Objects mediate…

Objects mediate our relationships. When we are relating to the world, we call the object a tool. When we are relating with the unseen, you may call it a religious object. When we are relating to other people, we may call it the bottle of wine we bring to the party. The movement of an object from me to you, or from my group to your group, says something about the kind of relationship we have or want to have.

Encounter Cooperation (an interview with John Terrell, Regenstein Curator of Pacific Anthropology at Chicago’s Field Museum)