Sunday, February 20, 2011

Collectors Edition: Chapter 8


Welcome to the fourth edition of The Pulse -- The State of the Art -- a survey in words and pictures of the online artist community. Nearly 150 artists have answered a list of questions which make up The Pulse. Their responses will be presented as a series of online and print projects. Links to the first four projects (Secret Sunday, The Book Guild, StudioScapes, Viewer's Choice) can be found on the sidebar of my blog.



Collectors Edition is the fifth installment in which your favorite artists share their favorite collection or obsession.
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Over the decades I have collected many different things, from butterflies as a teenager, to books, maps and African masks. The last decade I have focused on old photographs from the 1920’s through the early sixties.
I would be particularly delighted when finding a series of snapshots, which allowed me to imagine what their lives might have been like on the day the picture was taken. As I started playing detective, deciphering not only the people pictured but also the elements within I began to notice the rich recourse material I was harvest, would make a great foundation for short stories.

Even a single photo can be rich with information to stir the mind. Sometimes I get real lucky and find a name or a date on the back. However very recently I found my first photograph, in which there was an entire inscription on the back, still to be translated. Now I just need to make time and turn my findings into a mixture of imagination and truths into  an assemblage of sentences by putting pen to paper.
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I collect various and sundry old tins. Pictured, here, are a sampling. I tend to collect tins that have colors and/or designs I enjoy, but also like those that have rusted or those where the metal has developed a nice patina over the years, whether it has been produced by man (from use), or nature!
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I love grunge, steampunk and zetti art. This is a digital picture I created that combines all three.
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I'm obsessed with winged things, texture, and spirals.
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If I could round up all my antique tools I would have shot those. I love the sense of history and thinking about what was made with them and who worked with them. But I also love these Victorian condiment sets. Two isn't much of a collection but I will add more as I find them. I like the ones that aren't perfect and/or complete because I think I will find or make lids for them and perhaps find some lone bottle looking for a set. And there is a huge price difference between the pristine perfect ones and the incomplete or slightly damaged sets. Both of these were under $50 and the better sets are around $300.
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All treasure of the sea, weathered wood, and roots of old trees.
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Olivia King


An on-going obsession is collecting found objects that appear to have little use to other people. Scouring the streets and sidewalks for interesting pieces of flotsam is a great way to take a walk and get inspired! I guess I lover other people's trash! My favorite find is someone else's list of things to do, or shopping items, or just thoughts. I think it would be great to create a book from found lists. I also collect small chairs.
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Water solubles go onto my every surface these days.
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Strings of white lights and paper lanterns. I have them in my studio and in my office. I'm completely obsessed. They provide so much inspiration and they make me giddy! Love them!
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My current obsession is old books. As a trained librarian I have been collecting books for years, especially books about art and graphic design. Now I look for items out of copyright with steel engravings that can be used in collage. 19th century science, anthropology, and natural history are favorite topics, and also old encyclopedias and dictionaries.
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Next Collectors Edition Post - 2/27/11

17 comments:

Julie Prichard said...

Beautiful group here, Seth!

The Artist Within Us said...

Dear Seth,

I love meeting all these different individuals and learning about their collections. Thank you for including me.

Warmest regards,
Egmont

lyle baxter said...

dear seth, you are such a patient person ! giving all the required time for such interesting posts! thank you for brightening my Sunday mornings!

AnitaNH said...

Thank you, Seth for including me in Chapter 8 of "Collectors Edition." You have a very inspiring blog!

Best regards,
AnitaNH

jilly Z said...

And the show continues! What I love best about this series is the beautiful window into the hearts and minds of those who have submitted entries to you. They are always fascinating- and when I enlarge each photo, I love to be surprised a million times over by new things that I am always discovering. The variation in themes continue to enthrall me- as do the photos that are presented. Thanks again for this rich series of "Collectors Edition" which is sure to be every collectors' find!

Anonymous said...

It is nice to see that others are as obsessed with collecting. It makes me feel "normal".
A nice scope of artists and their passions.
Jan

Gilding Lilies said...

Thank you so much Seth! I appreciate all that you do!

Robert said...

As always, a wonderful group of collections, here, Seth! Thanks for including my tins in today's post. I loved Edgmont van Dyck's take on collecting old photos (and imagining the possible stories behind them!). I also found William J. Charlebois digital Steampunk imagery fascinating, and could visualize an entire book done in this style using his amazing "bits and pieces of things" that, together, make a visually stunning whole! I could also completely relate to Olivia King's proclivity for walking around picking things up off of the streets and sidewalks. I do this whenever I am out for a walk, and have a cadre of people who are on the lookout for the "usable castaways" I like to incorporate into my artwork. (One of the best things about finding these castaway objects is that if I forget to pick them up, I know that they will still be there days later, as no one else wants them!) Thanks again, Seth, for another great "Sunday"!

Judy said...

Great Egmont, look forward to reading a story soon.

Kathryn Dyche said...

Beautiful collections, I really love the treasure of the sea.

Anonymous said...

As I have said in the past, your collections are always fun to take in. I particularly like Robert's collection of tins. Thanks for posting all of these!

Patti Sandham said...

I love seeing all the obsessions and collections. Another cool batch. Just reading the Jan/Feb CPS, congrats on the article. It is a really good one. I totally love the cube. Its giving me some ideas of making one too.

Cheers

Lisa said...

always fun to see what others collect...thanks for sharing!

Christine said...

I'm so glad Bill (William J. Charlebois) sent me here. Your art is amazing, the blog is refreshing and see these collections is a bit like peek in their lives.

GalleryJuana said...

Those victorian condiments sets have my eyes!
And the wood piece is beautiful.
Interesting to see what everyone likes to collect.

Lynn Cohen said...

I think we humans are so interesting. Yesterday we were at a big flea market near SF and I was curious about what got each seller to collect the things they collected to sell. Each seemed to be there for a certain audience of buyers! Some of your followers here would have gone quite crazy scooping things up from them for their collections I am quite sure.

Carmen said...

Thanks for including me Seth!