Student 70

This object is a Zulu water bottle I use to monitor my water consumption with markings detailing ideal water consumption throughout the day. Organizing technology into our daily lives in a way that conforms to our classification of useful implements in achieving self-fulfillment is one of many subjective stereotypes that affect what we know regarding the fitness industry. Tracking such a metric reflects the importance of health in mainstream media in the 21st century.

The classification of healthy practices as being items of interest exhibits how classification of activities under certain subheadings can have a positive effect on the individual both in terms of physical health, and the capacity for growth. However, by organizing the water bottle solely as an aid for fitness, the negative aspects of knowledge are ignored. According to Bittner, certain water bottles that are labeled as BPA-free such as the one above, “may contain functionally identical compounds that go by different names” (Jacewicz). Therefore, organizational limitations also have the potential to detract from adequate discussion of problems that aren’t deemed important for the ingroup, namely fitness enthusiasts: a parallel to Adichie’s idea of a single-story.

At the same time, by disregarding this part of knowledge, individuals are able to focus on the bigger picture painted by fitness culture that reflects their own values and concentrate on avenues of change on items that are deemed important. The augmentation of knowledge and clarity that classification offers merits the inclusion of this water bottle. Additionally, by offering this clarity, the dissemination of knowledge to others is facilitated due to the inevitability of basic assumptions made about knowledge in order to aid comprehension albeit at the expense of affecting to some degree the knowledge itself. In this manner, both the classification of knowledge, and knowledge itself can be viewed as fluid much like water.

This object is a Venetian glass cup I bought as a souvenir that I first intended to drink from and later learned of its ostentatious purpose because of parental guidance. Different perceived uses for the same object differs based on internal schemas associated with such items, whose implicit associations perpetuate further alignment with one’s ideal ingroup.

This leads to the question of just how much knowledge came from societal constructions of the cup that individuals have been exposed to, and their own conclusions based on prior experience. For example, although originally glass-blowers were viewed as craftsmen and not given due status for their artistic ability, after the, “15th century [glass-blowing] would enter an era of artistic expressiveness” (McDowall). Hence, the cup highlights the differences between the classifications of artisans through not only time, but across culture and the inevitable changes to knowledge from these considerations.

This object was included in the exhibition because of its ability to simultaneously question the classification of roles in society to the dissemination of knowledge, and the role of stereotypical bias from mainstream media in the supposed right way to use something. While my organization of the concept of a cup was changed, so was societies perception of an entire craft which, unlike the Zulu water bottle, did not proliferate the idea that conformity to ingroup ideologies can have a positive effect on clarity.

This object is a Chinese fan that I simply used as a fan, despite the historical significance and roots associated with the item itself. Various schemas that I have regarding the fan limit me to its face value to cool me off, but depending on the cultural context of the knower, the fan can have a far greater significance.

The Chinese fan has had different uses and iterations throughout history depending on both the time and the cultural context (Japanese origins) but one such example, is their use as, “horse-drawn carriage and used to block the heat of the sun and shelter passengers from the rain” (Taggart) The differences in the utilization of the fan here, depends both on the classification of knowledge regarding the fan, and the cultural context in which the object is placed. Hence, the role of the fan in China, especially in modern times, would serve as a traditionalistic symbol that perpetuates the organization of knowledge into such traditionalist spheres aligning with confucianism.

This idea of culture influencing our implicit biases transcends simply time, but across space as individuals who have familial ties to China and have moved to a place where popular culture dominates have a greater likelihood of knowing and classifying the fan for both uses. This object enhances the exhibition by demonstrating the applicability of different types of classifications in tandem that serve to enhance meaning further.