Conspicuous Consumption Summary

Museums have long served a purpose as cultural staples. For every museum, big and small, careful consideration is used in selecting its contents. When securing new items for a museum, it is most important to consider public appeal, educational value, and cost-effectiveness.

Throughout the novel brave new world consumption plays a vital role in their economic and political system. However the role consumption plays in the world state isn’t much different from the role consumption plays in our society. People may be encouraged to buy things in a different manner, but both systems end with the same product.

The issue of artifacts that have been taken from their original homes has started some global debate. Some may say that the artifacts need to be returned to their place of origin or who found them. They may also say that there are laws saying that the artifacts should be returned. Others may say that no matter who the objects belong to the artifacts should remain in museums around the world. Artifacts should not be returned to their nations of origins.

In the wakes of both World War I and World War II, middle class Americans benefited from long-term economic prosperity. In many ways, the 1920s and the 1950s were similar, including the return to mass consumerism after war, the expansion of the auto industry, and the growth of credit. One key difference, however, was the values behind the consumerism. In the 1920s conspicuous consumption prevailed because of society’s value of increasing social status, while in the 1940s and 1950s, it was prevalent in light of family values and the value of financial stability, in addition to “social climbing.”

Chapter three presents Jessie Barker Gardner and George Gardner as twentieth century antique collectors based in Providence New England. The couple were small time, middle-class antique collectors. They were interested in the philanthropic area of collecting. The Gardner’s sought to make a connection between the collegiate space and the museum. Eventually, the Gardner’s donated many of their most prized collectables to Brown University. They implemented very crafty and effective sales techniques. Their goal was to “subvert the market and capture the antiques at bargain prices.” Though Jessie and George Gardner relished the pursuit of collecting and philanthropy, it was almost always about the profitability. This discussion offers a connection to Thomas Denenberg’s use of Wallace Nutting. Like Nutting, the Gardner’s excelled in a plethora of marketing techniques and entrepreneurship. She further links the importance of consumer culture that Denenberg alludes too.

In her book Spirited Encounters, Cooper mentioned “during her young adult life and through her museum career, she is interested in “Native activism,” especially “protests that focused on museums” (xv). According to her, Native Americans were protesting the museums in hoping that museums would give them back items that were once belong to them and their ancestors. For example, Native Americans’ request to get back Alcatraz Island from the government was denied even though it was supposed to be theirs from the beginning (8). Protesters also seek to correct the false information regarding Native Americans’ life that was being display at the museums (information assumed “correct” for years). Furthermore, museums seemed to be ignoring the

Sender never thought of his collection as a museum worthy exhibit until he was approached and asked if several of his pieces could be borrowed. So he built a website to arrange the lending. He never knew that his hobby of collecting would show a diverse portrait of the recent developments of art history spanning the three decades he has been collecting. He bought work that he was ardent about and the gallery of works just expanded.

Myron Eells was a nineteenth century collector of books, artifacts and records. This article focuses on how his collection was distributed amongst different institutions over time as libraries, museums and archives began to diverge from one another. This collection was never meant to be housed separately and therefore it loses part of its identity and usefulness when divided between separate institutions. To find matching parts one must search the library catalogue and then go to multiple locations. The advances in digital curation could solve this problem and reunite this scattered collection. As an archivist I cannot fathom why they decided to separate the collection in the first place since a collection can consist of a variety of media.

I decided to do the volunteer work at the San Carlos warehouse of the Museum of American Heritage (MOAH). I went there for 3 days to complete the project. On the first day, Jim gave a brief introduction about the warehouse and the types of work they do there. I was surprised when Jim explained that the warehouse is mostly run by volunteers. Then, he introduced me about the main process they did at the warehouse. One of the main tasks is to determine what to do with the artifacts received through various means such as from donations, buying and other methods. As the storage space is limited, it is important to decide what to keep. Unwanted items are either transfer to other museums/archives, sell it for fund or simply throw it away. What items

