A Living Art: Thinking with Objects

This essay traces an intellectual journey towards a richer understanding of the animacy and power of Native art creations, and possibilities associated with recognizing living art forms in the fields of American art and curation. Information drawn from ethnographic fieldwork with Navajo weavers provides culturally specific insights into the animacy and power of weaving's materiality and associated forms of knowledge. Throughout the essay I ask: Is the field ready to recognize animacy of certain works of art beyond theoretical speculations, and if so, how might we proceed?