Murano, G. (2013) World’s Craziest collectors & their collections. Available at: http://www.oddee.com/item_98719.aspx (Accessed: 19 December 2015)
"Collecting navel lint is probably not the kind of hobby you want to bring up in a conversation, but that hasn't stopped a 45-year-old librarian from collecting his own belly button fluff for the last 26 years" - suggests that this kind of collection isn't deemed acceptable and not something to be talked about.
I did a drawing of his jars of fluff and thought could get a good effect with paints to give the fuzzy fluff effect and get a mixture of colours.
I thought that it would be interesting to get the views and opinions from 'geeks', about what they think of the portrayal within The Big Bang Theory and see how true the stereotypes are. Until reading this I didn't know that there was much of a difference between 'nerds' and 'geeks'. "The reason is largely that they don't understand those three sub groupings. Geeks that are not nerds feel like the characters' lack of social skills is too exaggerated and used to make fun of them (geeks) and don't get many of the science jokes. Nerds that are not geeks don't understand the emphasis on the subcultures and feel like they are used to make fun of them (nerds)." There is an interesting mix of opinions of the characters and show in general. Though a lot of people do say that they depict upon the truth and can relate.
I completely forgot that I used to watch this this series on BBC2 called Psychoville. One of the storylines on this show is about this character called Mr Lomax and his 'commodities'. Throughout the show he talks about his Beanie Baby collection which he calls his commodities and he calls the collection the Holy of Holies. His storyline follows him trying to find the last toy to complete his collection - Snappy the Crocodile. The series shows all the lengths that he would go through as a collector to get this last toy, he even went as far as sacrificing his eyes. However, his story took an interesting twist at the end of the series when he finally was in possession of Snappy he threw it off a cliff and said that he suffered from Paradise Syndrome which subsequently meant that he's never truly happy unless he has something to long for. So by throwing it off the cliff his quest continues.
This is a very exaggerated and enhanced very of an adult that collects toys but highlights all the stereotypes and views that people have on them. However, they are depicting elements of truth. Often as I've found before, collectors enjoy the hunt and make it a life time mission to complete the set. What the show is trying to say is that it is about the hunt and once complete, they aren't satisfied. It's not actually about the end result.
Jerome Brudos was a serial killer. He would murder women and then keep their shoes as souvenirs. He was known as 'The Lust Killer' and 'The Shoe Fetish Slayer'. He had a troubled childhood with an overbearing mother.
Jerome Brudos Biography (no date) Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/jerome-brudos-403432#troubled-childhood (Accessed: 18 December 2015).
"Brudos discovered a pair of high-heeled shoes in a junkyard when he was five years old, marking the beginning of his fascination with women’s footwear. When his mother found him wearing the shoes, she took them away and destroyed them. His fetish for women’s shoes continued to grow, and he later stole women’s underwear from neighboring homes. As he grew, he developed a dark fantasy life, which involved violence against women. Brudos began acting on these disturbed thoughts."
Blanco, J. I. (no date) Jerome Brudos | Murderpedia, the encyclopedia of murderers. Available at: http://murderpedia.org/male.B/b/brudos-jerome.htm (Accessed: 18 December 2015).
"Brudos was born in Webster, South Dakota. His mother had wanted a girl, and often ignored and belittled him."
"Brudos kept trophies from his victims, such as amputated breasts and a foot. After committing a murder, he would dress up in high heels and masturbate."
"While incarcerated, Brudos had piles of women's shoe catalogues in his cell — he wrote to major companies asking for them — and claimed they were his substitute for pornography"
Really pleased I've managed to get four done before breaking up for Christmas. Can't believe I did it, really pleased with myself! I still need to saw out the chunk of resin in the tails of the blue and pink one, so will have to leave that until January.
Been continuing with making the resin characters managed to get two more done. I put less glitter in the next too as the orange one I felt had way too much glitter in and maybe that could've contributed to the texture it came out like. Also, I think cleaning it out with acetone helped as the pink and blue one are fine. The pink one couldn't stand up properly as there was too much resin in the feet. Unfortunatly, it fell backwards and the tail snapped off, which I am really annoyed about as the pink one was my favourite. After that, Leon helped me use the sanding machine and sanded its feet down so that it could stand flat.
"Difficult objects not only relate to war, violence and colonial practice,
but also include those that pose legal or ethical challenges"
"For curators and collectors, the extreme may involve a fervent desire to
amass large quantities of similar objects, a practice which may be tied into
notions of completeness (e.g. Baudrillard, 1994). But the mass-produced,
mundane, everyday and ordinary are a class of objects which connoisseurs
and museum curators tend to avoid."
