| Title |
The Aesthetic Implications of Collecting in Modern Space |
| DOI |
https://doi.org/10.14774/JKIID.2026.35.3.132 |
| Keywords |
Modern space; Collecting; Collector; Aethetics; Walter Benjamin; Allegory; Montage; Phantasmagoria |
| Abstract |
Walter Benjamin left behind a total of three writings on collecting. The discourse on collecting found in his works focuses on the modernity inherent in the act of collecting. The purpose of this study is to understand the aesthetic implications of collection that affect interior design through his writings. The research method finds and analyzes the aesthetic direction in Benjamin’s collection-related text, and examines it in connection with the conditions of interior design. The findings are summarized as follows.: First, since collecting begins with the collector seeking out and gathering objects that interest them, the collection becomes an object of gaze. Second, the collector examines the past condensed within the collection and the visual features on its surface, drawing them into the realm of arbitrary narrative. Through this process, the collection establishes itself as an allegorical object. Third, a new whole is formed in space by the cluster of collected objects, which becomes the center of the observer and reveals itself as a montage-like landscape as fragments adhere to each other through reverie. Fourth, the montage-like landscape draws in the happiness of the times as its theme. Therefore, the aesthetics of collecting undergoes a discursive process that begins with the exhibition of objects, passes through the gaze and allegory, and unfolds the atmosphere of a phantasmagoria. As such, it can be said that Benjamin’s concept of collection presents its aesthetic possibilities in terms of indoor objects, environment, and space themes. |