Found objects

“A found object is a natural or man-made object, or fragment of an object, that is found (or sometimes bought) by an artist and kept because of some intrinsic interest the artist sees in it. “ Tate Glossary of art terms
A pre-course task for my Foundation Degree in Textiles Practice at Bradford College of Art, was to make six collections of found objects/materials, making some brief notes about where and when, and some comments on our response to the object/material through smell, sound, touch, taste. I can’t say I have tasted any of my found objects, but in this post I talk about six collections.

There was no doubt that one of my collections would be from the beach - I find it difficult to resist picking up shells and stones on the beach. These were collected on Bridlington South Beach in early September. I had an initial intention to look for limpets - but none were to be found - teaching me early on to be open to what turns up. It was the best kind of beach day - sunny and blowy; lots of families were taking advantage of the vast space and sunshine before school started.

In sorting through some sewing bits and bobs from my mum I came across a tin with some old coins - including defunct half pence pieces, pre-Euro Italian and German coins and perhaps most interestingly a Belgian 1 Franc piece minted in 1943. I added have coins from recent trips to Russia, UAE and Hong Kong. There is a certain metallic smell to old coins that brings back memories of Saturday jobs and cashing up at the end of the day. They also remind me that we are not likely to need any foreign currency for some time, as although there are places I’d like to visit, I am not keen on travelling far by plane or train. at the moment.

Although I am not a dressmaker, I do love buttons. When i cleared my mum’s sewing room I gave away many of the buttons, but still seem to have quite a few. Most of these buttons have been removed from clothing, or come as spares attached to clothing (I am not sure that is still a thing?). They bring back memories of my mum, a talented seamstress who never threw anything away. She had containers of buttons, all upcycled from other uses and sorted by colour.

Found on the allotment. I have had an allotment for nearly four years and love spending time there - these are a few things to remind me of it.
Asparagus berries - the asparagus bed is definitely a labour of love - other plot holders tell me it will not come to anything, and it is certainly slow to get established.
Snail shells - well slugs and snails are all part of a gardener’s live, but also provide sustenance to some of the birds we hear as we work.
I frequently find buried acorns - and empty shells, and presume there are squirrels around - we have a wildlife area as part of the site.
The clay pipes are a reminder of earlier plot holders - the allotments have been here since 1917 when fields were taken over to allow York residents to grow food.
The skull was found when digging - and there is plenty of evidence of rats digging down into my compost heaps - a warm place to lurk in the winter.
The sweet pea seed pods are from a perennial sweet pea grown from seeds in my Mum’s garden - anther reminder of my inheritance - I regret that she was too frail to visit the allotment but she loved hear about what i was growing.

Autumn - seeds, fruits and leaves. Lovely to have an excuse to pick up such things, who can resist a shiny conker - and isn’t disappointed when days later it has lost its gloss? Fragile autumn leaves that may not survive the journey to college on Thursday.
Chilly, misty mornings, wood smoke, and bracing autumn walks. These are things we can still experience in these uncertain times.

Running - like other people in lockdown I took up running again.
On local walks I would often pick up bottles and cans to add to our recycling bin, but now I was running and have developed an eye for ‘found objects’ I started to collect bottle tops and other circular things that caught my eye. I suspect I shall continue to pick up tops that I pass, and hang on to ones that are different - I These will remind me of how good I feel when I am out on a run (after the first ten minutes!).

I have loved collecting all of these - and writing about them. The next post will be about what happened when I took these things to college.