[Last modified: March, 25 2019 04:00 PM]
Welcome to our exhibition. In it, we explore the idea of change applied to objects, and how they can change states, undergo a metamorphosis, that leads to a change of the way they are used and perceived.
Before going into more details with the different objects that will be presented to you in that context, we think it is important to reflect about a word that will be recurrent in this exhibition: change.
We are being bombarded by this idea of change. Everyone frequently comes into contact with cliché-ed statements such as “be the change you want to see in the world”. Such sentences seemed impose a tremendous reponsibility on individuals. The sentence we just gave, for example, implies asking for people to be a change, as if it were necessary in order to be viewed a considerate person that is aware of world issues.
Change is an ubiquitous term one that occupies a central role in almost every academic discipline: economics, medicine, mathematics, engineering, etc. On top of that, it is a word which is often instrumentalised by those in positions of power. Politicised narratives of improvement, progress, growth, decay, mobility are repeated over and over again, and find their way into today’s most recurrent debates.
The ubiquity of this word is detrimental: it leads to a confusion regarding its meaning. This is why this exhibition explores this theme: it is a concept which we are all exposed to, constantly, and is yet quite hard to pin down. On top of that, it is a rather urgent topic to tackle, the one of irreversible changes.
The very definition of the word fluctuates. This inconstancy is explored in this exhibition, that tries to provide a multi-faceted defintion, reveal in a subtle way how careful we need to be with this term. It is a word that still has a meaning, and can sometimes, if considered poorly, lead to dangerous consequences.
The exhibition culminates on a commentary on climate change, but we hope that it does not overshadow the exhibition entirely, and this topical theme is rather approached in a subliminal way.
In defining change, perhaps one could think about what change is not :
- Change is often presented as a binary switch, like the omnipresent before/after pictures or concepts that are brandished everywhere on the media, to reveal the incredible advantages of dieting. But terminology is important and so is to remember that change is not necessarily a binary transformation, it does always operate radically and is not always easily visible and understandable. Radical transformations are presented as positive and necessary, but they neglect the existence of a transition period, of a gradual evolution, and this emphasis on an accelerated change often leads to dangerously rushed decisions. This defintion views change in a similar way to a form of update, to use machine terminology that is more and more frequent when referring to humans. However, it is the way a change occurs, as a slow process, that seems neglected, when it is in fact what completely determines the nature of the change itself. That is why this exhibition will consider as rigorously as possible the different ways in which changes can happen and what are their consequences.
- Change is not necessarily progress, it is not always for the best. Old narratives of positivism that emerged in the XIXth century sought to explain everything through the belief in human progress. This has, since the 1970s been questioned. The disillusion creates confusion, and that it certainly normal. However, the loss of faith in progress means questioning the idea of a positive change that can lead to bettering humanity, in a medical sense as well as socio-economical one, and considering these questions is essential.
Change is an idea that can be applied to almost anything, any object, as objects all have histories, lives and they undergo evolutions of interpretations. One single object undergoes many types of changes.
In this exhibition, we will show you objects that have undergone particularly interesting changes of states leading to changes of interpretations and therefore of perception of the phenomenon and material culture that surrounds us at all times.
Getting around
We want you to experience these changes in a set order, so we’ve decided to house the exhibition inside a building. As you progress up through each floor, please take the time to take in each individual type of change, as well as reflecting on the other floors you’ve visited to explore any links. We encourage to you go to every floor, in the order we have arranged, in order to get a full understanding of change and how it relates to each of our objects, but you may also use the Exhibition Map (top right) to jump between floors.
Audience
Our target audience for this exhibition will be 16+ and for young adults, primarily because we want this exhibition to be looked at through a political and thought-provoking lens. Change can be a political issue when it affects societies in an irreversible way and we feel this idea may be lost on younger visitors as they go through the exhibition. The objects exhibited are used to discuss the idea of metamorphosis in a deeper manner and thus we felt it would be appropriate to target young adults for this exhibition.