About This Object

This is a purple backpack created by REI that was freecycled in Washington D.C. The contributor bought it a few years ago at a marketplace. He carries it everywhere and it has become part of his identity on campus.

From the Contributor

It contains everything that’s on my back and I rarely leave my house without it, even if I don’t need anything in it. It just has become kind of a seat belt, kind of like my turtle shell. It has served as a staple of my habitus ever since, it’s a visual way of being recognized by friends and strangers in public. [People] don’t necessarily say ‘oh purple backpack guy,’ but there was somebody who, an HVAC guy, who said ‘hey, you walk everywhere!’ We were on the west side of Bloomington and he said ‘yeah I see you on the east side,’ and I thought ‘how do you recognize me- oh yeah, my backpack, right.’ And other people comment on it. Strangers feel free to comment on that, kinda like people comment on clothing. —Jason Michalek