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Popjects: A Call for Research

The need for further research into the Popject comes at a time when curators, artists, CEOs and the federal government have all begun to express an interest in the field. The number of resources available to the potential artist/researcher is greater than it ever has been before, while exciting breakthroughs are being made everyday. If you feel like you are contributing to this exciting new area of research already or you would like to, please contact us.

The best Popjects have a matter of factness about them that needs no explanation. The person who experiences one takes everything he or she needs from the experience without the need or intervention of and explanation or interpretation.

Popjects are said to be created with the eye in mind.

The roots of the word popject can be found in Greek and Latin.

Popject n. From Greek populi, of the people, and the Latin, jeccare, to throw in the way of, to throw up, as in to yield. Popjects are thrown in the path of people to catch their attention

Popject as Object
The dialectical study of the popject leads us to a consideration of the popject as it occurs in the cultural landscape. As we shall see, Popjects are objectifications of the everyday. They inherit and express the popular ideas, opinions, problems and attitudes of the culture at large.

Imitation Popjects
Real life is constantly in the process of imitating itself. An umbrella looks like a jellyfish, which resembles a parachute, which resembles a mushroom which resembles an umbrella. This circularity may make it difficult to locate authenticity. Considered dialectically, Popjects are the real thing, if an imitation can be called the real thing. Consider the Dogject, a robotic ePet which adapts to its environment. This is a very sophisticated Popject by virtue of its ability to adapt and learn from experience.

Help, I'm a Rock
Popjects often take the form of novelties. Their drive towards the new (yet mass produced), makes them a distinctly modern commodity. A good example is the Pet Rock craze that took place in the 1970s. The Pet Rock was an irrestible fad that appeared in gifts shops and in malls across the country. It exploited the crisis brought about by the ownership of a pet. The hassle free Pet Rock required no maintenance and therefore, no responsibility from the owner whatsoever. It was self-sufficient and autonomous, requiring nothing and giving nothing (except pride of ownership), it offered an absurd alternative to life.

The Cell Tree
In Nature, we can observe how imitation is a way to disguise, cover up and camouflage a thing. This is the case of the Palm Cell Tree. Cell trees have become a regular feature of the urban and suburban landscape. They have been criticized as eyesores yet they are designed to look like real trees in order to ameliorate their ugliness. In becoming ameliorated eyesores, they become even more of what it is they are trying to escape...their own visibility.