Welcome Collection called “Things” opens October 12th in London
This will definitely be worth a look if your in London that week, and would be great fun to be a part of.
October 12th-22 2010
October 12th-22 2010
Welcome Collection
183 Euston RoadLondon NW1 2BE, UK
A call to update Mr Henry Wellcome’s curious collection with ‘things’ no bigger than your head
Wellcome Collection is calling on the public to loan or donate objects and become co-creators of its new temporary exhibition, Things. Members of the public are invited to deposit an object they own in a bring-a-thing-athon over seven days between 12 and 19 October, and will then reclaim their loaned objects up until 22 October, when the event ends. The object can be any single thing they own, be it special or boring, rare or common. The only stipulation is that it must be no bigger than their head.*
A reflection on the nature of compulsive acquisitiveness and an opportunity to snoop into the lives of others, Things is a dynamic and constantly changing exhibition devised by artist Keith Wilson in the shadowy guise of a latter-day Henry Wellcome.
Contributors will be asked to deposit their chosen thing at Wellcome Collection together with relevant details. Behind the scenes each object will be catalogued, photographed, labelled and dated, and then placed on public display in a system of metal shelving representing the days of the week from Monday to Saturday. Sunday objects will be placed in museum display cabinets. There will also be a facility to upload an image of an object and become part of the Things exhibition online.
Keith Wilson says: “Like most people I am fascinated by other people’s things, and find it difficult to throw anything away. This event is an opportunity to explore that fascination by setting up a collection which is immediately on open display. Members of the public will come with their stories, which are there to be contested, not least by the objects themselves. At each step of their procession through the exhibition the objects might be reconsidered. It is a flirtation with a potentially endless number of other stories that might exist out there, anchored in the reality of
each thing itself.”
