I went
into this reading with the intention of analyzing it with a cultural perspective,
so I was a bit thrown off by the talk of spores, ants, cones of memory, planes
of experience, bats, and mustachioed authors. This vast array of topics
seemed just like context for the contents of a random run-down museum. However,
we wouldn’t be asked to write about it and this book probably wouldn’t be too
insightful if that was the case. After a second look, I feel that these topics
do in fact relate to culture in the sense that the random collection of sources
for the museum mirrors the seemingly random units that make up a culture.
Cultures aren’t just created as one entity, rather they grow over time as
stories, legends, art, music, values, and beliefs add to the identity of a
people. The identity of this museum is a combined presentation of the topics
that were chosen to be in it. If I had to take a stab at coming up with a theme
for this museum, I’d say it focuses on exhibiting the way thought works. The
spore to the ant could be a metaphor for the spread of ideas, Geofrrey
Sonnabend attempted to visualize memory as a cone, Bernard Maston got
inspiration from locals to capture a bat. These instances display a metaphor
for spreading thoughts, a literal depiction of thought, and thought towards a
decision, respectfully. In a way, the culture of the museum could be described
as psychological.
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