...On collecting... and on narrative

…On collecting…
John Windsor writes:
“ The most succinct psychological analysis of collecting STUFF that I have come across is that of Susan Pearce… she divides collecting into just three categories: systematics, fetishism and souvenir collecting. Systematics is the construction of a collection of objects in order to represent and ideology of revolution. Fetishism is the removal of the object from its historical and cultural context and its redefinition in terms of the collector. In souvenir collecting, the object is prized for its power to carry the past into the future.” (Windsor 1994: 50)

Collections are a group of objects put together with intention behind them – as well as including museums this can also include the contents of a wardrobe, jewellery box, an envelop or interior space (ways of telling the stories of our lives). “…this definition appears to hold equally for interior decorating, the composition of a wardrobe, and subscribing to a book or journal series…” (Bal 1994: 99)

References:
Windsor, J. 1994. ‘Identity Parades’. In: Elsner, J. and Cardinal, R. [eds], The Cultures of Collecting. Reaktion Books Ltd.
Bal, M. 1994. ‘Telling Objects: A Narrative Perspective on Collecting’. In: Elsner, J. and Cardinal, R. [eds], The Cultures of Collecting. Reaktion Books Ltd.


…On narrative…
‘Fabula’ is the plot of a story. “According to Aristotle… a fabula has a beginning, a middle and an end.” (Bal 1994: 101)
“Only retrospectively, through a narrative manipulation of the sequence of events, can the accidental acquisition of the first object become the beginning of a collection.’ (Bal 1994: 101)

“Objects hang before the eyes of the imagination, continuously re-presenting ourselves to ourselves, and telling the story of our lives…” (Pearce 1992: 47)

“Collecting is an essential human feature that originates in the need to tell stories, but for which there are neither words nor other conventional narrative modes. Hence collecting is a story and everyone needs to tell it.” (Bal 1994: 102-103)


There are different ways of conveying narrative “…verbal texts are not the only objects capable of conveying a narrative…” (Bal 1994: 98-99) Mieke Bal argues, “What if the medium consists of real, hard, material objects…can things be or tell stories?” (Bal 1994: 99)

When in a collection: “…objects are deprived of any function they might possibly have outside of being collected items…so fundamental as to change the nature of the objects.” (Bal 1994: 111)

Objects lose their objectivity (function) when they become part of a narrative/collection, instead they become ‘signs’ or ‘signifiers’ (semiotics); they become embodied with new meaning and metaphor (the poem object). For example within my print designs I have used the image of a butterfly, an envelope and 11 peacock feathers as a way of conveying a story. The envelop containing the 11 peacock feathers loses its function as an envelope for posting letters, and instead becomes a container for thoughts, memories and dreams; and of all that the feathers have come to symbolise and embody…

“…objects are inserted into the narrative perspective when their status is changed from object-ive to semiotic, from thing to sign…from presence to absence. The object is turned away abducted from itself, its inherent value, and denuded of its defining function so as to be available for use as a sign.” (Bal 1994: 111)
“ The new meaning assigned to the object… is also always metaphoric…”(Bal 1994: 111)

References:
Pearce, S. 1992. Museums, Objects and Collections: A Cultural Study. Leicester and London.

Bal, M. 1994. ‘Telling Objects: A Narrative Perspective on Collecting’. In: Elsner, J. and Cardinal, R. [eds], The Cultures of Collecting. Reaktion Books Ltd.