Collecting

Catalog description

What motivates human beings to form collections? How do we select, order, preserve and display information and objects? And, what intellectual processes are involved in these activities? What does the content of these collections say about those who created them? And what kind of narratives can be traced within the display of these collections? This course surveys the phenomenon of collecting, focusing on key moments in its history, from antiquity up to contemporary times. The first section of the class explores collections of "thought," that is, how knowledge has been stored, organized and retrieved - and some of the tools we have developed to do so - including mnemonic devices, writing, codices, libraries, information architecture, and digital technologies. The second section concerns physical objects and their collection, classification, organization, and display. Finally, the course turns to the work of modern and contemporary artists who incorporate concepts of assemblage and curation. In response to the readings and to the materials covered in class, students will conceive, create, describe and display a collection of their own making.