Study selects pieces from across the collections of the Royal Cornwall Museum; Social History, Fine Art, World Cultures and Geology are each represented. The museum’s collection has been developed from gifted and sought pieces with an aim to promote ‘knowledge in natural history, ethnology and the fine and industrial arts, especially in relation to Cornwall’ (http://www.royalcornwallmuseum.org.uk/index.htm (31/05/09).
The museum is akin to an iceberg in that what is on display is just a small part of a much greater collection hidden away in stores; of course the quandary for any museum is what to display and when, and the pressure to preserve and conserve is ever present. This is the case in museums across the world and so shall it ever be.
The space that Study inhabits has none of the aforementioned restraints, or aims. Study is not required to taxonomise. Neither is Study required to conserve. Study is the product of one personality’s erratic collecting habits. This personality is driven to explore, to break down the universe and its properties, to seek and collect indiscriminately from all that exists.
In the space you will find mementos of journeys taken down rivers and across seas, into the depths of the Earth and beyond the limits of our atmosphere. There are relics of other times and other lives; there are gifts that acknowledge bonds strengthened through shared endeavour. Other pieces have been won through negotiation and perseverance, and some because the offer was right. All carry equal weight as parts of an infinite puzzle; every answer uncovered demanding another step of investigation, and so the meta-collection grows.
Study is one of a growing collection of events that include ghost walks on moors, all-night screenings of depression-era musicals and lectures about the universe. These events are documented through www.symbolarchive.blogspot.com. This set of activities has its own logic and, as with Study, new connections will be revealed that will encourage further exploration.
The museum is akin to an iceberg in that what is on display is just a small part of a much greater collection hidden away in stores; of course the quandary for any museum is what to display and when, and the pressure to preserve and conserve is ever present. This is the case in museums across the world and so shall it ever be.
The space that Study inhabits has none of the aforementioned restraints, or aims. Study is not required to taxonomise. Neither is Study required to conserve. Study is the product of one personality’s erratic collecting habits. This personality is driven to explore, to break down the universe and its properties, to seek and collect indiscriminately from all that exists.
In the space you will find mementos of journeys taken down rivers and across seas, into the depths of the Earth and beyond the limits of our atmosphere. There are relics of other times and other lives; there are gifts that acknowledge bonds strengthened through shared endeavour. Other pieces have been won through negotiation and perseverance, and some because the offer was right. All carry equal weight as parts of an infinite puzzle; every answer uncovered demanding another step of investigation, and so the meta-collection grows.
Study is one of a growing collection of events that include ghost walks on moors, all-night screenings of depression-era musicals and lectures about the universe. These events are documented through www.symbolarchive.blogspot.com. This set of activities has its own logic and, as with Study, new connections will be revealed that will encourage further exploration.