Abrams has had experience working on exhibitions at both the Met and MoMA, and joined MCA Denver in 2010. After providing a road map of the interview, I asked about the advantages and disadvantages associated with being a non-collecting museum. Mrs. Abrams thinks the biggest advantage is that a non-collecting museum can be very responsive to more current artists and ideas in order to support artists in the early point of their career. This also benefits museum visitors, who would have a fresh experience every time. In my literature review, most articles argues that the advantage is having more focused resources on exhibition and programs, but Mrs. Abrams does not agree and rather considers it a difference. “Colleting museums have to think about how works in the collection are going to be shown and how to make them feel fresh after having it for a long time,” she noted, and it just a different type of responsibility from exhibition and production. She did not provide a disadvantage. Thus, I asked her about if MCA Denver ever had a difficulty in borrowing works from other institutions, which is an issue indicated in my literature review. She said that has not been her experience, because “museums are supporters of other museums, and curators are supporters of other curators.” In this sense, Mrs. Abrams’ response did not correspond very well to my literature review. However, I think this answer depends much on personal

Katharine Cousins’ presentation on the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris (MNHN) explored the ideas surrounding collecting and collections addressed in the Sharon Macdonald reading ‘Collecting Practices’, focusing particularly on the notion of collections as representations of a national identity. Katharine began her presentation by defining what constitutes a collection. Here, she rightly emphasised the important role selection plays in collecting activities, while also acknowledging that collections are fundamentally the result of personal pursuits by collectors. This said, the act of collecting is perhaps best differentiated from other types of accumulation activities (e.g. hoarding), by the potential it offers in terms of order, system and completion.

To understand the past, we have to understand the artefacts of the past. Artefacts show us another kind of history, another way of approaching the past. Not only do they frame the way we act in the world, they also influence the way we think about the world. So when one questions the ownership of these artefacts, they also question the history behind it. Because the history of art is, in large part, a history of theft, questions over its ownership are bound to ensue. So, how do we decide who owns art and subsequently history? Prevailing post- colonial ideology characterises museums as imperial despoilers and their possession of artefacts a dispossession of the cultural identity from the colonised, robbing the motif behind acquired objects. The idea that an ancient work of art is removed from its original setting, of which it forms an aesthetic and historical part, it loses most of its value and becomes a mere item of archaeology. However, arguments against this idea regard the notion of cultural property a pure myth as such artefacts are deemed inessential and irrelevant to the identity of recently emerged and artificially created nations. Instead the concept of internationalism and the ideas of shared history are propagated to defend the retention of artefacts in mostly western museums. Both sides present valid arguments for and against the repatriation of historical artefacts. It becomes apparent that the reality of

Thorstein Veblen once said, “Conspicuous consumption of valuable goods is a means of reputability to the gentleman of leisure” (Veblin, 1899). Respectively, Veblen argues that individuals consume commodities and services to demonstrate a high socio-economic position, from the perspective of others in society (Tepperman, Albanese, & Curtis, 2014, p. 117). This can be seen as a social problem, issues that require community acknowledgment and action to respond to issues at hand. (Tepperman & Curtis, 2011, p. 3). This paper will discuss the growing concern of materialistic children as a global crisis and recognizing catalysts that fuel the adolescent addiction to consumption. The current capitalist system that looms over society relies on the principle that children from an early age must become consumers to ensure global economies prosper through mass individual spending on goods and services (Preston, 2005; O'Barr, 2008). Mass organizations market young people as a lucrative source of profit by consuming commodities (Tepperman, Albanese, & Curtis, 2014, p. 66). Advertisements focus on explaining a commodity to children, by exciting their interests and how it can be used, whereas marketing focuses on pastime activities and behaviours of children (Preston, 2005). Children view approximately forty-thousand advertisements annually (Ramsey, 2006; Strasburger, 2006). The first part of this paper will discuss the history and techniques of advertisers to train children to be consumers

Collections play a crucial role in fulfilling a museum’s mission and purpose. A museum’s collection is defined by its collection policy past and present which in turn helps to shape the museum’s goals and direction. As stewards of collections, museums are expected to maintain the highest professional standards legally and ethically.

The Cambridge Dictionary Online defined museums as “places of study, buildings where objects of historical, scientific or artistic interest are kept, preserved and exhibited”. To The Museums Association, a museum is “an institution which collects documents, preserves, exhibits and interprets material evidence and associated information for the public benefit”. Since 1998, this definition has changed. Museums now enable the public to explore collections for inspiration, learning and enjoyment. They are institutions that collect, safeguard and make accessible artefacts and specimens, which they hold in trust for society. Mike Wallace (1996) categorised museums into four distinct types, namely National Museums that hold collection of