I am starting a shopping list of the things I need to buy and the people I need to speak to about some of the traditional crafts on display in the Museum. On my journey through the artefacts I keep looking at this slate fragment held in the Victorian School Room display. Knowing a bit more about the museums archives I suspect there may be documents that relate to William and his life after he left the school, we might even find an entry in the Workhouse records - but I hope not.
It is going to be fascinating for me to research the traditional crafts used to create many of the written words held by the museum, but I think it will be as interesting to look at the stories contained, even on a fragment of slate. Item 1 on my shopping list is slate - so I am off to the reclamation yard
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I am really beginning to see the museum in a different way. Previously I think I was guilty of visiting a museum and seeing it as being filled with interesting artefacts from someone else's pasts. However, as I am now going to Axbridge Museum looking to create a body of work I am looking at the artefacts as a craftsperson. As such, I am seeing a huge collection of traditional crafts, most of which I have no idea how to recreate, but some of which could be very relevant for this work.
Without sounding too conceited I can make stained glass panels (long story) but I have no idea how to paint and fire glass. Let alone how it was done in the 15th Century, as pictured above. I do know, because John Page has told me, that glass was very expensive so to risk it breaking during firing must have been extremely risky. Perhaps finding more out about these ancient crafts might help me develop my own work? ,One of the things I am discovering in this research phase, is how difficult life could be for the poor. There is a beautiful display on the top floor of the museum with many fascinating copies of some of the old documents held by The Axbridge & District Museum Trust.
Included here are a couple of examples of how hard life was for the poor (to give you a valuable tip it helps to replace the f for an s as in 'affect', shown above which of course is assent. |
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The work created for the Muse project will remain in the Museum until 31st October and can be seen from 1pm-4pm daily. Andrea Oke is a Somerset based artist who is fascinated by human behaviour and its links to memory. For more information please to to my websiteArchives
December 2017
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