Morning thoughts…My plan of action for today at the little museum is to try to collect more questions (and check on facebook for any replies and add them to the book). To arrange the displays in a way that satisfies me. To draw one object thoroughly. See when I can be there at the same time as Martin Evans (poet I’ve been emailing re maths and common interests).
I’m wondering exactly what is it that I’m bringing to this project? Mess? A mind focused on details? Teresa is extremely good at summing up and seeing things overall. I would like to be able to stand back and see more of the whole picture.
The museum raises questions of why we collect and arrange (order ) things, while I am interested in many detailed aspects of things : the hope in the rubbing off of silver on scratch cards, the ordered aspect of artists and artworks, the many things (could get lost in it as in a black hole) i don’t know..perhaps revealed by questions I can’t answer.
Today in the little museum is a very different experience to my last two days here which involved Daisy Rickards (www.daisyrickards.com) and Teresa Albor (put her website here), Ash Roberts and Viv Barraclough (with B3TTY in Castle Square in Ludlow 13-14 & 29 June-2 July collecting memories through sound recording) and poet Jean Atkin. Busy with visitors to the library coming an out with a few curious about the little museum. I have rearranged the cabinets a couple of times and settled on one arrangement for the last few hours (written at 1.30pm), so I have spoken to a handful of people and drawn the cider glass that I found yesterday. With the solitude I am contemplating what it means to be an artist and waking up many days to unstructured time.
Teresa has put a sign in a cabinet (at same time as pink sparkly nail file object #14) :
‘”Because it’s sparkly”
I don’t know where to begin describing the pressure I feel to figure out what it is I’m supposed to do everyday when I get up. To come up with something that isn’t a displacement activity. ‘
Teresa has set up the structure of a museum /space for us to interpret in our own ways, yet within certain parameters. A certain ‘Liberation through limitation’
I am finding it more interesting to see what other people bring into the museum than what I find myself. The unexpected.
After a long while today of not are-arranging the objects the display felt slightly wrong and out of whack plus not dynamic enough. So I opened it up again and fiddled. I have been drawing the cider glass for a sustained period in between visitors. I have only introduced my chaos and order talk a couple of times.
My next day in The little museum is Friday when I’ll be there with poet Martin Evans and as I’ve had three days there in a row (Sunday doesn’t count) it will be good to have a few days elsewhere to reflect on my activities at the museum. I find myself being very calm and not judging people at all while there, listening and explaining what we are doing to a wide range of visitor.
I’ve gotten on with the being a sole curator in the most obvious way for me, deliberately not gone object seeking in order to see what comes in and who I can inform about our project resulting in further loans.
