Object Ethnography Project: Call for Objects!

The Object Ethnography Project investigates how objects accumulate stories as they move from one life to another, and how these stories add value and influence subsequent circulation. We are looking for donations of objects—any kind of object—and the stories that come with them. Members of the public are invited to take these objects in exchange for a new story about them starting March 15th, 2012. The final online exhibit will include a photograph of the object, its original story, and its adoption story, as well as follow up interviews, maps, and other archives that result from the project.

We are now seeking objects! If you have an item with a story, from a sentimental oven mitt to a first generation iPod with a play list from your first wife, and you would like to donate to this project, please mail it and its story to:

Lucrece Project
Att: Object Ethnography Project
NYU English Department
19 University Place, 5th Floor
New York, NY 10003

We are particularly looking for electronic consumer/prosumer items, some of the most personal yet mass-produced objects in circulation today.

Stories can be handwritten, typed, or emailed (to max.liboron at nyu.edu). They can be any length, format, or language. All objects must include a story.

You can also hand-deliver objects within New York City.

We are accepting objects until March 31st, 2012.

If your object is broken, members of the Fixers Collective have generously offered fix-it workshops on February 23rd, March 8th and March 22nd, 2012 at New York University’s Kimmel Center, Room 901. If you would like to join a Fixers Collective workshop to fix any item, whether it is donated, adopted, or otherwise, please contact Vincent Lai ([email protected]).

Finally, there are three ways to participate in the Object Ethnography Project. You can donate an object and its story, you can request a donated object and give it a new story, or you can participate as a researcher. For more information, check our website: http://objectethnography.wordpress.com/participate/