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.