Visiting the Special Collection: Stilled Lives // The Story of Things

I have to admit, ashamedly, that until yesterday, I hadn't visited The Special Collections Library since the first week of first year.  How I have missed out!  Insanely I don't think I realised quite how vast our resources are, and was almost unaware of it.  Some of the books in there are gorgeous, unique.  The best quality being age.

I was also unaware of the small exhibiting space just infront of the library, which at present has two small studies of interest, Stilled Lives and The Story of Things.  So thanks to Gemma for suggesting we go!

The Story of Things

Curated by Carson & Miller

"Collections are essenitally a narrative of experience; as objects are a kind of material language, so the narratives in to which they can be selected and organised are a kind of fiction..."

Pearce, S.M (1995)

This has really inspired and contributed to my interpretation of 'Silence'.  I have been looking at the missing and the lost, and this had led me to think about objects and sentiment.  The voice of something left behind and overlooked.  For me, it reiterated the idea that 'things' can tell an individual story but together can form a narrative.  This collection looks at notions of memory, narrative and collections and explores their relationship with each other.

Some of the artefacts themselves have great visual appeal and if you are interested in ephemera then I think that you should give 5 minutes to go and have a browse!  

"...the absencing of meaning, which in turn, evokes an endless production of it, an endless production of fortuitous encounters..."

Allemer .P (2009)

It also sparked my imagination by stating that the 'production, consumption and interpretation of narratives in visual form is central to contemporary cultures.'  Analysing how within this context, the visual expression of narrative can be traced.  It made me think about the positioning of the viewer and the way in which a reader/viewer would have to interact differently depending on what they are presented with, ie text and/or image.

Stilled Lives

Stilled Lives, is a limited edition book that features collaborations from artists, designers, poets and writers across MMU.  This is to provoke further explorations of narrative, memory and collections.  I loved seeing work by Sue, Clinton and Hitch.

Sue

'Strange Library'

Clinton

'Across The Garden Wall' (The Last Lads)

Hitch

709.05 KOM

The Special Collections Library is something that I will definitely be taking advantage of whilst I am still at Uni.