The Vault

My dear friend Marissa over at tinygrants (an amazing project!) and the author of art blog the last place on earth you probably want to be sent me an email when she came across an artist she knew i would just love.

and she was right.

Neil Pardington’s works are beautiful. I remember visiting a museum in Banff as a child and being fascinated with the darkness of their museum – and it was full of dead stuffed animals. There is something both eerie and magical in that type of feeling, and these photographs capture it:







fantastic collections, in this case held by our public collectors….

-kasey

(this post can also be seen on http://kaseylee.wordpress.com/ a blog about a collection/museum based curatorial thesis)

Barney Smith's Toilet Seat Museum

So Kasey sent me a link (http://www.unusualmuseums.org/) to the "Unusual Museums of the Internet" which I then followed, happening upon Barney Smith's Toilet Seat Museum.
His 'art' astounds me.
So does the sheer size of his collection. What I would like to know is what first drove him to create these decorated toilet seat lids? I can see how easily it is to get caught up once you've started, but why did you start?



edit: I just found an article about Barney (http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/6166) saying that he used to be a plumber before he retired so he is comfortable with the medium, but also that it all began when he needed a surface on which to mount a set of antlers, and the toilet seat happened to be the right size. And the rest is history.

new treasures

During countless hours on my throne as Queen of Procrastination, I have made a couple new discoveries in the realm of collecting.

The first is a book I'm currently reading. I was perusing a bookstore recently and it just caught my eye as the title reads "Collections of Nothing", and anything with the word collections on it seems to jump out at me. It is part memoir, part reflection "of the mania of acquisition". It tells the story of the author, William Davies King, and his relationships and experiences with collecting 'nothing' throughout his life. Although I haven't finished it yet, it is a touching, wry and amusing dissection of the art of collecting.

read it.



Another discovery I made was just tonight, during one of those long internet adventures that seems endless. You know, the ones where you start with a specific aim, find it, but then also find something else, so you click on that, and then at the new place you discover another exciting link...and so on and so forth until it takes you on a wonderful journey deep into the bowels of the interslice.

So. What I found was a set of collection themed photos on flickr...

(http://flickr.com/photos/birdinthehand/sets/72157602804722087/with/2887199501/)

She has a photo of her small antique photo collection, and then of a scissor collection as well. The scissor collection had also previously been assembled as a mobile.

I enjoy that.

I hope you enjoy these.




















Wait...what happens if the mobile breaks?


- layne

collection based works of art

this is an essay I wrote for a school project describing the project - a virtual gallery exhibition



