Assignment 08
Collection: Object

You’re tasked to start a collection. This collection should be a group of physical objects or digital files you can acquire. It should have a visual quality you find intriguing. It’s recommended to choose an object that isn’t overly complex. Something simple and ubiquitous. If it’s readily available you will have an easier time collecting and documenting your object.
The goal of this assignment is to visually reveal something you find interesting about your object through your investigation and documentation. As you collect something think about similarities and differences you may identify.
Previous student collections have included: Price tags, leaves, oranges, soil samples, stamps, buttons, standpipes, etc.

Deliverables for Week 3
Decide on your object and collect six examples. Document or render your six objects using three different methods. Print your images on 8.5×11 paper, 2 images per page, and insert these into a standard three-ring binder, organized by method of documentation (You should have 9 sheets total.) We will discuss in the round.
Find a way to document your object which will reveal something visually interesting. Your documentation method should be chosen based on your object. Some ideas include rubbings to reveal an objects texture, scanning to reveal precise details, or photographing from multiple angles with a high resolution camera. Your documentation should be visually compelling. This means, find beauty in your documentation method. Consider your object and which method does the best job in expressing your objects unique qualities. These images will find their way into your final product.

Background
Look through the sample PDF of Peter Buchanan Smith’s book ‘SPECK: A Curious Collection of Uncommon Things’. Notice the documentation of odd and unusual objects, and their visual quality. See that in their documentation they expose a new way to look at the commonplace. The image above is from Stacy Greene’s Lipstick series photographs from the 1990s.

This has been adapted from an assignment given by Julien Bittner at Yale University. Thank you.