In Special Collections, my group examined a unique exhibit titled “Miscellaneous” that was comprised of photos of different people, families, scenes, as well as postcards of famous individuals, and letters. While flipping through this collection, we were confused at first because most of these pieces had little to no details on years, dates, or names. I found myself asking these questions several questions repeatedly, such as, “why did the photographer take a photo of this scene?” and “what is the story behind this piece?”. Although these questions were left unanswered, I still found this experience valuable because I got a real glimpse into the world during Johnson’s life–I saw scenes of what the streets looked like, the kinds of vehicles people drove, and how they dressed. From actually visualizing important individuals and places in Johnson’s life, I gained an overall clearer picture of the context and environment of Johnson’s life story.<\/p>\n
This process of interpreting real photos and reading letters to and from Johnson was more constructive than just reading this script from his interview. After reading Steven Conn’s piece on “Do Museums Still Need Objects”, I strongly agreed with his statement that “[objects] offer people the simple pleasure of looking at and the thrill of being in the presence of real things.” This remark hones in on this idea that people like objects in museums because they enjoy the feeling of having real, tangible objects to see, interpret, and react to. This is the exact experience I had when I looked through the exhibition–touching and seeing these pictures, postcards, and letters captured my interest and let my mind freely interpret in different ways. Having “real things” stimulated discussion among the group and allowed us to share and experience Johnson’s world together.<\/p>\n
In terms of materiality, the photos, postcards, and letters were materials of the exhibition. They were physical items but when examined carefully were full of content and value because of that materiality and meaning. In this regard, I resonated well with Hengel’s idea of materiality and this distinction between the physical object and the “mind” or content of it. While working with the exhibit, I definitely saw how these ideas of physicality and content worked in conjunction with one another to create meaning and value for the viewer, myself. Thus, handling these physical objects created a more intimate Special Collections experience and allowed me to develop a vivid understanding of Johnson’s life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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