Curio
Collection based works of art
by Casey Hinton


In an era where material objects are so easily disposed of, it is interesting, in comparison, to examine what is saved and collected. Collections tell us something about our arbitrary attachment of value to objects and, in turn, our habits and the rituals we indulge in, in order to create some sort of order or sense of organization in our lives.
My intrigue surrounding collections as art pieces and collecting as an inquisitive art form began as a child, growing up in a house that seemed to have an already established collection of everything my creativity could desire. My mother collected bowling balls, lamps, bits of neat paper, feathers, umbrellas, costumes, old maps, broken pieces of china, ribbon, scraps of leather and suede, and art supplies. My father collected shiny bits of metal, glass and wire, old machinery, musical instruments, kites, juggling equipment, didgeridoos, magnets, anvils, and LED lights. Collecting was a creative activity much encouraged by my parents, which led to my own compulsive collections of all sorts, many of which are still in boxes and jars tucked away, as I am unable to part with them. For me, collecting is a spiritual act of fulfillment. I generally save things that might be considered junk, rather than actively going out and collecting some particular object. The things that I save seem to represent some sort of potential and it’s easy to imagine what I could do with all of these things, whether or not I actually get around to it.
Deciding on the theme of collections was an easy step in the creation of the show as it is a theme, or perhaps, obsession, that seems to transcend all areas of my life and so it was a natural fit. Upon selecting collections, Canadian artist Aganetha Dyck popped into my mind, with her collection based works often using many buttons, coat hangers or sweaters. From this starting point I set off to research and my own collection of artists began to grow.
The show in particular, deals with a sort of narrative that takes the viewer from small, odd collections, moving them to a larger and larger scale until they are confronted with a mass collection - a depiction of how our culture and society collects as an entity.
Upon first entering the space, Magdelana Abakanowicz burlap and resin figures create a crowd through which the guest must weave their way in order to enter the show. My intention with this immediate large scale instillation was to create a sense of wonder and curiosity that I feel is a necessary frame of mind to be in, in order to better appreciate the works. The first area in the show contains a series of mixed-media, collage based works by up-and-coming artist Layne Hinton, using keys as her linking collection throughout each piece. The rest of the room is full of small drawers and cupboards, each labeled by a different collection which spread and thin out throughout the gallery space. After investigating these everyday collections of such things as, paperclips, rubber bands, marbles and old keys, the viewer moves into a crisper, cleaner space with fewer and fewer drawers, giving the feeling of moving from an old museum atmosphere to a contemporary gallery space.
The second room contains 2 large, lit shelving units with a different piece on each side. The first contains a real collection of light bulbs, borrowed from the Mount Vernon Museum of Incandescent Lighting in Baltimore. The display is merely a slice of the size of the original collection, but also contains the original drawings and diagrams of the light bulbs done by Dr. Hicks, the owner of the Museum and the worlds largest collection of light bulbs. Following this collection are Aganetha Dyck’s Canned Buttons (1984) a series of jars filled with colour buttons and beeswax. In the second lit case are a series of found-object based works by Michael Poulton, called A Shelf full of Round Things, borrowed from the Museum of Temporary Art, in Kirkfield Ontario. The last case contains a series of beautifully crafted spinning tops that has been borrowed from the Museum at Purgatory, an imaginary museum created by Nick Bantock.
Scale becomes a more prominent detail as the third room is entered. A large installation sculpture by David Mach made from stacked magazines and newspapers seems to swallow up a large portion of the room. Following this is a sculpture by Marc Andre Robinson made from stacked chairs held together only by gravity. The final piece in the show is a photograph by Chris Jordan of stacks of brown paper bags that represents the massive scale of collections in a much more global or collective sense.
Each of these artists also have an interest in collections. Artist Layne Hinton has drawer after drawer full of all sort of everyday collections. She claims she is unable to get rid of any of them and is starting new collections all the time. Aganetha Dyck started her collection of buttons by accident - she rented a studio space and when she was given the keys, she opened the space to discover that it was full, waist high, with buttons, seemingly forcing a collection upon her and giving direction to some of her early works. Michael Poulton labels and display all of his mundane, bizarre objects, claiming that as soon as something is displayed and labeled it is suddenly given validation as an art piece. His obsession is not only collecting, but documenting and the two seem to go hand in hand. Nick Bantock wrote a fictitious book The Museum at Purgatory in order to create a home and a back story for each bizarre collection or series of works he has created.
I attempted to bring together artists of all kinds - both beginning as well as mature and to mix together a variety of styles and mediums to bring the question of curiosity and collecting to the front. The design of the show was an attempt to create a narrative that went from intrigue and curiosity of the small and mundane collections and then to awe and astonishment of the large scale of collections. This narrative displayed the beauty that can be found in the mundane that may otherwise be overlooked and brought to light whether collecting and a collection is an art form in itself, since every one seems to collect something. The space also addresses this narrative, starting off with a musty, old, antique feeling of a museum or curiosity cabinet of the 17th century and then blending in with a modern, contemporary space.
There are still many questions about collections left to be answered: Why do people collect? What constitutes a collection - when is a grouping of objects considered a collection? and What do people collect? Are collections art or merely a form of display culture or documentation? These are all questions that will continue to interest me and that I will continue to investigate, however in the mean time, a show on the act and the art of collecting should cure some of my own curiosity.

my mother collects bowling balls. I don't know how it started, or why, but she does.

they are the moving sculpture in my parents back yard.

the mount vernon museum of incandescent lighting

Dr. Hicks - a dentist - collected, in his lifetime, over 75 000 light bulbs. He has every shape, size and kind, some of historical and scientific significance. He started a museum in his basement which still exists today.

some responses I recieved when asking friends: what do you collect?...

jess wrote: i collect vintage fine china teacups and saucers that i rabidly outbid old ladies for at estate auctions...that's right, i go there.

i also collect books and interesting magazines...and words and bits of paper with quotes and scribbles on them.

aiden wrote: My family and I collect coins. Especially really old ones, or ones from across the sea. Euros, Crowns, etc.

heather wrote: I used to collect a lot of things when I was a kid. But not only would I collect, I would put them on display in my room and change around the display every few days. These were things that I had tons of.......
Unicorns.
The Lion King stuff
Toy Story stuff.
Dead butterflies??!!
Smiley faces.
Spice Girls. I had everything... and even stole a sticker from a friend's sister because I was so desperate. (I still feel guilty)
Monkeys
Pictures of Space

Now that I have purged myself of most of those things... I just collect random business cards, or pamphlets, pictures or wrappers or anything to remind me of a trip or of a really good day and just throw it in my closet.
I collect emails and can't let go of some of them.
And I collect history books.

