For this page, I’m researching into the meaning of Identity through in various contexts to better understand the term and also discover possibilities in my project key idea. Possible aspect of identities that will be developed for my Realise Project could be,
- Identities through Collectibles
- Identities of Objects, to question whether an object can really speak or actually it’s us anyway imposing ourselves on it. This will challenge theories from artists such as Jan Svankmajer who seems to believe it’s us who needs to listen to the object and let them speak, I wonder whether that is really the case and if so, how does it work. Maybe if we let the object speaks, it might speak something that surprises us in a way that we might not want to possess it anymore? -> how about showing that the object you possess is not you, or what you think it is? subvert it with surrealism?
8 Jan 20
Journal Artical
Possession and the Extended Self by Russel W. Belk
Below are key points that I noted down from the reading,
- “Our possessions are a major contributor to and reflection of our identities.”
- “A key to understanding what possessions mean is recognising that, knowingly or unknowingly, intentionally or unintentionally, we regard our possessions as parts of ourselves.”
- “We are what we have.” – do I agree with this? yes I do, but then what I’m interested in could be, why do we want to possess such thing, can the possession tell something about us? Why do we find it worth having? Maybe the takeaway from this finding could be we become more mindful with things we consume or possess? maybe when we realise that missing part of us, we may no longer need such possession? or on the contrary it may encourage us to possess more? could possession lead to self-knowledge then? Maybe my exploring question could be “Can we understand ourselves better through our possessions?” “Can we consume less when we know more about ourselves?” or if we becoming more satisfied with our sense of self, would we consume less? But, how to become satisfied with our sense of self? and why do we lack of it at the first place? Can we create more mindful consumption via the realisation of self and possession? Can we discover our sense of self in things we don’t like in things we have so that we don’t need more things? or, can we detach our sense of self from our possession so that we no longer need it? It is as if I’m trying to understand ‘how desire work’ even.
- “The purpose of the article is to examine the relationship between possessions and sense of self.”
- There are various sections on various topics explored,
- First section: possessions are an important component of sense of self.
- the nature of self-perceptions
- diminished sense of self when possessions are unintentionally lost or stolen
- from anthropological studies, how possessions are treated ritually after death
- Second section: what functions the extended self serves.
- talk about basic states of our existence: having, doing, and being.
- above states are relevant to the question of “how we define who we are”
- the functions of possessions in human development identified into four stages.
- Third section: Examination of several processes involved in self-extension. One process is the initial incorporation of objects into our extended selves.
- Fourth section: Special categories of possessions that are commonly incorporated into the sense of self. These categories are collections, money, pets, other people, and body parts.
- Final section: Implications of the extended self formulation for consumer research.
- First section: possessions are an important component of sense of self.
- Collections (p.154)
- As Belk (1982b) notes, humans and animals once primarily assembled collections of necessities for future security, but today humans more often assemble collection of nonnecessities for distinction and self-definition. -> this made me think should I focus on ‘nonnecessities’ items such as plush dolls instead of packages from daily groceries because those are not items I collect bur rather items of living necessities. I actually bought those for survival reason don’t I.
- Stewart (1984, p. 159) similarly concludes that the way to most effectively disparage a collection is not to charge that it is inauthentic, but rather to say “it is not you.”
- We may not be able to control much of the world about us, but the collection, whether of dolls, “depression glass,” or automobiles, allows us total control of a “little world.”
- Goldberg and Lewis (1978, p. 64) go further in suggesting that “Many collectors who are inhibited and uncomfortable in social interaction, surround themselves with favored objects upon which they project humanlike qualities. They practically talk to these objects; they find comfort in being with them and regard them as friends.” In this sense, collections may be seen as transition objects or security blankets for adults.
- The symbolic self-completion thesis of Wicklund and Gollwitzer (1982) suggests that when one experiences low self-esteem, the addition of objects to one’s collection may be viewed as compensatory in restoring a more complete sense of self. -> my thought, could I count my purchase habit of toys from different occasion and series a collection? or does it apply only to a gathering of something from the same universe such as stamp collection?
Here is the link to the article,
Watsak's Blog 