Over at Poppytalk, one of my daily reads for inspiration and diversion, I came across this exciting find. “A Collection a Day, 2010” is a new project by Lisa Congdon (who I love and featured two weeks ago), in which she will create and document one collection of small related items for every day of the year. I think my anal retentive tendencies are rejoicing as much as my appreciation for common yet beautiful things. Like Lisa, who’s appreciation for collecting and arranging small treasures started in childhood, I too remember spending far too many hours organizing and displaying my possessions, be they the crayons arranged in a color order that made sense only to me or the chest containing rows of tiny plastic toys that I received from my dentist.
I especially love how Lisa has opened the project up for discussion and encourages “you to share your thoughts about what memories the photographs and drawings of my collections spark for you and what, if any, sense of nostalgia or repulsion they make you feel”. I guess her collections have happily reminded me of little orange trolls and crayon rainbows. What memories do they spark in you?
Thank you for this entry as it has greatly inspired a slew towards Wikipedia, thereto; the origins of Pogs, Mr. Sketch Scented Markers, and drupes.
ooooh pogs! how could I forget. weren’t the bigger ones called slammers? and you used those to knock down the others? pogs should be on an “I Love the 90′s” episode. and scented markers!! i wonder how many paint-huffers got their start sniffing those…
Beautiful! Lit studies is experiencing a big trend right now called “thing theory” (see Bill Brown, U of Chicago). The whole idea is that these connections between collections of things and that sense of nostalgia (and other responses) you write about at the end of your entry are deeply significant to our readings of texts!
You’re deeply significant to my reading of texts… But seriously, I’d like to hear more about this “thing theory” sometime!