![\"tchotchke\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.evergreen.edu\/austinmmm\/files\/2014\/10\/tchotchke.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nMy idea is to 3D print a tchotchke.\u00a0 I was first inspired by the sign in the Computer Applications Lab above the 3D printers that reads \u201cNo Tchotchkes.\u201d\u00a0 Following this rule, I am not able to print most of the things that I really want to.\u00a0 I question why we aren\u2019t allowed to 3D print tchotchkes.\u00a0 Does anything exist that is actually pointless, meaningless, valueless, and functionless?\u00a0 I don\u2019t think so.\u00a0 I believe everything has some sort of meaning or value, regardless of how apparent it might be.<\/p>\n
One thing about tchotchkes or trinkets is that one rarely buys them for oneself.\u00a0 They are usually given or received as gifts.\u00a0 When anything is given as a gift, it is automatically assigned meaning.\u00a0 When I was 6 years old, I was given a Starbucks temporary tattoo by a relative who was visiting from across the country.\u00a0 This was the first time I had ever met this relative, and I haven\u2019t seen them since.\u00a0 I thought they were the coolest person in the world, and I held on to that tattoo for as long as I could.\u00a0 My dad asked me if I was going to put the tattoo on, and when I told him I wasn\u2019t, he wanted me to throw it away, but I didn\u2019t want to.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t care at all about what the tattoo meant to anyone else, or what its intended use was.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t drink coffee, I had no special affinity for temporary tattoos.\u00a0 What mattered to me was that someone had been thoughtful enough to give it to me.\u00a0 I don\u2019t even remember the name of my relative or how I am even related to them now.\u00a0 I would say that at this point, the idea of that temporary Starbucks tattoo means more to me than that relative does. \u00a0I don\u2019t think that a giver even has to put a lot of thought, if any at all, into a gift for it to have a ton of meaning.\u00a0 The children I work with will give me their artwork, and I highly suspect that a lot of these gifts come from a loss of interest in the activity and the need to get rid of the mess left behind.\u00a0 This doesn\u2019t make the art mean any less to me though.\u00a0 One child gave me an empty envelope and I still hung it up on my wall.\u00a0 That being said, a gift has the potential to have a great amount of intended meaning that might not be known to anyone but the giver and receiver of the gift.<\/p>\n
There is also great meaning in objects that one can make for themselves.\u00a0 We know a lot about making from reading the Maker Movement Manifesto, and how it just feels good to make things.\u00a0 If you make something, I think that automatically assigns meaning to whatever it is that you make.\u00a0 Even if the object turns out nothing like you wanted it to, it still means something that you made it.\u00a0 When I was younger I attempted to make a cereal bowl that looked like a turtle out of clay.\u00a0 It turned out totally non-functional and vaguely turtle-like.\u00a0 Even though it\u2019s pretty ugly, I have still kept it all this time.\u00a0 Just because I made it.\u00a0 Also possible with creating something for yourself is intentionally making something that has meaning embedded in the design of the object, whether apparent to all, or just the creator.<\/p>\n
I intend to to print two objects, one to gift, and one to keep for myself. \u00a0I don’t have any ideas of what these objects might be, look like, or mean at this point, but I don’t intend for the meaning to be apparent. \u00a0They will have meaning.<\/p>\n
Meaning in an object might not be apparent to more than one person. \u00a0I think this idea is important because even if an object is only impacting one single person, I think it is still worthwhile for this object to exist.<\/p>\n
I was unable to find material on the meaning of seemingly pointless items, but I did find that there has been some movement against tchotchkes in the professional world.\u00a0 There have been moves in the pharmaceutical industry to ban tchotchkes as a form of marketing. (Iskowitz; Pharmaguy,\u00a0That\u2019s Snot Funny!<\/em>)\u00a0 This brings up an interesting point that tchotchkes can serve a very blunt purpose by being used by companies to \u201coffer clients an effective and efficient way to build loyalty to their brands.” (Pharmaguy,\u00a0May Ban Tchotchkes<\/em>)<\/p>\n I think this is worth studying for this quarter because exploring how and why objects hold meaning could be very useful.\u00a0 Discovering and sharing how meaning can apply to one might change perspectives on we view seemingly meaningless objects.\u00a0 Perhaps I will be able to use my learning to get the \u201cNo Tchotchkes\u201d sign removed.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Works Cited<\/p>\n Iskowitz, Mark. “U-Pittsburgh Med Center Weighs Tchotchke Ban.”\u00a0– Medical Marketing & Media<\/em>. Medical Marketing & Media, 1 Aug. 2007. Web. 21 Oct. 2014.<\/p>\n Pharmaguy. “Pharma Marketing Blog: Duluth Bans Tchotchkes — That’s Snot Funny!”\u00a0Pharma Marketing Blog: Duluth Bans Tchotchkes — That’s Snot Funny!<\/em>\u00a0Pharma Marketing Network, 8 Jan. 2008. Web. 21 Oct. 2014.<\/p>\n Pharmaguy. “Pharma Marketing Blog: EU Pharma Industry May Ban “Tchotchkes” Outright! Tchotchke Makers Threaten to Sue.”\u00a0Pharma Marketing Blog: EU Pharma Industry May Ban “Tchotchkes” Outright! Tchotchke Makers Threaten to Sue.<\/em>\u00a0Pharma Marketing Network, 9 July 2013. Web. 21 Oct. 2014.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" What determines if an object is meaningful? My idea is to 3D print a tchotchke. I was first inspired by the sign in the Computer Applications Lab above the 3D printers that reads “No Tchotchkes.” Following this rule, I am not able to print most of the things that I really want to. I question […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":629,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/making\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/766"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/making\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/making\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/making\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/629"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/making\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=766"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/making\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/766\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/making\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/making\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=766"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.evergreen.edu\/making\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}