La Réserve du Musée des Enfants
This installation was created for the exhibition "Histoires de Musée” in 1989 and concisest of hundreds of children's clothes stuffed into open cupboards in the walls while dimly lit anonymous photographs of children are displayed near by. When I was looking at the work the first thought that came to mind to me was, haunting. It seems to convey a childhood that we must all lose in growing up with the messy display of brightly coloured clothes that most viewers can recognize from their childhood and feel a pang of nostalgia for a time forgotten which we can never go back to.
Magnificitcan obsessions is a beautiful portrayal of collections over time and I was not surprised to find that most of them were childhood based as there seems to be a recurring theme of people's fascination with collecting objects from their past, as if these childhood objects have now transformed into precious relics that hold such dear memories for the collector.
Ken Kitano layers photographs of a collection of people, for instance: school girls, business men and factory workers to create a overall image which seems to appear to be one singular person. I found this collection fascinating as he reminds us that there is always a collection happening in life, the collection of humanity, as his photographs remind us we are all connected and not as different as we might think.
'The Brown Sisters' is a collection of photographs of Nixon's wife's and her three sisters, always in the same order and with the same camera. I think it is a beautiful way to convey the passing of time and we seen each and every one of their faces change throughout the photographs but also see their undeniable similarities as sisters, which I think becomes stronger as time passes and the photographs progress. Convey that even as the years roll on and the grow older they are still always connected, which is even more meaningful as one of the sister's pass away, which you see in the gaping hole she leaves where she used to stand, convey the empty space she had left in their lives as well.
It is not so much what Jobbins collects that I find interesting but the way she displays it I find so unique and playful, she's taken old toy parts and transformed them into this imaginative sculptures that encapsulate childhood.