weekly Objet library

Now, when I shop, I try to look for things that will hold lots of memories. Not just from a cost-per-wear perspective, but because of the absolute satisfaction of watching a bag or a piece of clothing become not just something you wear or use but part of your identity, a part of your life. I got kissed in this dress. Okay. I got kissed in this dress about 400 times. Well, now we’re talking. Just like each couple has their own unique lore (we met online, and then chatted for 365 days straight before meeting…) the objects we love most develop their own mythology.

Rolf Haubl, sociologist and psychoanalyst, insists that the role of objects is to carry memories. The real meaning of the thing then is within its mnemonic value. In a way, the chair becomes a sort of transformational object, gaining more significance after the passing of its owner. Granny Puckett’s essence and memory have been absorbed into it, especially for those left in her wake, who recognize the chair as an experience of remembrance.

We depend on the chair to bring back memories of Granny Puckett. Those who knew or heard stories of her experience the chair in different ways that deepen our connection to her. These stories create a history around the object, signifying the biography of the object itself, which “is no longer simply a dead or inanimate thing,” as Clive Dilnot proposes. “It possesses—or we attribute to it in our imaginations—sentience and power.”

By their nature, heirlooms tend to carry extra significance. The chair as a family heirloom is now a device that conjures memory and connection across time.

The biography of an object should not be restricted to an historical reconstruction of its birth, life and death. Biography is relational and an object biography is comprised of the sum of the relationships that constitute it.