purposes (garbage quickly springs to mind). So what about all those hunks of plastic, or inanimate objects that surround us - do these objects also transform you and me? I was trolling through used furniture and 2nd hand treasure stores this weekend and objects abound. When do such objects become "matters of concern that modify a state of affairs by making a difference" (Latour, 2005). When do these treasures move me in durable ways? And how will I know? Objects that 'speak' to me are easier to understand as creatures socializing me - but sometimes a desk is just a desk and a chair just a chair.
I still think the Subject-Object-Subject arrangement is how I and others are able to 'BE in the world' - and what Latour calls for is more prominence for these objects as veritable 'actors'. I'm still waiting for the next chapter in rocket science when I hear that our latest rocket scientists have discovered a new category of objects that reflect, think, feel, cry, gasp in pain, and laugh uncontrollably without provocation or assistance.
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