At the end of the first year into my degree, I felt I had lightly begun to touch on the subject of memory through material and process. Over the year that has followed, this idea has played on my mind like a never ending carousel; over and over, it has plagued my thoughts, my process and my interpretation of material.
I cannot shake it.
Seemingly unrelated, I began a part time job at the coffee store, Costa, three months ago. On a first morning shift, I noticed that the jam and marmalade served with toast portions were that of the Tiptree company - those miniature jars I'd seen in numerous other cafes. Ordinary.
It was just that I'd used them before - at the end of my first year - when I needed a vessel to hold a bath water sample for my final project. Something about their silver lids and my attraction with tin foil struck some sort of inner harmony when I had gazed at the transparent liquid, held in the tiny glass jar.
Unbeknown (at first) to my manager, I began collecting all the jars left in the kitchen and rinsing them out, instead of throwing them away. I started telling those who noticed that it was 'in case I needed them for art.' Even now, I'm not sure how many I took home in total, though I'd guess around 50. It wasn't for a while until I wondered what on earth I'd actually do with them.
Now, I'm still not sure, but I've begun to build an archive.
After each bath I've taken, (since about two weeks after I decided to keep the jars) I have taken one of my empty containers and filled it with a portion of the water.
I will keep doing this until I've run out of jars. Hopefully, by then, I will also understand something about the process itself.
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