What do I do with all this stuff? inheritance and the unprepared custodian: relating meaning through the mediated artistic collection

This exegesis examines what inheritance means to different people and seeks to test how such an inheritance may be processed through artistic means. Objects are part of our everyday lives and are an important part of our familiar surroundings. Some of these items are simply mundane and functional, but others have special value to us. This research has considered material culture, how we value objects, and the sheer mass of material objects in our world today. As a consequence, this has led me to contemplate how many of these inherited possessions I should retain, which ones are important enough to keep as heirlooms, and why. The collection I have used to generate the creative component of this thesis comprises my grandmother’s belongings that I inherited. Through the presentation of mediated versions of these inherited items, my intention is to evoke the sense of being overwhelmed when faced with an unexpected inheritance and the filtering of the various pieces. This project has been a practice of uncovering the many articles in the boxes stored in my house. As they have been unpacked and handled, many memories have been recalled. I have realised the importance I place on maintaining family relationships and the responsibility I feel to pass on narratives of our family as a legacy to my daughters and their families. As viewers of my exhibition ponder why these belongings have been exhibited as mediated versions of the original items, I have intended that they will recollect similar heirlooms from their own family. Seeing these familiar articles may lead them to question how they would deal with a loved one’s estate. Perhaps they would reflect upon how they would react to an unexpected inheritance. Familiar family keepsakes may also be reminders of family memories and events. As viewers experienced a variety of responses, eliciting varied meanings, my exhibition realised the original intention of this research. The exhibition of artistic installations 8 replicated my personal response to an unexpected inheritance and how it could be processed through the handling and dealing with the inherited objects. Transitioning all this “stuff” into something manageable is the mainstay of this work.