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| King Brand Vintage Hand Can/ Bottle Opener |
The
timing of an acquisition depends on the purchase or availability of an object
for the collection. Using the Can Opener Collection as an example of the process of acquiring new
additions, I intend to recount my experiences. These experiences include
receiving an object as a gift, an online purchase of an object, and the
documentation of an object at a site-specific location of a luncheonette. These
three examples have different stages of timing in forming the May 2012 recent
additions for the Can Opener Collection.
The
first object to be acquired for the May 2012 recent additions was the King brand vintage hand can/ bottle opener. This can
opener was a gift to the collection by an acquaintance that was cleaning out a
family member’s house. In receiving this gift there was also a dialog over how
this object would be used towards the collection. The acquaintance was under
the impression I was collecting the can openers as a singular object form. I
clarified the can opener collections objective by referencing the video clips
of the interaction between the person and the object. The acquaintance didn’t
want the vintage can opener back nor did they know how to operate it. Since
January 2012 I have been practicing using the vintage can opener before I felt
comfortable enough to document the interaction. With this acquisition I needed
to spend time understanding how the object functioned as well as obtaining
other acquisitions in order to present more than one new addition.
My
research over the winter of 2012 has made me consider the punch style can
opener to be included in the collections new additions. I have been looking to
purchase either a wooden handle punch or the stainless steel punch and cover
for canned milk. These two styles are specialized for opening can milk and
require a different form of physical interaction than the punch and bottle
opener that was documented in the November 2011 addition of the Can Opener
Collection. The timing of this acquisition has been
involved with attendance at flea markets and observing online auction sites.
Recently, I have found a Moeller punch and cover on an online site and the
starting bid and shipping was within the means of the collection’s budget. The punch and cover has a more direct
method of use than the gifted King brand
vintage hand can/ bottle opener and I spent less time in practice with the
object.
The
third acquisition did not require me to practice or have the knowledge to use
the object. Documentation of a table mounted can opener was obtained with
permission from a local luncheonette owner. The timing for this segment of the
addition was in scheduling and planning for the performance of the interaction
in a site-specific location. Taking into consideration a desire to communicate
the collection’s aesthetics and respecting the time guidelines of the business,
the process to acquire a video clip of the industrial style can opener was
realized.
These
three experiences of acquiring recent additions have demonstrated the
collections management aspect for the collections as a whole. They include
management of singular objects and site-specific documentation. The majority of
the collection (which is the video portion) only entails the use of the object
for documentation of the interaction. After that, the object is no longer
needed in the collection. These objects that are acquired by gifting or
purchasing will be resold and the funds will be placed in the budget for future
collecting needs. In the case of the acquaintance gifting the vintage can
opener, the acquaintance had no interest in the object and was more interested
in supporting the collections project.
In
a very similar process, with the site-specific acquisition, the owner of the luncheonette
had an interest in the collections. The dialog with the luncheonette owner went
beyond the basic concepts of the collections. For the practice of site-specific
documentation a model and object release form is utilized to clarify the video
clip presentation for public viewing
(internet & future public institutions). The release form is the
written arrangement and understanding of the participant’s performance and use
of their object to the collection. Having formed these collections management
practices in the early stages of the collecting process will offer future
options for allocations and presenting the collections in a professional
manner.
I
referred to Susan Pearce’s archaeological curatorship methods with the use of
the Coupon Collection in the Defining
A Collection blog (January 17,
2012). This blog outlines the beginnings of my activities of archiving and
management of a collection obtained through a public print media source.
Considering the video aspect of the collection is in the beginning stages of
including outside participants, I am in the revising stages of the video clip
archiving cards.
These
management practices have brought my attention to include additional detailed
information on the archiving cards. The image accompanying the Considering
the Accumulation blog (March 25,
2012) is a sample of a video clip archiving card. Along with the video clip
number and description of the object in the video, I will include the
information of the location of the video (studio shot or site-specific) and how
the object was obtained (purchased or gifted). The detailed information for
each clip will be notated on an individual basis, since some of the
documentation of objects will contain more background information than
others.
Loose
planning and communication tended to help realize the documentation experience.
This planning began with a sketch of the placement layout of the person, the
object, written notation of the physical activity involved, and the documenting
equipment. The sketch is the image attached to this post. Of course, equipment
(camera and lights) is a priority, but a white background was also mandatory to
be consistent with the collection’s focus of the social interactions between
people and objects. By showing previous clips of the Can Opener Collection to the luncheonette owner, it was communicated
that there was a need for a white background in order to block out the overall
luncheonette environment. The can opener is mounted on a wooden cutting table
and a white background does not need to extend onto the table since this is
part of the objects features. 
