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Object agency

Object agency. Agency = the power to act and to affect others. Look in your pockets/bag for an object that you have with you Take a moment to consider if the object has agency. If so, how does it have agency?. Extended agency.

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Object agency

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  1. Object agency

  2. Agency = the power to act and to affect others

  3. Look in your pockets/bag for an object that you have with you • Take a moment to consider if the object has agency. If so, how does it have agency?

  4. Extended agency • Objects as an extension of human capacity (tools), so humans have agency and objects enhance it

  5. Material agency • Alfred Gell, recognised the ‘affective power’ of things as a means of enhancing the fame/prestige of the maker/owner • But agents only in so much as they provide a derivative or extended form of human agency (secondary agency)

  6. Malangan carving of Papua New Guinea • During mortuary ceremonies of important people are carved and painted • Imbued with life, and with the effective power of the deceased • Displayed for a few hours during the ceremony then ‘killed’ with a gift of shell money • Once ‘killed’ no longer exist, as the gift entitles the donor to ‘remember’ the deceased • During the ceremony the carving objectifies social relationship and past networks/exchanges, and social power.

  7. Objects (and people) as actants • Objects and people both have agency – the interaction between them forms networks • Objects have their own agency, they structure your actions

  8. Objects with memories • Objects do not contain memory but provide the ground for humans to experience memory • Through a physical semiotics, they cite and index activities, people emotions

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