"The collecting of the mundane, ordinary or mass-produced is especially
interesting given the heightened mobility of objects and collectors. In
particular, the dynamics of globally networked collectors connected
through new technologies such as the Internet opens up extreme collecting
practices in order to acquire objects distributed in different locations. Such
technologies open up new possibilities for collecting, storing and display
while destabilising our traditional understandings of the collected object."
Conradt, S. (2011) The killer who inspired Three classic horror movies. Available at: http://mentalfloss.com/article/28663/killer-who-inspired-three-classic-horror-movies (Accessed: 16 December 2015).
"Discovered among his possessions were four noses, nine masks made of human skin, numerous decapitated heads, lampshades and bowls made of skin, lips being used as a pull on a windowshade, and a belt made from nipples. Gein later admitted to only two murders (including the deputy’s mother, who was found gutted like a deer in Gein’s shed) and said most of the items had come from late-night cemetery raids."
Unknown (2009) Ed Gein biography and crime scene photos. Available at: http://www.wisconsinsickness.com/ed-gein/ (Accessed: 18 December 2015).
Augusta, who was a fanatical Lutheran, drummed into her boys the innate immorality of the world, the evil of drink and the belief that all women (herself excluded) were prostitutes and whores. According to Augusta, the only acceptable form of sex was for biological reproduction/procreation. She reserved time every afternoon to read to them from the Bible, usually selecting graphic verses from the Old Testament dealing with death, murder and divine retribution.
The clay model from which I have made the set of characters from unfortunately didn't make it to the end in one piece. Though, I think now he looks more like a statue of a Greek God. By chance I came across this stand with the spotlight above it and thought that it made the perfect photo.
digitalmediafan (2012) Discussion with Amanda Liberty who has Objectum sexuality - A love of objects. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tf2hYoHF9Es (Accessed: 15 December 2015).
- Didn't give the drum kit a name or sexual orientation.
- She never suppressed her feelings.
- Though she did feel alone and didn't know anyone else that was also objectum sexual.
- Loves everything she stands for. The history.
- Very important for her to hear the sounds and smell the city. She tunes into a lot more. Wants to sit in the sunset with her.
- You can only get so close to it. Can't put your arm around her.
- Made a small replica
- Not the same as having the real thing. But can deal with what she can get. Can be satisfied enough to just go see her and travel back to England.
- There is an intimate attraction.
- A lot of the part is the way she makes her feel. "She makes me really feel good inside"
- First person went public in 1998
- Its not a medical condition its a orientation
- There is a link with Asberges. People with Asberges don't tend to form relationships with people. So can put trust in objects.
- Human beings have let them down so they cannot be let down or rejected by humans. For instance being adopted.
Collected the next character from the mould, this ones using orange, this one hasn't gone as well as the green one. The body seems to of got this weird texture to it. Not sure why that has happened, the only thing I could think of was that I hadn't cleaned the mould out properly. So for the next one I used Acetone to clean the mould out before pouring it. Again today, I went through the same process of putting it in the oven and then sawing off the sproos and chunk in the tail. Its really hard sawing out the tail bit, it doesn't seem to look neat enough when its one as theres lots of cloudy bits from where Ive sawed. I spoke to Leon and Andy today about being able to buffer the characters after and making them smooth. But they said that it wouldn't be possible to go through the buffering machine as the character is too fragile and would break in the process. We tried to think of all different ways of being able to do it, but they said that its just not possible. The only thing I can do really is file down the slightly bumpy bits and paint on clear nail varnish to gloss out the cloudiness from filing. It won't produce as good of results as buffering but will help to get out and chunks and bumps.
Collected the first character today and took it out of the mould. Really pleased with how it looks. Had to ask Leon in metal works if I could put it in the oven for half an hour, which I will need to do for all of them. This is so that it will go completely hard and set properly.
After that, there was still a chunk of resin in the inside of the tail bit and the resin where the sproos were which I needed to saw out. Its a really difficult spot to try and cut out. Broke two saws in the process (oooops) But managed to get it out. I will have to do this for all of them as they will all have them.
Also, today I made the next resin mixture. I made up more this time as I felt like before there was only just enough and could maybe of done with a little bit more.
Managed to get the other half of the mould done today, such a long full on process. At the very end of the day the mould was complete so got the chance to mix the resin and pour the first character so that it will be set and ready for tomorrow.
