From Still to Life: How do we relate to objects?

ob•ject /ˈäbjək(t)/

noun

 1. a material thing that can be seen and touched.

      Opposite: abstract idea, notion

From a phone to a daisy, objects hold power and meaning in our lives, some are archetypal and some are very personal.

Salted Artist Janel Schelzel spent the Winter of 2023 depicting objects in still life paintings, and began a discussion with Salted Artist philosopher-in-residence Femke Kuiling on how we think and feel about objects. 

Janel posed these questions to Femke:

How is it that you see objects and how do you experience that interaction?  

Do objects hold meaning or tell stories somehow?  

What Janel and Femke discovered as they talked about these questions was that people relate differently to objects in the physical world. Janel and Femke have experienced and understand at least two different approaches, and acknowledge that there may be more.

Janel thought that people animate or “give life to” objects by interaction with them, and that people invite others to join in seeing objects as they imagine them.  

Femke took a different approach. She believes that objects have an intrinsic value that demands respect, and that we can get acquainted with.  Objects demand respect for just being; their value is not dependent on relationships with their surroundings.  

Both Janel and Femke are quick to admit they have a lot to learn about each others perspective, and will give it more thought.

Could both perspectives be true?  

Considering objects this way leads to questions about how artists have historically interacted with objects.  In the past we needed them for representational art, but now we find ourselves in a time where so much artwork can be called non-objective.  

Salted Artist asked Femke Kuilling to continue the dialog and exploration to help us better understand how to appreciate non-objective art, and that is how The Living Breathing Philosopher began.