by Patricia Rockwell

Created on: January 08, 2009

The Japanese lady, dressed in a formal kimono, gracefully lifts the delicate porcelain tea pot and carefully pours the fragrant liquid into two small cups. She hasn't said a word, yet, she has communicated a potent message through the use of artifacts.

Anthropologist Edward T. Hall noted that the Japanese were a high-context culture. That is, most of the information of a message is coded within the cultural artifacts of their society. That Japanese lady conveys as much with how she lifts the tea pot and tips her head and pours the tea into each cup as she ever does by what she says. This may be hard for Americans to understand. After all, we are a low-context culture. That is, the information in our messages is coded primarily within the verbal stream. We say what we mean. Usually.

Because of this reason, it may be especially hard for Americans to understand artifactual communicationthe message conveyed by the things in our environment. The objects we live with have not only meaning for us, but they also define the context of our interactions, and they establish appropriate communication behaviors for those that are surrounded by them.

For example, a young girl in a frilly pink bedroom, with lots of paintings of unicorns on the walls, and stuffed animals on all the shelves is in her domain. She feels comfortable here. When someone enters her room, they enter her domain and must adjust their behavior accordingly. Her artifacts establish the type of communication that is acceptable in this environment.

Artifacts are of three different types: fixed, semi-fixed, and non-fixed. As you can probably imagine, the fixed elements of artifacts include such things as architectural elements like floors, ceilings, and walls. They also include the organization and size of a room as well as the material of which a room is constructed. As there is little opportunity to adjust fixed elements, there is less impact from these elements on communication than from the semi-fixed and non-fixed elements. Even so, we can be moved by soaring vaulted ceilings. We can be scared when walking on a creaky old floor.

The semi-fixed category includes artifacts that can be changed but typically are not. These would include arrangement of furniture, the selection of furniture, lighting, color of paint on the walls, temperature, noise, and other sensory stimulation. A kitchen that is sleek, modern, clean, but totally quiet and aroma-free conveys a much different message than a kitchen that is rough, older, messy, but fully of happy talk and inviting scents and smells.

Non-fixed artifacts change frequently. Typically non-fixed artifacts are elements of a person's appearance such as hair clips, bracelets, purses, briefcases, or anything that a person might use or wear. There is extensive debate among researchers as to whether these various personal artifacts constitute true communication. Some researchers would argue that people carry briefcases to hold material for work or they wear a watch to be able to know what time it is. Other researchers suggest that for many people, personal or non-fixed artifacts represent a personal statement. That is, "this scarf says I'm rich enough to have bought it in Italy," or "these cufflinks indicate my exquisite good taste."

Whatever your position on the value of artifacts, it should be noted that although these items may provide extensive information about owners and wearers, their true message potential is limited by their static nature. As Edward Hall would probably agree, for Americans, artifacts are not the best way to communicate.

Learn more about this author, Patricia Rockwell.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.