What Are Objects?

Ann-Sophie Lehmann

$41.95

Paperback

Forthcoming
Pre-Order now

QTY:

English

Bard Graduate Center, Exhibitions Department
15 October 2025

Theory of art; History of Art & Design Styles; Industrial: Commercial Art & Design; Philosophy: aesthetics

Series: BGCX

Highlights ways of thinking and doing that connect philosophical generality to socio-material idiosyncrasy, encouraging care for all types of objects, from famous works of art to items like plastic bags.

What Are Objects? opens with an object biography, composed in the form of an interview between the concept and author, in a playful attempt at ""object whispering."" From there, Ann-Sophie Lehmann presents five object biographies that explore the life of flax—a material intertwined with human history, particularly storytelling. A third essay connects Richard Tuttle's collection of everyday things, Hannah Arendt's ecological philosophy, and an object taxonomy developed by the early modern inventor Christoph Weigel to explore the philosophical dimensions and potential effects of object biographical thinking.

This BGCX title grew from visits to Bard Graduate Center, particularly in response to the exhibition Richard Tuttle: What Is the Object?, while Lehmann was a fellow and lecturer in 2021–22.

Contributions by: Ann-Sophie Lehmann
Imprint: Bard Graduate Center, Exhibitions Department
Country of Publication: United States [Currently unable to ship to USA: see Shipping Info]
Dimensions: Height: 178mm, Width: 127mm,
Weight: 454g
ISBN: 9781941792391
ISBN 10: 1941792391
Series: BGCX
Pages: 120
Publication Date: 15 October 2025
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Introduction Seeing Things. Object Permanence and Object Blindness. Chapter 1 Object Biography. The Life of a Concept. Chapter 2 Flax. A Life in Five Object Biographies. Chapter 3 Thought Things. Hannah Arendt and the Lives of Objects.

Ann-Sophie Lehmann is professor of art history and material culture at the University of Groningen.