Decorating Ourselves and Our Environment

Nefertiti bust: Implies texture and highlights formal symmetry, portraying elegant beauty.
Dale Cerulli's glass sculpture at the Bellagio: Colorful and flashy, fitting for Las Vegas.

Humans express themselves through objects.
Fashion: Dictates practical needs and embodies an element of fashion in even the most basic objects.
Fashion dictates practical needs; even basic objects must be fashionable to sell.
Pre-industrial societies: Style reflected aristocratic taste due to their liberty to focus on aesthetics.
Today: Even modest budgets can support fashionable cravings.
Objects attract not just by function but by other means.

Art used to decorate bodies, homes, public spaces, and modes of travel.
Includes jewelry, furniture, glassware, and utilitarian objects with artistic quality.
These items express creative impulse and appeal to aesthetic sense.

Fashion choices reflect how we see ourselves and how we want others to perceive us.
Identifying with objects can lead to objectifying ourselves rather than expressing our authentic selves.
Incorporating fashion integrates us into an impersonal, systemized apparatus.
Fitting in vs. belonging: Not always the same; some individuals defy social norms.

Celebrities: Can afford security, allowing them to go against social norms.
Sun RA: Musician and philosopher who claimed to be from Saturn, transcending societal dismissal through music and costumes.

Royal status: Reflected in personal adornment.
Archaeological finds: Elaborate objects of personal adornment from the third millennium BC in royal tombs.
Gold and lapis lazuli: Symbolize the sun and sky, denoting high status.

Self-adornment: Often has meanings beyond pure decoration.
Wartime clothing: Reflected economic and social atmosphere.
Warriors: Use adornment for practical reasons (safety), intimidation, and empowerment.
Crow war shield: Adorned with eagle and hawk feathers and porcupine quills for symbolic empowerment.
Robert Deborah's tomb: Shows chain mail armor and symbols denoting courage and Christian faith.
Islamic war shirt: Practical and ritual purposes, protecting through physical properties and symbolic meaning.

Individual preferences: Paint, furniture, rugs, dishes, etc.
Practical choices: Sinks, cabinets, appliances.
Medieval tapestries: Served utilitarian (warmth) and psychological (imagination) purposes.
Symbols in tapestries: Lion (bravery), dogs (fidelity), rabbits (love and fertility).
Ancient Roman frescoes: Durable paintings on damp lime plaster, creating illusionistic views.

Household objects: Designed by someone and can be artistic; some become collectors' items.
Michael Graves pepper mill: Reminds us of Mickey Mouse as an American icon.
Gold drinking vessel: Symbolizes the ruler.
Mass-produced vs. one-of-a-kind: Drinking vessel has greater symbolic and monetary value than the mass-produced pepper mill.

Aero Aarnio's globe chair: Provides safety, comfort, and warmth, creating an emotional and psychological response.

Thrones: Have symbolic meaning related to the importance of the person occupying it, with cultural and political significance.
Tutankhamun's throne: Made of gold, silver, and lapis lazuli, with lion heads and paws representing the king and serving as guardian figures.
Lions: Seen as guardians.

Lively artistic cultural city: Attracts industry.
Fountains: Popular in 17th-century Europe for ornamenting urban spaces.
Fountain of the Four Rivers: Represents power of the Christian Church.
Bernini's fountain vs. Moore's sculpture: Both intended with international significance.
Graffiti Art: In the 1980s, New York artists transformed graffiti into art.
Keith Haring: Used subway walls to convey political messages and decorate public spaces.