James Kedge had brought along his collection of 81 painted (or rather printed) milk bottles which he had begun collecting in the 1970s when the milkman delivered the first one and he thought it was attractive.
Penny Hobson was showing her collection of used disposable lighters all collected from the beach in Bexhill and which she arranged in the colours of the rainbow on the table in the interactive area. Penny also brought along photos of the lighters she had taken together with documentation of her archiving activities including maps of where the items had been found and individual labels for each one with the detail of a thumbnail image on them of the object concerned.
The milk bottles formed a very pretty line along the top of the low partition wall collecting the light from the windows and drawing in visitors' eyes as they approached the end of Gallery One.
Advertising anything from Mars Bars to The Samaritans they were fascinating to consider as such ordinary yet distinctive objects from everyday life. People liked looking at their detail, the fonts and colours used specific to the particular era in which they had been made and remembering when they too had been in possession of similar bottles.
A lot of discussion arose around the two collections often concerning why the collectors had chosen to collect these things in particular, although all seemed to agree that they had their own charm and fascination.
It was the first time that Jim had displayed his collection as a whole apart from in his home and for Penny it was an opportunity to try out an idea for a forthcoming art exhibition. Jim's bottles usually live wrapped up in paper in two large cardboard boxes in the loft and Penny's lighters take their place amongst the other flotsam and jetsam that she amasses on her walks along the beach. Both enjoyed sharing their enthusiasm with others and for visitors it was a unique chance to admire such disparate objects in relation to each other and to talk to their owners about their passion.
Do away with security barriers please! They become too much a part of the work
ReplyDeleteI LIKE IT BECAUSE ITS WIEIRD IN A GOOD WAY AND I ALSO LIKE THE DARK ROOM WHERE THERES A PROJECTOR ON THE WALL WHERE THEY THREW TICKITAPE OUT OF A TALL BUILDING ALL I SAID DURING IT WAS COOL!
ReplyDeleteTakahashi had her 15 minutes of fame long ago. She made 1 or 2 works that were OK. That's about it. The rest is ... rubbish.
ReplyDeletei preferred the installat/ion *calle-d k+evi
ReplyDeleten....wh3at25 1f2un12.
Can't wait for Takahashi to come and collect her old tat and disappear into the oblivion her work deserves.
ReplyDeletei've never trusted contemporary art!!
ReplyDelete