So many times what’s happening in my art work is reflected back in life. I’ve been thinking about value and worth again a lot recently and it’s clear I’m not alone in this. In 2009 I wrote this about a participatory piece of work, Stock Exchange which I exhibited as part of the Deptford X arts festival:
‘The year 2009 has been a year of uncertainty and in the current economic climate, nothing seems to be safe. People are struggling to cope with the possibility of losing everything – their work, their income, their relationships, their communities.’
Four years on and nothing’s changed it seems. This weekend I said my good byes to another local, independent shop and its owner. I’d already done this, a month or so ago on the premises of another brilliantly creative, independent shop in my local area. So here I was again, in yet another abandoned, empty shop, chatting to yet another emotionally bruised and battered casualty of the recession. There’s nothing much to say except how sorry you are; sorry that yet another creatively led business you valued has gone, that yet another person is left feeling devastated about their business ‘failing’ – all that time, all those hours, all that money invested – all for what?
As we spoke, people were loading vans with the few remaining items – bargains galore – the owner’s voice was despondent as he gave things away for virtually nothing. On the one hand, I wanted to buy something – a way of showing my support, I think – and yet, knowing at the same time that I wouldn’t have the heart to buy anything at such ridiculous prices – the exact same things I’d seen in the shop window at sensible, realistic prices just days before.
The fifteen minutes or so I spent in the shop saying good bye summed up value and worth in a nutshell to me and as it turned out, I came away with something of greater value and worth than anything I could ever have paid money for – a small heart-shaped brooch which the owner handed to me with a quick ‘here y’are, have this.’
It’s a reasonably common brooch, made for the British Variety Club – you see plenty of them around and I know I have some of them somewhere in my collections in the studio, bought at a car boot sale some time ago. When it comes to value and worth however, clearly this one is unique. The shop owner’s action for me is a pertinent reminder that even in these difficult, cash-strapped times, kindness costs nothing.
