THE CANADIAN SOCIETY OF DECORATIVE ARTS
The Canadian Society of Decorative Arts/ Cercle canadien des arts décoratifs was formed, with the generous support of the Macdonald Stewart Foundation, to provide a forum for all those interested in the decorative arts.
The Ontario Arts Council is an Agency of the Government of Ontario
Has Postmodernism Changed Collecting?
Colleen Watson O'Reilly
(L) American porcelain sample plate. Unidentified, c. 1920
Diameter 25 cm. Photograph: Waddington's Studio W
(R) French majolica sample plate. Probably Vallauris, c. 1880
Diameter 25 cm. Photograph: Waddington's Studio W
This past October at the 25th annual symposium of the CSDA Objects of Desire: Pursuits of the Collecting Eye, veterans and non-collectors alike came together to explore what collecting means, why we do it, and how. Five members of the Canadian decorative arts community shared their differing backgrounds, expressed opinions and exchanged compliments on collected artefacts. Throughout the symposium many themes emerged, in particular the central issue of change and how current trends relate to the nature of collecting itself.
The panelists all had their start in collecting in different ways – some by accident, some by design. One of the major themes of the symposium was the psychology of collecting. Although different for every person, it also shows us what we have in common. Humans have always collected. We keep pieces of our personal past, our family’s past, and also of our society’s past. This fascination with our history also has to do with our aesthetic sensibilities. We collect because we are interested in the stories objects tell, but also because we are stimulated visually. Aaron Milrad, lawyer, vice chair of the Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art and member of the Ontario Minister of Culture’s Advisory Council for Arts and Culture, collects because he believes in the pleasure of living with beautiful things.
Whether we collect baseball cards or eighteenth-century French porcelain, it seems to be in an effort to surround ourselves with physical evidence of what humanity has to offer. Or perhaps it is just to connect ourselves to the physical world. As William Kime, head of the Decorative Arts department at Waddington’s points out, collecting is inborn – who didn’t pick up pebbles on the beach to take home as a child? What is more, by choosing to take an interest in what previous generations have chosen to preserve, we edit our own history. It becomes a personal connection with a story, a person, an experience. Collecting also unites people across time and space. By studying and examining the artistic expressions of the past, we find out about ourselves and about our society.
... to read on please subscribe to ORNAMENTVM return to Table of Contents