Does Putting an Item in a Museum or Gallery Affect the Way it is Perceived?

An Object’s Identity and Physical Context: A Case Study-based Investigation
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An Object’s Identity and Physical Context: A Case Study-based Investigation
Abstract
Studies on the nature and context of an inanimate object have produced an in-depth understanding of the role of external and external factors in shaping an object’s identity. Therefore, scholars generally agree that exchanges and transformations change the biographies and identities of non-living objects just like living things. In this essay, the author aims to investigate the role of external factors, such as the physical context, in shaping the identity of two similar Changsha ceramic bowls belonging to the same era. The first ceramic bowl was in possession of a private collector, and the other is on display with other similar bowls at Asian Ceramic Museum. The analysis of both objects’ surroundings, their biographies, and phases of transformation verify that an object’s identity is changed by its physical context and biography. The ceramic bowl in possession of a private collector has changed its status from a soup bowl or an economically valuable commodity to a precious antique. On the other hand, the same ceramic bowl in the ACM holds a greater significance as it has transformed a soup bowl into a relic and from a relic to a representation of the history and culture of Changsha city. Therefore, this case study verifies the central argument of the essay.
Introduction
An object is not just a piece of artifact kept in a museum; it is a product of the cumulative culture of a society, and it forms an integral and imperative part of it. Based on scholarly views, an object’s identity reflects the personality of the society it belongs or even has a life similar to that of a person (Joy, 2009). Thus, objects should be treated like living things with their history of changes and development. Scholars have generally acknowledged that an object’s reality and perception change with a series of exchanges, and this observation is more prominent in portable objects, such as bowls. Besides changes in an object developed through this process, the place of display of an object, such as a museum, also plays an important part in altering an object’s identity and meaning. It is an acknowledged fact that the movement of an object from a domestic environment to a public display or vice versa alters its identity significantly. For the same reason, an object displayed in a museum appears different and reveals different historical and cultural aspects compared with its life in a private collection (Epp & Price, 2010).
Given these facts, the current discussion aims to answer the question of how the change in the context alters an object’s identity when placed in different museums or other places. This discussion provides scholarly and philosophical arguments and logical and observable facts to substantiate that place of display and historical and social context play a crucial role in altering an object’s identity. For this purpose, this paper selects the case study of two ceramic bowls placed in di...