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[For larger image]

Vase, 19th century
Iran
cobalt blue glass
The Grace H. Dreyfus Collection
University Art Museum

Mask
Danscape '95
designed by Anna-Lisa Mosesson
for dance piece Awakening
choreographed by Catherine Sobey
Dramatic Arts

35-mm movie camera
army-issue, Korean War era
Film Studies

This movie camera, long removed from its function as a documentary tool, is today a piece of art and history. This vase, originally from Iran, is now housed in the University Art Museum's collection of decorative objects. Some objects that outlive their original, utilitarian functions become art objects, enshrined within the white walls and cases of the museum. Others take on new functions as teaching or theater props.

As interdisciplinary study becomes more common, barriers between curriculum divisions are breaking down. Where do we place fields such as law, physical activity, and education? Dividing knowledge today into four categories is just as problematic as the four-fold divisions in the sixteenth-century were. Objects in today's collections, such as a vase, can occupy all four categories, suggesting a similar fluidity of boundaries as the ubiquitous presence of birds do in our curiosity cabinet.

[back]--o--[fore]

{Gallery}
{Microcosm}