Ode to Collections, a breath of adventure into the lives of people’s collections.

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

This project explores the concept of collecting. Collecting objects is no foreign concept to anyone in any period of time. We all collect something in one way or another. Ode To Collections is a curious investigation of the collections of others, as well as my own collections, and how they relate to a person’s personality, value system, and lifestyle. Why do we have fixations to tangible objects? What is it about an item’s materiality that creates bonds with significant purpose and value? Further, this is not an exploration of the difference or similarities between collecting and hoarding; however, it is a variable to consider.

CONTEXT

There is both historical and psychological context involved in this concept. Collecting objects is not only an activity performed by humans, animals do it also. Crows and racoon collect shiny items, and birds in general collect twigs and other materials but mainly for building their nests which is a survival instinct. Since the beginning of time people have collected objects; there is sentimental value in some of the objects we possess. The sentimentality of objects or dependence of them is where psychology comes into play.

AUDIENCE

The intended audience consists of individuals who are either aware or become aware of their collecting habits in the process. Learning about the collections of others or having some insight to why one might collect certain items provides security or purpose in the relationship between the collector and the items collected.