The Meaning of Things
The starting point of the discussion is that artefacts have a great importance in the everyday life of people and in the building of culture, an importance that is seldom articulated. It is perhaps the artefacts – the material objects, in a wide context, that stand for stability in people’s existence, that together with events, stories and relations help people to orient themselves. The artefacts can create meaning in an existential sense. They can remind us in a positive way of friends and relatives, as well as in a negative way of painful events. The artefacts are used for stating different identities, and communicating these to the world.
A term often used when analyzing artefacts is “hybrid”. The term is a useful analytical tool when it comes to fieldwork dealing with materiality. A discussion about hybrid objects or artefacts often leads to questions concerning authenticity, where in many cases the local and traditional (object) is given status of being the most authentic, and therefore the most desirable. The local is in these cases considered stationary, in opposition to the global characterized as mobile.
Reflecting on the importance of artefacts includes reflecting on the gender of artefacts. The gender every artefact has in a given context generates consequences for the interpretation and the position in context or event. The individual object reflects the question of gender affiliation. A common cultural metaphor is that of women taking care of the trivial and material, opposed to men dealing with spiritual and intellectual activities. The artefacts play an important role when it comes to the silent communication constantly taking place between people, in room-based events where they (the artefacts) are situated. Bringing communication to work, it is necessary that all involved know the language or the cultural codes. The most common example of silent communication is the communication taking place via clothes and fashion, being on display on a public arena.
