Material Culture

If you don't carve your pumpkins, someone will. Halloween may be over, but pumpkin season doesn’t have to be. There are plenty of pumpkin seeds to be…

As a student of material culture, Lake Effect contributor Gianofer Fields examines the meanings behind objects - what they signify historically and to an…

Knick-knacks, tchochkis, collectibles...whatever you want to call them, there are objects we love to collect. While today our obsession with collecting…

The truth behind the phrase “starving artist” scares a lot of otherwise artistically inclined folks away pursuing an arts career. And many, if not most,…

It’s a special back-to-school edition of our It’s A Material World series. So what do material culture, school supplies and sewing have to do with each…

Material culture explores why objects have meaning to us. For our contributor, it's because it does her wash.In our last "It's A Material World" segment,…

Objects play many roles in our lives. Some are functional. Some are ornamental. But, there are things - objects - that touch us on an deeper level. It…

What happens to animals are discarded like objects that no longer entertain?In our ongoing "It's a Material World" series, Material Culture student and…

As a student of Material Culture, contributor Gianofer Fields spends a lot of her time studying objects. However, in this installment of "It’s a Material…

A couple of weeks ago, our Material Culture contributor Gianofer Fields asked us a unique question: What single tool would you use to help you get through…