The Archive of _____ by Beta Orionis, Dr. Subtle
July 2nd, 2008 6:23 PM / Location: 40.435776,-79.92253The Forgotten!
Beta Orionis reports:
On June 1st, the day that I returned to Pittsburgh, Dr Subtle presented me with a gift: a lovely, translucent, fibrous, broken tower of mystery, featured and adorned below. It actually turned out to be a retired Starbucks syrup holder, but it fascinated me far more than the name implies it should have. The good doctor knows that I have a special place in my heart for interesting found objects and shiny things (I often have a tendency to get distracted and stop suddenly on walks,) and likes to indulge my tendencies sometimes.
I set it up near the window so that photons could make it's spider-silk-y panes sparkle constantly, adorned it with my tiny found object sculpture, and bounded away happily.
the "sculpture" on the tower.
A few days later, walking to lunch, I stopped suddenly and dropped to a crouching position, for at my feet lay this little guy.
He evoked a sort of sad fondness in my heart, and I wondered where his mount and or previous companions could have gotten to, and how he came to be lost in the first place. I carefully pocketed the peru pony, (actually, it's more of a saddlebrown,) and then reproduced him during lunch, allowing him to dine with us.
Later that evening, I placed him in one of the openings of the tower, and his legs were perfectly positioned to hold him in place! There, practically floating and well silhouetted in his static prancing posture, he ushered us into sweet equestrian dreams.
The next afternoon, on the way home from work, I came across a yellow, industrial looking label attached to two black zip ties that must have been cut from a bundle of fiber optic cables, or so the label indicates. I pocketed this too, and that evening, added it to the tower. Stepping back to admire my small collection, I realized that it was becoming just that: a collection, or in our case, an archive! So I decided that I would continue this hobby, rope Dr Subtle into collaborating, and document it for SF0 as The Archive of The Forgotten: a collection of lost, discarded, or intentionally forgotten objects.
so it begins...
Following the directions, we set July 1st as the deadline for the collection's completion. Initially, however, I ignored the "Obsessively" part of the instructions. BUT! Before I realized it, it truly did become an obsession. Initially, I just kept my eyes peeled for interesting trinkets, something I do already, but as the days marched on, I began to develop a one-track mind, forgetting my surroundings and thoroughly scanning the only the ground or surfaces where objects might collect wherever I went. I began to instigate many walks, leave buildings just to look for objects, and constantly remind Dr Subtle to watch for cool things. I was a girl on a mission, and nothing could stop me!
the face of obsession...
One thing that definitely assisted me in our endeavor was my morning job. I am part of a team of students that cleans out the studio spaces and classrooms fall under the domain of Carnegie Mellon's School of Fine Arts. You wouldn't believe what people leave behind in their studios! We, the crew, are directed to toss anything left behind, and allowed to keep anything that catches our eye in the process. Needless to say, old studios became my treasure troves. Some of the things I found there weren't even art! I found a mop and a disk from the first season of Battlestar Galactica on the job. Dr Subtle was also assisted by his job at a local Starbucks, where all kinds of strange objects that might otherwise be dumped were serupticiously pocketed into his apron.Within the Archive as a whole, one could even say there exists a smaller Archive of Abandoned Artwork in different media. There's a painting, sketches, ceramics, a metal sculpture and even some video footage- although, unfortunately, the DVD is unreadable :( . There's also enough paper pieces/writing snippets to constitute another archive, including a postcard from Turkey, some notes, and a check that was processed in October of 1996! Most of what I found on walks were bits of metal and tiny, smoothly rounded rocks that will eventually become runes, but we did find some other things, like the arm of a pair of glasses, a piece of bling affectionately known as The Spinnin' Rims, a bit of Film featuring John Travolta (the first of the three panels has an Umbrella that says "be cool",) and a piece of pottery that Dr Subtle picked up which never fails to fill me with the desirve to nibble... (it looks like it's covered with seeds!)
I wanna munchmunchmunch you...
spinnin' rims
John Travolta
The whole archive is made up of 49 objects (including the mop, which is not pictured, and counting Chris' sketches as one batch) and if you're interested in seeing them all, they are all individually documented and available at the bottom for your viewing pleasure.
I did attempt to document when which objects were found and by whom, but I only got as far as...
--
Found Object Archive:
Beginning June 1st, 2008 and Ending July 1st, 2008.
Tower: Dr Subtle, Starbucks, Syrup platform, June 1st.
Print/3D glasses: CFA studios, June 2nd.
Plastic Horse: Murray, on the way to Lunch June 3rd.
Co2/Nozzle: Starbucks, Dr Subtle, June 4rth evening
Fiber Optic cable label: Forbes, walking with Dr Subtle, June 6th.
Copper Nail: CFA studios(work), June 9th.
Wire/Metal tag/Glasses/Metal rounded/Metal with slot: Adventure 6-10-2008 w/Dr Subtle.
--
Then I just became obsessed with collecting and forgot about the documenting.
Now that we're done collecting, I just don't know what to do with the archive. I guess I'll mount some of the paper things in a safer place, like a big sketch book. Maybe turn some of the metal things into a little sculpture, and I think I'll send the first season of BSG to my little brother. I'm also definitely contacting Chris about the possessions of his that I found, but I'd be glad to keep them if he doesn't want them, because I'm a creeper and love tidbits about the lives of others. :) The rest of the objects will probably remain where they are. I'll probably employ the demon to disturb my apartment mates. Maybe I'll just keep collecting? But I'll have to keep it within reason. Our room can only hold so much awesome. (and by awesome I mean the clutter that is the byproduct of my obsessive, bower-bird-like tendency.) Towards the end of the month, the found objects were getting progressively bigger, too big to fit inside the tower vault. I dunno.
