New Collection

We have each been asked to bring in a box and make a new collection for this week's session. I procrastinated for a few days, but was unable to think of anything that I could or wanted to collect.

There may be more than one reason for this. Firstly I have been trying to "declutter" my home of the  "stuff" I already have and my spirit was a little unwilling to bring more "stuff" into our home. Another reason is that everything I have collected over the years has a meaning attached to it. A memory of a happy time, a sad time, a memorable time etc, so that the object becomes more than just a "collection." I do have objects that I bought purely because I liked them when I saw them. But to collect something just for the sake of collecting did not seem to appeal to me.

As I pondered over this dilemma as to "what should I collect, "  I decided that I would place photographs that I have taken this week, into my box. My whole being at present is focused on the two deadlines we have in approximately two weeks time, and as this work is part of me, and I am enjoying the process of photographing and contextualising my imagery, I felt that these photographs were appropriate to bring in as my collection.

The themes for my two assignments are "Longing." and "The Circle."  I have been shooting on both 35mm and 120mm film as I am developing a greater love for film; my preference for digital experimentation is waning. The subject matter for my imagery is more suited to film. It evokes a feeling of "times past."  I have a love of landscape photography and of colour, I find the colours of transparency film unbeatable. I also love to shoot in Black and White film, I have chosen Black and White for my Narrative Assignment.

The first assignment is to be in colour, one a landscape image, the second an interior image including myself as the figure. In the imagery, I hope to reflect my longing to go home, my sense of belonging to Wales, and to my ancestors who have always been part of the Celtic Culture. For my second assignment I am shooting in black and white film, it is an eight image narrative based on a similar theme to the first assignment, but following the story of my family using objects our in the landscape.

These are some of the images I have shot

Barbed Wire

A Letter from Mam

Reflecting the Land

Four Generations

Choosing an Object

Maddie has asked us all to bring in an object to Thursday's session. Something that we are unable to throw, or give away.

I had been unable to decide what my object would be even though I have plenty of objects to choose from my many treasures and artifacts. But nothing that I can think of that I have considered giving away. But when I woke up this morning, I knew exactly what I would take.

I have a sparkly evening dress that I have never had the occasion to wear. I bought it at Camden Market in 1989; over the years, there have been countless times when I have "almost" given it away. But I have never been able to part with it. Now I no longer think about giving it away because it has become for me, an "art" object. I love the dress and I wish I could wear it, but apart from never having had the right occasion to wear it, I don't think I would ever have the confidence to wear it. It's a dress that to me, has the look of the "femme fatale." It is elegantly cut, tight fitting, and needs someone tall and perfectly shaped to wear it. I feel that I can only dream of wearing it.

This is the dress

The Comfort of Things

This is a book by Daniel Miller (2008) which is listed on our Contextual Reading List. Normally I don't sit and read our academic resource books from cover to cover, but this one is different.  I have read three of the essays so far and I am thoroughly enjoying them. They are "Empty" "Full" and "Home and Homeland." There are thirty essays in total and I'm looking forward to reading all of them.

Empty is an essay about George, a 77 year old man who lives alone in a flat, has no possessions, no keepsakes or mementos around him, no cherished memories to make him sad or happy. There are no photographs, no ornaments or nick knacks, nothing to gage what kind of person he is, no hints as to what his life has been about. And this is the tragedy of George's story. There have been very few interventions in his life. From childhood he has been dictated too, his parents were strict authoritarians who allowed him no freedom, friends or space to use his imagination. After the death of his parents, he lived in an institution where his meals were cooked for him and his life once again was ruled by those he both relied on to take care of him, and who dictated his every move. He had no independent thought process to enable him to live a life of his own. At the age of 77, George finds himself living alone in a flat and has no idea how to deal with this.

The emotion I felt on reading about George, was an overwhelming serge of sympathy and sadness, and a feeling that a precious life has been wasted because no one had guided him or shown him that he was allowed to live his own life and that it could have been so full of riches in all manner of ways.

Instead George waits for his time on earth to end when in fact it has never really begun. This is truly a heart breaking story. It made me feel so appreciative of the life I have.

A few objects of my own that I cherish because they remind me of people and places.

A Picture Collage of Memories and Time



My Mother's Tea Set, 

 a gift given to her for her contribution to The Concert Party she played the piano for.

Music filled our Home

Evocative Objects

I have chosen to study Evocative Objects for my Contextual Module. I'm interested in how we attach ourselves to things and objects, and how this is linked to memory and nostalgia.

I am not a collector, but I am most definitely a hoarder. My mother used to believe that you should keep everything for seven years, and if in that time the item or object had not been used, then it was acceptable to throw it away. This belief has remained with me; if I do throw something out, I will admonish myself if I then find some time later, before the seven years have passed, that I need that object.

I do not like throwing anything away, although sometimes I do force myself too. If I didn't our home would have no room for us. Its funny really because I don't like chaos, and I need space to work and think, so all this "stuff" that I have, does occasionally have an adverse affect on my creativity. Hey Ho ...what can I do.



This is a mirror I inherited when my father died in March 2010. I don't know how old the mirror is, but I do know that it has been in our family since my grandparents (on my mothers side) were married in the early 1900's.

I am currently experimenting with the mirror as an object for a narrative that I am working on for one of our projects.

    

Our first session with Maddy was both interesting and thought provoking. I thoroughly enjoyed the activities and discussions. The group shared a little information about each other by describing our notebooks and pencil cases.

The key word in the sessions was "phenomenology." I have not understood this term yet but I will research the word and its meaning. Edmund Husserl (1859 - 1938) is a philosopher whose work Maddy suggested we look at.