Älskling, jag krympte sakerna!

Abstract

This project is part of a larger effort to study commercial cultures. Printable downloads of artefacts like cars or paper dolls is a new phenomenon that has appeared on the Internet, mostly in the form of gifts. In the article some general theoretical questions are posed, relating to commodity form and hobbyism. Studying the circulation of these artefacts is done in the context of visual culture, but material and tactile aspects are also considered. If this is a case of gift-giving, there are still important influences from the commodity-form that shows up in the way the objects are constructed and displayed on the net. Most of the subject matter are cases of miniaturisation and a sample of writings on this matter is summarised and discussed.

Keywords

• commercial culture
• internet
• artefacts
• gift-giving
• commodity