Real inspiration

I have just had such a wonderful evening with my two friends, Tom and Lyz drinking tea brewed in a teapot and eating carrot cake. Blooming marvellous!

tea-set

For a long time now, Toms Dad has been a source of inspiration to me because of the stories I have been told about his meticulous categorisation and data collecting of every day life happenings. He has been collecting every train ticket he has ever used dated back to the 80’s, he has a spreadsheet where he logs every car he has ever driven and he has a beer bottle collection. The latest one is my favourite by far and made we far too excited! Toms Dad has kept a list (again on a spreadsheet – brilliant!) of all the money he has found in the last 3 years. As someone who takes great delight in picking up a penny and believing in its luck value, I think you can understand how this has made my day.

Lyz also has a relative who enjoys the act of list making. Her Uncle has a suit where he keeps in its pocket a list of all the occasions that he has worn it. I think that is such a lovely idea and keepsake. Imagine going to a charity shop and buying an item of clothing, only to find a little glimpse into its history in the pocket.

The only time I have successfully collected data is when I wrote down absolutely everything I spent for a couple of months at University. I had to stop as I started to bring every conversation back to how much things cost and it wasn’t a popular subject. Also, try going for a drink with your friends and getting out a notebook after every transaction; you’ll soon realise, I was far from the ideal date.

Single chairs

I have photographed these two chairs in the last week. I have realised that when I take the photos, it feels much like taking a portrait or a group photo, depending on how much furniture there is. I am a very amateur photographer, so all that means is making sure the heads aren’t cut off. I can’t help but personifying the chairs.

Blue office chairpurple office chair

Like minds

I was reading a book recently which had pieces of writing by different types of artists (sculptors, film makers, play writes, writers, poets etc.). It had their points of view and stories about their experiences in the ‘art world’. I related to bits and bobs and started to mark them down, so I could read them back. 1 month later I have revisited the book and theses are the bits I had picked out:

When talking about his artwork vs his barbering he says they ‘meet and have a love affair, and at times they are so far removed it jars the day-to-day nuts and bolts of earning an honest bread’ Fraisel Abdu’ Allah

Talking to a painter friend of hers says ‘we agreed we always called ourselves ‘painter’ and ‘writer’ (not ‘artist’ and ‘poet’). Because it sounds more proper, i.e. manual, work, I suppose’ Selima Hill

‘Elizabeth LeMoine has spoken of the desire to do a residency where one went into somewhere not as an observer to make work in response to an object or to the situation but to go and do the work of that place for a while, to find out what it’s really like to work there.’ Louise K Wilson

I stopped reading the book at page 70 as it cut a sentence in half and two blank pages appeared. At first I thought it could be the artists statement but quickly realised it was a printing error. I think this says a lot about my point of view on the ‘art world’.

The next step?

I have been thinking about all of these photo’s that I have collected and trying to work out a next step. At the moment they exist in mine and others experiences of spotting the furniture and then in the photograph on this blog. I want to give them more life but am struggling to think how. I quite like the idea of having them in book or leaflet format – but who is the audience and why? My thinking cap is firmly on.

Skipped

Skipped

In disguise

In disguise

Above it

Above it

My family and friends eyes are peeled

Theo my brother spots a beauty, takes a great photo with great composition.

Theo's sofaTheo sofa close up

Ali my Mom has found this symmetrical wooden collection, with all the cushions.

Mom's wooden chair pile on

Katie took the following photo for me of a domino effect on furniture.

Katie's domino furniture

Caroline found this modernist sofa tipped onto it’s back.

Caroline's modernist sofa

Thank you all to sending these photos to me. It really makes my day when I receive them! If anyone ever sees a piece of furniture on the streets and happens to get a photo, I would love to see it!

Mapping

I decided that as I am sighting discarded furniture so regularly that I need a way to log where they were found. I have used the following clip art icons:

Arm Chair- Arm chair

Two seat sofa- two seat sofa

Three seat sofa – three seat sofa

And created a map of the location of the discarded furniture:

Map

Stu stu stu studio

I have put some shelving in my studio space and it’s helped me categorise all my things and have a place for my books.

New shelving

Cardboard collectionTape collection

I especially like looking at my cardboard and tape collections.

And then there was one

one left

I have been following the progress of this family of sofa’s and it seems this one has been abandoned by the others. Luckily for it though, a bin and a tyre have moved in to accompany it.

Changes are afoot

So what was housed is now without a home. They are now in a forced pile on.

Pile onPile on from the side