Looking for a Third
CULTURE CONNECT
College of Liberal Arts & Si Wan College
National Sun Yat-sen University
LOOKING FOR A THIRD: CULTURES OF COLLECTING
Associate Prof. Joshua Sofaer
Moderator: Associate Dean, Prof. Shu-ing Shyu
Wednesday 26th November 2025
16:10-17:30
8001 Liberal Arts Building, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
Us humans gather and order the world into collections. As Jean Baudrillard noted, in the act of collecting “…the passionate pursuit of possession finds fulfilment and the everyday prose of objects is transformed into poetry”*. Some of us collect stamps or shells, others accumulate digital playlists or family photographs; and there are those who barely collect at all.
In this talk, Joshua Sofaer reflects on his own collections, and on how the process of collecting has shaped his artistic practice. From personal obsessions that rarely leave the cupboard, to participatory artworks made with communities around the things they treasure, Sofaer explores how collections can slip between the private and the public, the ordinary and the artistic.
*Baudrillard, Jean, 1996. The System of Objects trans. by James Benedict. London & New York: Verso. (p.87)