Since watching the Ed Gein film and creating the skin fabric I wanted to make something with it. I thought that I would combine this extreme type of collecting with adult toy collectors and make this toy rabbit character. I wanted to mixed the different levels of acceptability into this one character. I do wish that I had done the eyes wonky to extra emphasize that its parts have been mixed and matched together - similarly to something Ed Gein's collection.
Making the silicone mould was similar to the Vinamould process. Its quite a long process, today I've managed to get one half of the mould complete and covered in plaster, and then will need to do the same again tomorrow.
Slater, J. S. (2000) ‘Collecting the real thing: A case study exploration of brand loyalty enhancement among coca-cola brand collectors’, Ohio: . Available at: http://www.acrwebsite.org/search/view-conference-proceedings.aspx?Id=8388 (Accessed: 10 December 2015).
“According
to Muensterberger (1994). Collectors see themselves as hard-working,
knowledgeable and discriminating people. They want to be seen that way, by
collectors and non-collectors as well. Even those who do not share the passion
or the understanding of collecting, might admire the dedication, or meticulous
care and determination the collection requires. But the real understanding and
approval is derived from fellow collectors.” (Slater, 2000).
“The
true collector is a transformed hunter. Although his hands are seldom bloodstained,
his intense concentration, like the hunter’s is pointed toward the objective of
getting a full bag. Like the hunter, the collector studies his prey and
develops his own flair. And like the hunter, he sometimes relishes the sport
leading up to the kill as much if not more than the kill itself.” (Slater,
2000.
"Oh, if you don’t share it, it’s not worth it. It becomes hoarding, not collecting. And having other collectors see your collection kind of validates it a little more. If someone comes to look at your collection who isn’t a collector and says it’s a really nice collection, I’m glad they like it. But if somebody’s been collecting for twenty years comes in and says I have a great collection, that sure means more to me, because they know what they’re looking at.(Slater, 2000.)"
The Vinamould was ready to be used today. I tested it out by using wax in it as it drys a lot quicker than silicone and wanted to see the results sooner. Also, I would like to use wax in the future so thought that it would be good to try out anyway. Managed to get the cat out okay will everything in tact. The sproos worked well so I know it will work with using silicone.
Wanted to look into the darker side of collecting. One famous known cases of collecting is a guy called Ed Gein. After the death of his mother who he was devoted too he began grave digging and collecting the skins of women's bodies and keeping parts as trophies. He had quite a traumatic childhood. His father was an alcoholic. His mother was extremely religious and had very strong opinions. She said all women were prostitutes apart from her and that "women were instruments of the devil". - After his mothers death he wanted a sex change and made a " woman suit". - Went to the graveyard 40 times but 31 of them times he went home empty handed because he snapped out of the daze. - Goes for women that resemble his mother. I watched the film based on the true story about Ed Gein which brought it to life a bit. - Says he doesn't throw anything away. Always finds a use for it later. (actually relates to hoarding) - Hits brother with shovel. - Sees woman in the newspaper announced dead. Follows onto dig her up.
After watching the film I decided to create my own skin like material and potentially use it to make something with. Because he used the skin to make something amongst the house hold I used fabric from an old tote bag that was in my room, which I no longer use and giving it a new transformation, similar but a lot less extreme than Ed Gein.
The mould should be done for Friday and maybe able to make one character. However I have been told that the ceramics rooms in January will be very busy and probably won't be able to make my characters. Over Christmas I don't have access to the ceramics rooms so thought that I would have a go at making toys using a clear PVC plastic so that you can see inside the toy. In my tutorial today Pete talked about considering using objects rather than colours to represent emotions. So will hunt around and think about what objects would work well in symbolising the main emotions that I want to portray.
It takes a lot longer than I thought it would do. Today I have set half a Vinamould on the first Cat as the practice one. We wanted to try Vinamould as Andy said that it might work better than silicone. And then managed to get the clay ready on the actual cat that I want to use and will be ready for tomorrow to either put silicone in it or Vinamould depending on how the Vinamould is looking tomorrow. Process to make a Vinamould:
- Paint the cat in a quick drying clear varnish (this is to protect the cat so that I can paint him at the end if I wish too).
- Cut down the Vinamould into chunks and melt down. Stir every 10 minutes.
- Get 2 pieces of clay, stick them together and flatten it all down using a rolling pin. Make sure theres about 1 and a half inches around the cat.
- Fill in all the gaps around the edges with the clay. - Make sproos that lead from the arms and the tail to where the surface will be so that the air doesn't get trapped in the end of the hands or the tail. - Dig a hole around the outside - Cut down the clay so that its got clean edges and squared off. - Get wooden blocks and put around the edges and clamp in place.
