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Recommendations for essays about collecting?

YoursTrulyYoursTruly
edited March 2012
Hey fellas
anybody recommend any essays (blog posts, even) written by collectors, about what their collections mean to them?
could be any collectible (records, dolls, boots, I don't know).
A student wants some examples and I find I can't think of any except the stupid "High Fidelity" book

?? Anybody?

Comments

  • LelandLeland
    edited March 2012
    Pretty famous: Walter Benjamin, "Unpacking my Library"

    Here's a snack-sized version (excerpts): http://www.idehist.uu.se/distans/ilmh/Ren/benj-bookcoll.htm

  • the_owlsthe_owls
    This is a great book that your L & C library should have: The Archive: Documents of Contemporary Art
  • Loose_ThreadLoose_Thread


  • ed_chigliaked_chigliak
    Cadillac Jack by Larry McMurtry
  • Dr_William_HaywardDr_William_Hayward
    Sure there primary sources from English explorer-collectors of the 18th-19th century who were obsessive enough for extreme travel. Talk to the Museum of Jurassic Technology?
  • the_owlsthe_owls
    image

    This is kind of more about classification, but pretty cool stories r.e. obsessive scientists...
    getting off topic, it's too much fun!

  • ThickeningAgentThickeningAgent
    a Portland filmmaker named Patti Lewis made a great film about collectors a few years ago:

    Collectors At Large -
    Patti Lewis / Portland, OR
    "Packrats On Parade! From a Santa Claus aficionado who loses sleep over the next conquest for his already enormous collection, to the "grape lady" who landscapes the entire circumference of her house with plastic resin grape bunches, more proof that obsession knows no bounds. (25 min)"
  • flossy_log_ladyflossy_log_lady
    I used to collect pigs as a little girl. I bet I collected about 400 of them, total. They are now all boxed up and being stored at my parents' place because no one knows what to do with them.

    I will talk to your student.

  • NickNick
    Another classic film recommendation, for your student or anyone who has not seen it:
    Vinyl : http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120454/

    Kind of hard-to-find, but I'm positive you could torrent it.
  • the_owlsthe_owls
    Can't she go to the cool college library and use their scholarly databases to search for articles about archives and collecting?

    Get to know your librarian, girl!
  • YoursTrulyYoursTruly
    well, they know they are supposed to, but we kind of help them along. They're just freshmen (i.e. still quoting wikipedia in their papers)
  • the_owlsthe_owls
    Encourage! The college library is SUCH a beautiful place and special resource.
    If she's got so much energy to read up on stuff she could just go ahead and make friends in the library.
    Or, maybe I'm just spoiled because PNCA has the most incredibly helpful and inclusive library staff who make research a "breeze".
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