Classify your artifact. Classifications are helpful to understanding your artifact. Once you’ve placed your particular artifact in a larger group, you can make connections between your artifact and the general characteristics associated with that group. In addition, sometimes describing your artifact from within a larger, more generalized framework makes it easier to identify important features. Usually, an artifact can classified in various ways and placed in a number of groups.
1. How do you classify your artifact? In what groups can you place your artifact? What connections can you make to other artifacts in the group?
CD’s are the part of the evolution from The Walkman to The Discman in 1984. They are a type of portable music that is still available in today’s technologically advanced mainstream. It started off expensive and then became a common household item that is relatively cheap and now its being pushed out the door but in South Korea, it’s not ready to give up the fight. It may be a relic in some places but it has become a collectible and piece of art in the K-Pop world.
2. Identify points of similarity between your artifact and others. Then identify points of difference with other artifacts. How is it similar? How is it different?
CDs are used to hold music, just like an iPod or an MP3 player available. It can hold up to 80 minutes of music or 700 MB of music files which limit the amount of music available to you if you’re a music lover. To use it, you would need a CD player, one that is portable or attached to a radio/boom box. To give yourself a range of music to listen to, you would need to carry extra CDs and that would most likely be in a CD case. On the other hand, iPods and MP3 players can carry 16-120 GB of music giving you several days worth of music. They can be arranged in playlists and can be sorted by genre, year, artist, and title. Since all the files would be on the device, you wouldn’t need to carry around extra music in case you feel the need to listen to something differently. Your music would be protected unless you damaged the device unlike a CD which can get scratched and skip over songs. You music device may contain your library of music but it doesn’t incorporate all the items you get when you buy a CD. For one, you get a book that has the lyrics for the song as well as photos of the artists. The book tells you the theme or concept of the album where as on your music device, you just get the picture and if you’re a person who likes to keep their files organized (like me) you would have to spend time looking for the lyrics for your songs to include them.
Create an analogy or metaphor for your artifact. Analogies and metaphors are ways of making connections between your artifact and other artifacts (anything goes… items of clothing, locations, holidays, texts, products, etc.). Be creative here… try to make (il)logical leaps.
3. What metaphors or analogies suit your artifact? (Explain if needed)
CDs are decision traps. You buy them, glad to have the latest songs from your artists, but once you’ve made the content digital, what do you do with them? Do you put it away, never to be seen again? When you see it again, do you throw it away or keep it in storage? Do you put it on display and where will you find the room to? Do you resell it at a cheaper (or expensive) price to someone else?
CDs are art. We have gotten creative in the way we label things. We stamp CDs with an image that matches the contents and if you put your collection together without the cases, you’d be surprised at how many different pictures and themes you have on your CDs.
CDs as collectibles. CDs are becoming a thing of the past. As we make our files more digital, they become a tangible sign of how things used to be. Just like the record who is making a slight comeback into popularity.
Examine cultural narratives. Cultural narratives are common story lines used throughout culture, telling how things typically happen. Once you identify cultural narratives that apply to your artifact, you can examine them for assumptions and stereotypes. For example, stereotypes (or rigid, generalized ideas about the character and behavior of people with certain identities) are a kind of assumption (or set of assumptions). As with cultural narratives, you may think you are not affected by these assumptions and stereotypes. However, their pervasive presence in the culture means that everyone is affected by them. Naming these assumptions stereotypes can aid you when describing the impact of culture and values on your particular artifact (or your artifact’s impact on culture and values).
The assumptions operating in cultural narratives found in movie plots and song lyrics also get played out in social practices and social institutions. Social practices are shared, habitual ways of doing things. A variety of guidelines exist for the social practice of dating, for instance: who will initiate the date, who will decide where to go, who will pay. Social institutions are larger, more formalized organization the direct our shared social structures. Questions to explore (pick and choose):
4. How is your artifact characterized? (How do people/media/groups characterize it?)
Some people view it as thing of the past. When Apple came out with the iPod, some felt the CD was an unnecessary to have for music. Others see it as a way to sell their collectibles of rare and out-of-print music to those who still buy CDs. Many international fans of K-Pop and J-Pop (Japanese pop) see it as a way to bring the music to them. In the early days of the Hallyu wave, the music was only available to international fans via CDs. Now that iTunes have started adding international artists from around the world, the CDs sales may start to decline, but the fans will most likely still continue to buy them. Especially when the music company offers signed albums or a chance for a meet and greet with the artist when they sell them.
5. What cultural narratives govern your artifact?
When CDs first came out if gave everyone the freedom to lighter way to carry their music around. It became popular, so when you used one, you were part of the tech savvy people. Now it can be said that you’re not up-to-date. That you’re stuck in the past. It can also mark you as a supporter of K-Pop. If you have the latest album, you’re offering your artist support.
6. What assumptions, stereotypes, habits, social practices, and institutions frame your artifact?
K-Pop fans are seen as fans who would buy everything related to their artists. From either buying all the artists’ albums or all the different versions of the same album to help boost the artists’ sales. If you have the songs but not the album, you most likely downloaded it from somewhere and didn’t pay for it.
7. What doctrines or practices affect your artifact? (Or, what doctrines or practices you’re your artifact affect?) Political parties and platforms? Religious? Ideological? Which ones? Are there cultural “rules” and practices? Which?
When going to events to support their artist, they must have the latest album and be able to show it to gain entrance to TV recordings or fan events. If not then it comes down, to a copy of their receipt for a digital purchase. If the group is new, then any album purchase is just about okay for admittance but eventually, the new album will be required as they gain more popularity. The artists’ success on the music shows may also depend on the sales of their album and fans can show their support by buying it.
8. How does your artifact affect culture? How does culture affect your artifact?
CDs affected the music scene in offering a way to carry around albums from artists in a lighter form. It also became a way to promote the artists’ music since it was easier to write a CD than to write on a cassette tape. With the different ways we have developed to create a cover on CDs, we have even changed how they look. South Koreans took CDs in a different marketing direction than America by using it to include more than just the CD and book. They’ve used the book to showcase themes/concepts and lyrics and hold a trading card (a photo of one of the artist(s)) as well as promote their own digital music sites. They have also created different versions of the same CD as well as repackaged older songs.