- Now you pour in the Vinamould and leave to set.
- When the Vinamould has set and isn't hot you can then remove the boards and take off the clay. - Turn it over. - Put the wooden board back in place and clamp down. - Then pour the Vinamould in. - Again, now you wait for it to set and then remove the boards and clay.
Todays started as a disaster. I got to ceramics straight after the briefing to start on making my mould. Got there and no one was in there to show me how to make the sillicone mould. Apart from Andy who is teaching all day. I spoke to Andy and he said that I can't do it on my own as would need his supervision as theres chemicals involved and that I don't know the process and because my cat is a funny shape its going to be difficult. I'm definitely stressing now as I haven't really got the time to lose. Andy said he's free all day tomorrow so booked in to be there for half 9 tomorrow to make the mould. He said that it should be done for Thursday and could probably pour in my first resin either end of Thursday if were lucky or Friday. In theory if I manage to make one character by Friday, I will know the process and will be able to make the rest that first week back in Jan. Though I will have to make myself a very strict schedule. I looked into buying the kit to make things out of resin from home and they're really quite expensive. Plus, Andy was saying it would be quite dangerous if I did it from home as theres a lot a chemicals involved, and I would need to be very careful, wear goggles and be in a very well ventilated room. So, I defiantly think I would rather wait to do it in uni.
After giving it a sand down and filed down unwanted bumps it is looking much better. As you can see in the last image of both the old and newer improved cat, you can clearly see the difference between the two. Very happy that I re made the character as it will make all the difference with the final set.
By the time I was home the other clay products were ready and dry to paint onto. I have used purple as it's a gender neutral colour, as I want it to appeal to all. Pretty happy with how they have come out however, I wish that I didn't rush into painting them and had sanded/filed them down first as it does make a difference. Candle Holder:
Bowl:
Tomorrow I am going to go into uni and sand down the second cat character (The one I will be using for finals). This is in order for it to be prepared and ready to be moulded on Monday. I put it in the Kiln to help speed up the drying process so that it will be ready for tomorrow. Also, they were kind enough to take him out for me at the end of the day and left him on the side as the drying room isn't open on a Saturday only the main room to use.
So I went back down to ceramics again to check up on my character. The second one was still damp, which I expected as only been drying a night; but I still needed to add a tail to his body so being damp still helped. (The reason I didn't do the tail yesterday was because I had to leave him drying on his back or his head might of come off). Once I had done that I got the first cat character back out as he was now dry. I think I will use him as the test run character so that potentially nothing wrong will happen to the actual cat. I then filed and sanded down the first cat so that I could see which files I would need to use and which sand papers worked best.It did actually look a lot better after and depending on how well it survives the process, I could paint it and it could be a limited addition one off character.
Today was the first day that I had ever worked in ceramics properly. The guys down there were really friendly and helpful. Unfortunately, my cat character was still too damp to work with so placed him on a flat surface in the kiln room. Now I know in future that the air drying clay needs a couple of days and to be put in a warm dry place. Because of the set back of having to wait longer for it to dry, I used the time to re create the character again. I felt like the character could look better and with making the candle holder and the bowl I felt I had more confidence with working with clay. I ended up spending the entire day re-making the new character but I feel that it looks SO much better than the first one. I felt like I knew how to go about building it all up better. I've left it to dry over night in the kiln room so will check up on it again tomorrow.
