The Collector and The Curator
Adelai Evans
This catalog explores various personal collections from spoons to stickers, matches, cards and various tchotchkes. These objects represent a moment in time, forever instilled in space but lack a certain material value. These objects I’ve held onto for so many years become art without the intent of becoming art. In this image-heavy catalog, I explore obsolete objects with strong personal stories while integrating countless connections outside of the object’s physical form. Once-useful items are now suspended for the sake of art and transformed into exquisite curiosity about what once was. The passing of time affects everything. It’s also important to question how to choose what the designed object represents. Through collecting objects, I create a new purpose for this simple object, otherwise it lies in wait for someone to discover its dormant value, no matter how precious to me. The papers and objects also represent another form of anthropology. Some items are paid for in the original spirit of collecting, yet so much of this catalog is based on the love of found objects. Painting is also a passion of mine which makes its way into the catalog as obscure section dividers that relate to the section's contents in an odd way. These paintings are also based on the same randomness explored in collecting these objects. To curate them into a catalog is to share their newly restored purpose. This randomness, the anonymity, and the subjectivity really embraces the truth behind “one man’s trash is another’s treasure.”