Artificial Assemblages in Museum Storage: new object communities and the shaping of narrative

On average, more than 95% of museum objects reside in their storage facilities; 150 years ago, most were on display. Over decades, museum professionals have compiled the storage contents, layering and grouping objects at odds with their order and space in the world beyond. Yet despite these hidden collections being at the centre of many museum activities, studies of museums overwhelmingly focus on public spaces, museum practice or collections research. This thesis investigates how processing cultural objects into museum collections builds ambiguous datasets, documents how these create assemblages of objects and people, and contends that they create long-lasting, affective experiences.