stuffstuffstuff

Intriguing day at MEAL - starting the day in the large object store - which is as it says on the tin - its a shed full of large objects - starting points were a comically large set of bellows, an apple picking basket - part wood part sack, piles of hessian sacks and a leather suitcase.
After a visit to the newly refurbished Abbots Hall  http://eastanglianlife.org.uk/ - which has some wonderful, unusual displays including St Audreys asylum and one outcome of Pacitti Companies Olympian commission - a room of silver charms - exquisite.http://www.pacitticompany.com/
The afternoon - The small object store... yes a store full of small objects. So many wonderful objects to look at so just settled into the costume and clothes which still left me reeling.
The day was full of good thoughtful conversations with Liz around the idea of collecting for the future and what that means emotionally for a curator/archivist. The idea of context came up again - that place is so much a part of our understanding of an object - site specificity - that an object has many stories and changes with each piece of knowledge - I posited that the object actually physically changes.
Land army breeches, riding habit, wren and red cross nurses uniforms, flying suits, Stowmarket's answer to the Barbour  jacket - the husky, riding breeches, and servants aprons. This all sounds like a list of clothing items from a dubious film set. But the fixings, pockets and gatherings were all very exciting.