When someone looks at Eigg, perhaps, buys something from the gift shop, they aren’t just buying ‘’a gift from Eigg’‘. They are taking away all of the influences imbued upon that object. This taps-in really well to a chapter I wrote last year for an academic book on ’materiality’ (a PDF is available from www.museumcabinet.com).
That London city guide printed in Singapore I mentioned in my last post, or the English language guide to Italy printed in Germany; perfectly represents the way multi-culturalism and globalism shape our perception of ourselves, and affect what we associate with a place. These guide books have become cultural artefacts ‘from Eigg’. Also, I really like the ‘gift’ ideology. The swap shop exists because people don’t want to throw things away- (it’s an Eco sin!). So “A Gift From Eigg” means: please take it away!- but it still exists as a cultural artefact of the island, as much as any tourist paraphenalia (probably more because it was once owned by an islander).
I’m working on logo’s that can represent this over the next two weeks between interviews and I might start posting up prototypes as I go. Be good to use this blog as a source of feedback.
One thing that is clear about undertaking a residency of this kind, is it never makes the list of options open to me any smaller the longer I am here. Rather than focusing in at this early stage; I feel as if I may be drowned in subtleties, interrelationships, and wholly new choices!
