Presentation by Jane MacDonald, Tales of Things, o

1. TOTeM
Tales of Things and Electronic Memory
and other stories
Jane Macdonald

2. Tales of Things
Partners:
University of Edinburgh (Edinburgh College of Art)
University College London
Brunel University
University of Dundee
University of Salford
Funded by the Digital Economy Research Councils UK

3. Spimes
“Spimes” are objects that can be tracked through space and time, and
throughout their lifetime. Spimes are regarded as “material
instantiations of an immaterial system, they’re virtual objects first and
actual objects second”, which “begin and end as data”
-Bruce Sterling, Shaping Things (2005)

4. Social Things

5. www.talesofthings.com

6. Wester Hailes, Edinburgh

7. Oxfam

8. Oxfam Shelflife

9. National Museum of Scotland

10. Aims
1. Provide additional content on the objects using primary material
and rich media
2. Encourage the public to add their own story to artefacts in the
museum, thus extending the museum’s collection through a
growing archive of personal stories

11. New Town
Cumbernauld

12. NMS Memory Booth

13. Singer Sewing
Machine

14. Dancing
Shoe

15. Object Cinema / Thingema

16. Memory Mix

17. Housewives of Tomorrow, 1951

18. Lessons learnt
- QR codes not ideal and not marketed enough in the museum
- Asking too much of people in the gallery, downloading app
- Outside of the workshop scenarios visitors were not so keen on
sharing stories and don’t value their own memories enough
- Lack of wifi an issue in museums
- Objects themselves a powerful way to elicit stories and narrative

19. National Museum of Rural Life

20. Travelling Treasures

21. Thank you!
jane.macdonald@ed.ac.uk
@talesofthings