Any Suggestions?
Archive
In all it's archivey glory!
Closer
See into the murky depths of the archive's very soul!
In the beginning
there were three! (well, four with the tower)
Sculpture?
Some things I found and bundled together.
horse.png
The horse of course.
Label
Fiber Optical Illusions! Invisible cables?
CO2
A used cartridge for expelling Whipped Creamy goodness.
Nozzle
A worn out espresso nozzle. There are four holes.
Nail
ooh, shiny! It's made of copper! Who makes nails out of Copper!?!
Card reader
The insides of an out of commission universal memory card reader.
Plastic
Some plastic thing with the number 21 printed on it. Also some dirt from the steepest paved street in the western hemisphere.
3D
Simply place these glasses on your face and see the world in Three Dimensions!
Arm
Those must have been some gaudy glasses.
Pottery
munchable? Not so much.
Map
It's part of Pittsburgh, but parts are clearly emphasized. I wonder why.
Spinnin' Rims
It truly spins. Yeah Bling!
?
This is a tiny, tiny structure. and it's OH SO fragile! I have to hold it really lightly. I ended up removing the cartridge from my inhaler and securing this inside the casing with some paper in order to transport it without turning it to dust. The passages are delightfully tiny!
??
See! tiny, tiny passages! Adorable!
Electrical something
Some strange Sony-made sparkplug thing?
Jack
ohhhhh! It's a stereo headphone jack with a strange thing on top!
Sword.
I can imagine this belonging to a Bionicle or something. Dr Subtle was pretty sure it belonged to Pyre, the dragon from the terrible show The Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog, but upon doing some googling, was outvoted by reality.
They remind me of cells. I think they were a mock up for a larger silk screen print.
Sea Horse!
mhmm
Chain
Too bad there was no way to attach the spinnin' rims.
Wire
some cable full of wires.
Pink Nickel
According to Wikipedia, all nickels manufactured in 1975 were made with some percentage of Copper, and this one just got an extra special dose.
Tag
Small and corroded.
Metal
A piece of Aluminium perhaps?
Sign
Found inside of G.Eagle. For a register maybe?
Zipper pull.
Yes! oh wait...
Octagonal Mirror
This one actually found the Star instead.
DEMON!
It has evil eyes.
Mask
Almost wearable.
A Masked Minion.
The face of obsession.
Papa
A potato! Made of clay!
Girl.
She is so happy to have been fired and brought into this world!
Tile
I like the cracked glaze.
Metal Sculpture
I think it may have been a sprinkler head. It's pretty though.
Zip Disk.
I don't have a zip drive anymore! or the need for some Windows '95 tools.
DVD
Wrecked beyond readability. I would have liked to watch it.
Beach Note
Post Card
Shan't show you the other side because postcards are a little more personal than notes taped to walls. Also addressed to Chris.
Chris' Sketches
Each is an individual piece of paper.
More of Chris' sketches.
Except the arm one. But it also belongs to him.
Horse note
Beauregard Boys
One of these two, I think the older one, is the Chris to whom the notes, post card, and sketches belong. The back says: " Hi Chris- The Beauregard Boys 4-Ever! Don't lose this photo- it's the only on, an original like you :) Love you, Mom. Google Sleuthing told me this Chris is a CMU Art Grad Student, so I will e-mail him and ask if he wants his things back. If not, I'll hold on to this photo forever.
Painting
I loved it too much to throw it away!
BSG
omgomgomg Apollo!
Rent a Wreck
eh?
John Travolta!
Signing things at an event for Be Cool?
Plastic Component.
Reminds me of Star Wars.
20 vote(s)
Julian Muffinbot
5
Dela Dejavoo
5
susy derkins
5
Voo
5
Jellybean of Thark
5
Myrna Minx
5
Tac Haberdash
5
done
5
Loki
5
Lincøln
5
Super Mean
5
JJason Recognition
5
Rainy
5
JTony Loves Brains
5
Adam
5
GYØ Ben
5
Not Here No More
5
Sparrows Fall
5
help im a bear
5
Tricia Tanaka
Terms
(none yet)15 comment(s)
I know exactly how you feel! I feel really fortunate to have found so many interesting things. We weren't even really selective. Granted, I was discerning when cleaning out studios, but on walks, we just picked up anything we found and discarded only trash. Thanks for the vote. Glad you liked the pieces as much as I did! :)
The tiny structure that one could mistake for a wasp nest! And all things copper.
This set would be a nice challenge for practicing non-attachment, not easy... :)
Vote for this being an incredible praxis. "Kudos" doesn't cover it.
A fine collection of things.
Those 3-D Glasses are lovely. Simple white card stock.
Beta is a fine photographer. I asked her once why she took such good pictures, as compared to mine.
"When did you start using a camera?" she asked
"I started using a camera freshman year of college, maybe a year before that?"
"Ah," she said. "I started using a camera when I could hold one."
An intersection of excellent photography, a keen eye, and wonderful serendipity. You did a great job of tying together a group of things that would never otherwise be related.
Awesome--as another collector of interesting (and sparkly) things found wherever, I love this!
i love every one of your forgotten things. i kept thinking "this one is my favorite! no wait, THIS one is my favorite!"