On collections and fascinations.

“Collections and Fascinations” was the description of our brief for next semester that Ambrose gave to us yesterday in our studio.  This is just the type of vague, arty bullshit that makes me think I don’t belong in art school. I hope we can narrow it down a bit at some point.

Collections? I don’t collect anything. Isn’t it just a waste of money to accumulate objects that depreciate in value just for the sake of “having” them? I’ll collect stamps in my passport, thank you very much.  And to do that, it is very counterproductive to weigh myself down with all sorts of useless goods that do nothing but serve my ego.

Fascinations? Wow, that’s a broad one.  How does this tie into the course again? A whole lot of things fascinate me right now with varying levels of interest.  

Oh, fuck it, I’ll try.

I have been really interested in circles and spheres lately; especially their interaction with hard edged shapes like squares and rectangles. Hmmm, what objects feature those characteristics?

(By the way, I know this isn’t how I am supposed to pick what fascinates me, but I have a sneaking feeling that I know the direction the brief is going, so let’s just cut to the chase)

Vintage Cameras!  That works just fine. I like those. Very few cameras are free of circular and square forms, not matter what their age. But vintage ones are cooler because they’re….well…vintage. Anything vintage is cooler, right? Just ask any Brooklyn hipster with a PBR in their hands.

The more I look at these things, I am actually getting fascinated with them. They are not just diverse geometrically, but texturally.  Most of them have leather, aluminium, glass, and plastic pieces in varying configurations. Levers, ratchets, buttons, straps; all sorts of cool shit in the same little package.  If I were the type of person that collected things, maybe I would start with a couple of these babies.