Artifact Case

One artifact comes to mind when I think of the home owned by a good friend. He has done a lot of remodeling ever since the purchase of his home a few years ago. He is a musician and has always been very talented when it comes to anything artistic. The artifact that has influenced my interpretation of his identity is one wall in his kitchen. I know a wall itself would not be considered an artifact, but what he has done with the wall makes it distinctive of his personality. This one wall started out as a bright orange plain wall that he decided to turn into a timeline of his life from when he purchased the home and will end when he sells his house.

When things happen in his life, he adds his own artistic interpretation of how it affected him to the wall. As I said before, he has some definite talent when it comes to art, and by looking at the wall you would think he was just being creative in his decorating. Knowing him as well as I do allows me to look deeper into the images and additions he makes to the wall with every meaningful event that happens in his life. After looking at the different detail scattered around the wall, I see that he is using this artifact as a form of therapy. I see that the best way for him to express himself is through art. I have listened to his songs, and they all have meaning and can be therapeutic, but I believe this wall to be more substantial to his mental health than others would realize. Once I realized that this was his way of coping in the world we live in, my perception of him has had and continues to be positive. I can see the things that have made him happy and things that seem to eat at him. I don't know if that is thanks to the fact that we are such good friends, or if I just am able to look at things a little deeper than others. I respect him for finding an outlet that keeps him grounded and realize that I am still looking for my own "wall" to help curb some of the stress that life can hand out.

I would say an artifact in my home that could deliver a message about my identity to others who visit would be a coffee table that I have sitting against the wall underneath my living room window. Normally a coffee table would not seem like an artifact that defines a person's identity, but my table is not used to rest beverages on, or entertain. I use the table for display purposes only. I am not a religious person, but I enjoy the study of various religions and find them fascinating. My table has a pop-up book of various Hindu Gods and explanations about them; I have a lantern from Nepal depicting the eyes of Buddha as well as a porcelain statue of him. I also have a four foot brass statue of Ganesh, the Hindu God of new beginnings; I have a menorah, a Quran, a bible, and even a couple of books by Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens to represent the secular aspect of religion.

I have this table displaying various pieces representing different