(1/3): Musk Rat Skull. The width is 1.5″ (3.81 cm) and the length is 2.5″ (6.35 cm). It has been professionally cleaned and prepared. Even if it is a tiny specimen, there is still a lot to examine. The intricate details of the bone structure are something to be attentive to.
(2/3): Beach House ‘Bloom’ Vinyl. It contains 10 tracks and includes mp3 versions of each song. Upon a first glance at the album cover, you immediately notice that the texture of the art is three-dimensional. It looks to be an optical illusion similar to Animal Collective’s 2009 album, ‘Merriweather Post Pavillion.’ In terms of art, it’s quite a simple design but also hypnotic and easy to get lost in; which may be reflective of the music it holds.
(3/3): Fujifilm Instax Mini 8. The Polaroid camera is light to hold, has a very simplified and modern design, with easy-to-manage mechanisms (such as the small selection of brightness adjustments and the simple film cartridge). The film itself is about the size of a credit card, and once you snap the picture they come out of the slot at the top of the camera. It is a very easy and convenient camera to use.
Context:
How does each item relate to the other items you care about?
The items have emotional significance. They all carry a story. Whether the item came into my life during a pivotal point, or was given to me by someone special, each of them relates to the next because they all carry meaning in one way or another. I have an emotional relationship to each one.
Can you identify the social/cultural/political aspects from the period in which the materials were produced? What more do you need to know?
I would say that most of the objects are modernized versions of older models. For instance, the Fujifilm Instax Mini is a modernized Polaroid. After the 1948 original Polaroid cameras temporarily shut down in February 2008, Fujifilm was the only remaining supplier of instant film in the U.S. (Fujifilm marketed their Instax cameras in the 1990s). I could say the same about the Beach House vinyl record, that the popularity of vinyls in the U.S. re-emerged in the mid-2000s even though records have existed for far longer. With the musk rat skull, it’s hard to identify anything about it by looking objectively. Since it’s been tampered with, you can’t tell its age. But what I can say socially is that skulls, when professionally cleaned and polished, are popular with people for collective purposes/interior deco/etc, so it, too, has a social aspect to it.
