A book I'm enjoying at the moment is The Way We Live With The Things We Love, by Stafford Cliff and Gilles De Chabaneix. It is filled with glorious colour photographs showing ways to display the things we collect and love.
A French cupboard becomes a miniature gallery for this basket collection.
We've all been collecting things since childhood, driven by a strange instinct to accumulate. Whether it be seashells, pebbles or marbles; comic books or cereal box collector cards; dolls or dinky cars, the need to collect kept us intrigued enough to continue adding to the collection. Most of us havn't changed much. We are still accumulating "stuff" which invariably clutters our lives.
Small shells cached inside a larger shell.
Jewelry made from natural objects strung on hemp cord and raffia, hang from the wall of this French house like pieces in a sculptural installation.
A careful asemblage involving a carved wooden granary door from Mali, an Ethiopian stool, and a ladle made froma coconut shell atop a set of contemporary bowls .
"Whatever the nature of the 'things you love', there are not only infinite ways of framing, hanging or placing objects, but more importantly, ways of combining, juxtaposing, balancing, creating rhythm or impact; achieving wit and irony, contrast, scale and emotion."
Sacred Buddhist images displayed in a niche in a traditional Japanese house.
A display of family portraits cover the walls of an entire room.
Antique African hairdressers' signs, usually hand-painted on tin and depicting a range of available hairstyles, are now sought-after-one-of-a-kind collectible items in the West."Collecting is, of course, for most collectors just a reasonably absorbing and largely harmless pastime, looked upon by an uncomprehending world as a kind of gentle madness." _ Stephen Calloway
i can't make up my mind which i like best. they are all so unique and lovely to stare at for ages...
ReplyDeletei love the quote in the end!
:-)
Priya, It's a chunky book with many more unique and lovely photos.
ReplyDeleteAnother stunning post - and just how Do you choose a favorite? All the textures and layers....wonderfully inspiring.
ReplyDeletemy vote goes to the jewelry but the others can come too! must be a great book thanks again lyle
ReplyDelete"Whatever the nature of the 'things you love', there are not only infinite ways of framing, hanging or placing objects, but more importantly, ways of combining, juxtaposing, balancing, creating rhythm or impact; achieving wit and irony, contrast, scale and emotion."
ReplyDeleteWow - that quote describes what I do with my house exactly. I don't have huge collections as such, but I carefully arrange the things I do have so yes, they do create rhythm, contrast, etc. Thanks for yet another wonderful post.
Love the quote at the end...
ReplyDelete"reasonably absorbing". Rather tempered I would have to sat collecting is obsessively absorbing!
"A kind of gentle madness"...A perfect description, and oh-so-pleasing to say.
ReplyDeletemmm.. it is a human thing to collect... I like the small contained in big idea.. ok off to the shelf to play with my treasures...
ReplyDeleteRobyn...the picture frames got me...I have a number of "empty" old frames scattered around the place (much similar to these)Occasionally I peg loose prints and things to the hanging wires, for interest sake. Thought I was a bit nutty until I saw this display, makes me feel better!
ReplyDeleteLove the second "vessels" post too. My father has just gifted me with a vessel...will take a pic and post it soon.
loved the salvaged window casing idea -
ReplyDeleteA very interesting post. Collecting is an obsession in my family. My parents and husband are the big collectors...I on the other hand make things that I hope people will collect.
ReplyDeleteA very interesting post.
ReplyDeleteCollecting is an obsession in my family. My parents and husband are the big collectors...I on the other hand make things that I hope people will collect.
Love Love Love this...everyone of them. Especially the granny door picture and the wall of portraits.
ReplyDeleteTerry, this whole series is pretty inspiring. There is also a The Way We Live By The Sea, which is going on my Wish List.
ReplyDeleteLyle, the strings of natural gatherings are so simple yet so effective aren't they.
Heather, I love this quote too.
Judy, Lol... "obsessively absorbing" would describe my collecting mania too!
Cynjon, yup it struck a chord with me too.
Grrl, me too!
Jo, For many years I had a huge antique oak frame on the wall and within it I hung all the little framed pictures and artefacts. It was quite a talking point but when we moved house I decided to do something different. Looking forward to seeing the gift from your father. It sounds intriguing.
Jeane, great idea!
Mo'a, I hope you enjoy your families collections especially if you have to do the dusting :-)
Leanne, I'm wondering what you collect.
What absolutely brilliant ideas, Robyn. I have all kinds of things I have collected and I tend to lay them about on the edges of shelves etc. I am now going to concentrate on doing something with them - I think the photographs show the key - your objects must all be in the same vein - shells, baskets, pebbles etc. in order to make an impact. Thanks for this post. I shall keep an eye open for the book too.
ReplyDeleteI am drawn to the jewelry made from natural objects. So appealing and organic.
ReplyDeleteAs a natural pack rat, my instincts have been squelched somewhat by frequent moving. All you have to do is pack and move all the items you collect every four years and you begin to lose the taste for it. (Don't worry, I'm not cured or anything!!!)
after nearly 11 years and five moves my husband is finally resigned to moving my boxes of rocks ... and has even added a handful of his own. :)
ReplyDeleteTwenty years ago I arrived on this island with no more then a suitcase. I was involved with that Zen feeling ... you know. Now I'm surrounded by junk again ;-) much more then I ever collected and you know why ? A sculpture a day keeps the doctor away ;-)
ReplyDeleteWeaver, the book is pure eye candy. If you find it or any of the others in this series I'm sure you'll love it.
ReplyDeleteKarine, I threw out piles and piles of "junk" before our last move and have wasted no time building up the piles again.
Michelle...lol....I suppose it was a matter of , if you can't beat em, join em.
Wim, I was trying to work out why my collections have gotten so out of hand in the last few years and you have hit the nail on the head. Like you, I'm collecting to create art with it all.
absolutely excelent post, Robyn! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThis looks like such a great book. Thanks for highlighting it. Gotta love collections and collecting!
ReplyDeleteOH My God. SO much gorgeousness! I LOVED the cover, the family prtraits and the last antique hair dressers pic the most- every pic in this post is a treasure!! Thanx for sharing this amazing book RObyn!
ReplyDeleteThanks everyone!
ReplyDelete