I guess the things you collect just make you happy... and show who you are or what you are interested during that time in your life.

burton wrote: I have a stamp collection. It's pretty freakin sweet. I have these rare princess Diana stamps that were from BEFORE she was dead...I should get them appraised and then sell them to fuel my drinking habits.

nell wrote: Small boxes - I like them because they are small and cute, and I can use them to store small objects like paper clips, elastics, coins, nails, ect... I also collect small glass bottels and little figurines becasue they remind me of my childhood.Then there is teapots- I like them because they are round and their rounded shape is very comforting to look at, like a mother or something.


julia wrote: I collect lunch boxes and have done since I was 18. I've got a total of 22 of them and still collecting more. 4 of them are Betty Boop style, the rest are all random ranging from board game style (candy land and monopoly) to fun character style (harry potter, willy wonka, felix the cat and I love Lucy) to baseball style (blue jays) to even pirate style! (skull and cross bones) Not only can you store your lunch in these fabulous boxes made of tin or plastic, but they can store candles, matches, small books (ie secret diaries) makeup, medicine, guitar pics, coins and many more little trinkets that you love :)

brian wrote: I don't have any hobbies based around collecting, where I'm actively looking to add to my collection just for the sake of having a bigger collection, but when it comes to stuff like art supplies, and like, music i think, i have a hard time throwing stuff out or deleting anything.

I have alot of canvases taking up space in my room which i may never use, as well as all kinds of plasticene and other sculpting type stuff. I can't throw this shit out because I'm really afraid if i do, i'll end up wishing I had it at a later date that I couldnt have forseen.

On the other hand, when I can't find something like that that I know I have, I have a tendancy to just give up and buy more.

I think collecting stuff like that is because they represent potential and it's easy to imagine so many things that COULD be made. I think it feels like i can if i want to, wether I do or not

ashleigh wrote: I have a TON of dolphin figurines (and other dolphin stuff - posters, a bunch of my bathroom stuff, lamps, etc).... it's not a collection based on ME doing the collecting so much as I just like dolphins so my parents (and other people!) find it really easy to give me birthday/Christmas gifts that have dolphins on 'em 'cause they know I'll like 'em. Same goes for Mickey Mouse stuff... I have SO much stuff with Mickey on it, from watches that I wear daily to sheets, to tshirts to a giant poster to stuffed animals, etc.... Same thing there: I don't consiously collect the stuff, but most of it's given to me because people know I'll like it because it has Mickey on it.

broucklyn wrote: I collect sand from every beach i've been to on vacation, while I'm there I buy a little glass jar collect the sand; every jar it different and they are lined up in my room always.

kay wrote: I think its really crazy that kids have albums of stickers. Every single kid has a sticker album! I still have mine.

bonnie wrote: I collect rocks....rocks from the Leslie St spit, rocks from the beaches of Nova Scotia, rocks from the street, rocks from any and all beaches I have ever been to. I now have a HUGE collection of different coloured pebbles from around the world after completing the Reflection Park project. I also have a HUGE collection of rocks from the foundation of my barn. These will be turned into a stone wall that will weave in and out of the 50 ft. spruce trees in my back yard.

I collect glass bits, beach glass, broken tiles, broken dishes for inclusion in panels I create or mosaics.

I have a collection of Barbie dolls - the first one that came out all the way to Skipper and Francine! My aunt would make lovely little gowns for them to wear.
I collect vintage clothing and shoes and fabrics. I love the fabrics so much but I'm always afraid to make anything with them, in case I change my mind or run out half way through or something lame like that.

I collect Santas. I have paper mache Santas from Mexico, wooden Santas, glass Santas, metal santas, santas shaped like stars, santas with long beards, short beards, santas christmas card holders, santa candy dishes! Many, many, many Santas! Enough with the Santas everybody! Buy me jewels!