BLOG POST: Planosophy (2014) ‘Part I - discrimination, choice and Geeky brands’, Planosophy, 19 May. Available at: https://planosophy.wordpress.com/2014/05/19/baudrillard-collector-mentality-part-one/ (Accessed: 1 December 2015). "They regain control of a world from which they have been outcast by deciding what is included and excluded in their ‘own little collectors world.’ Collectors re-articulate the meaning of objects they collect according to their own rules (ie. the rules of their collecting system, a crude example is beer cans, not cider ones) and ordering system that helps them control their meaning." "The word ‘collect’ comes from the Latin, colligere, which means ‘to choose and gather together.’ Choice and collecting go hand in hand. Choice is often preceded by two words: ‘freedom of.’ Choice is central to our feeling of freedom in Capitalist society. Choice is the main reason why advertising exists." "Collecting is merely imposing a defined rationale behind the choices we make. That rationale is very much intertwined with our personal values and interests" "Brands are also collectors. They collect consumers and the rationale behind their choice of consumers is what circumscribes a ‘target market.’ Planners guide clients when they choose which consumers to collect. Some consumers will make your brand look cool. Some consumers are short-term cash cows. Some consumers are more loyal. Some brands (particularly luxury brands) are very discerning in their choice of consumer. Some brands aren’t and might suffer from an ‘identity crisis’ when they realise that their collection of consumers isn’t very coherent. This is why Disney have subdivided their collection (and is why that horrible term ‘Brand Architecture’ exists): Marvel and Star Wars fans are clearly at odds with wannabe princesses and pirates." "People who collect strange things don’t feel that they can represent themselves through more conventional means, whether these be sports teams allegiances, political parties or, as concerns us, brands.This is because they feel that brands don’t represent them, that brands don’t ‘speak’ or ‘relate’ to them. If somebody doesn’t collect ‘normal’ things like designer clothes or movies or music, and chooses beer cans or speakers, then we are inclined to call that person odd. We label a beer can collector ‘weird’ merely because we don’t understand his perspective on the world, or understand why beer cans in particular ‘speak’ to him. We don’t understand the rationale behind his choice." “The unique object is in fact simply the final term, the one which sums up all the others, that it is the supreme component of an entire paradigm (albeit a virtual, invisible or implicit one) – that it is, in short, the emblem of the series” – Baudrillard, The System of Objects" https://planosophy.wordpress.com/2014/05/18/part-ii-collector-mentality/ BLOG POST: Planosophy (2014) ‘Part II - accumulation and completion’, Planosophy, 18 May. Available at: https://planosophy.wordpress.com/2014/05/18/part-ii-collector-mentality/ (Accessed: 1 December 2015). “One cannot but wonder whether collections are in fact meant to be completed… The presence of the final object of the collection would basically signify the death of the subject, whereas its absence would be what enables him merely to rehearse his death (and so exorcize it) by having an object represent it.” – Baudrillard" "What Baudrillard is articulating very poorly is that existential crisis when you finish a box set. Or when, as a kid, you collected that last pokemon card. Or when you finish an Xbox game. We don’t like ending things that we have been so caught up in, that we spent hours involving ourselves in. What we are most caught up in everyday is our own evolution, our own lives and this includes the objects we choose to surround and express ourselves with."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDc_MmksIZE Taboo (2014) Taboo: Weird collections. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDc_MmksIZE (Accessed: 1 December 2015). 1 = foot fetish - Reason - "Gives me pleasure, that I believe we all deserve" - "Collectors want something that is more than an object. A connection to something that they value, that they find exciting or sacred." - "A collector of the things you crave." - "By cataloging it. By it putting it into a draw. In a way you have become its master. It is also a way of mastering something, which otherwise exerts a huge and overwhelming pull on you"
Book: Baudrillard, J. and Benedict, J. (1996) The system of objects: Jean Baudrillard. London: Verso Books. Authenticity Page 80 "The nostalgia for origins and the obsession with authenticity. It seems to me that both arise from from mythical evocation of birth which the antique object constitutes in its temporal closure - being born implying, after all, that one has had a father and a mother". "Origins means regression to the mother; the older the object, the closer it brings us to an earlier age, to 'divinity', to nature, to primitive knowledge, and so forth".
"The fascination of handicraft derives from an object's having passed through the hands of someone the marks of whose labour are still inscribed thereupon: we are fascinated by what has been created, and is therefore unique, because the moment of creation cannot be reproduced".
A Marginal System: Collecting Page 91 "Littre's dictionary defines 'objet' in one of its meanings as 'anything which is the cause or subject of a passion; figuraively - and par excellence - the loved object'." The Object Abstracted from Its Function Page 91 "If I use an refrigerator to refrigerate, it is a practical mediation: it is not an object but a refrigerator. And in that sense I do
Advertising Page 178 "It contributes nothing to production or to the direct practical application of things, yet it plays an integral part in the system of objects, not merely because it relates to consumption but also because it itself becomes an object to be consumed."
After gathering various colour meanings from different sources, I thought I would bring the most common traits and repeatedly brought up traits for each colour. After doing this I have also narrowed down even further to just using Green, Blue, Pink and Orange and I think they most relate to the collectors habits, traits and qualities. If I have time to make two extra characters then I will use red and purple but I think that them four are the main ones.
- Incredibly passionate fan base globally - Proud of their toys - Reason for collecting - being a fan of the show - money to be made from collecting - rise of eBay - buying to sell - online business - knowing what releases are due out - learn through online communities - eclectic - not focused with collection - along as it has doctor who on it then have to have it. - Harding is a complusion - lack of something in their life - similar with collecting - some point the collection takes over and becomes who you are
