What Are Objects?

Highlights ways of thinking and doing that connect philosophical generality to socio-material idiosyncrasy, encouraging care for all types of objects, from famous works of art to items like plastic bags.

What Are Objects? opens with an object biography, composed in the form of an interview between the concept and author, in a playful attempt at ＂object whispering.＂ From there, Ann-Sophie Lehmann presents five object biographies that explore the life of flax--a material intertwined with human history, particularly storytelling. A third essay connects Richard Tuttle’s collection of everyday things, Hannah Arendt’s ecological philosophy, and an object taxonomy developed by the early modern inventor Christoph Weigel to explore the philosophical dimensions and potential effects of object biographical thinking.

This BGCX title grew from visits to Bard Graduate Center, particularly in response to the exhibition Richard Tuttle: What Is the Object?, while Lehmann was a fellow and lecturer in 2021-22.

Ann-Sophie Lehmann is professor of art history and material culture at the University of Groningen.