The Stuff of Life
A conversation on here with Marion Michell, (see comments under previous post) about a shared love for researching the origin of words provoked, as it so often does with her comments, a flood of connections in my brain.
[The word ‘pattern’ comes from the Greek root ‘pater-‘ meaning ‘father’. So archetype can be understood as the principle pattern from which others are copied from.]
I had recently looked at the word Archetype and was fascinated by the gendered implications and speculated on a feminine version leading to subersive thoughts about un-patterning. At the time I was working on the mosaic started at the Paper Workshop, (scroll down) and got properly lost. And then Ding, amongst the antonyms I found: To Depattern and got that lovely feeling, where I know with immutable certainty, what to do next, so I did…
[Depattern( transitive) To brainwash so as to remove normal patterns of thinking and behaviour.]
To Depattern (written inventory to accompany image)
Cover of my father’s will (date unknown) /royal blue
Cover of The Sea, the Sea by Iris Mudoch, 1978, used/turquoisey-brown
Text from The Sea, the Sea by Iris Murdoch, used, 1978/yellowy-parchment
Christmas chocolates, eaten, card, 2013/pale gold
Cover of my diary, used 2011-2012, shiny patent-leather/lime-green
My skirt, used, from 1977, suede/leaf-green
A love-letter, not mine, stolen, paper, 1971/lavender
My phone cover, used, rubber, opaque 2011-2013/fuschia-pink
Man’s phone cover, used, hard rubber, transparent/gentleman- blue
Paper bag from Turkish café, used, 2010/deep red
Paper hand-towel, unused, from ladies’ toilets, Lyme-Regis/ palest washed-out turquoise
MA Dissertation cover, transparent plastic, used, 2010/young-pink
Glove, vintage, suede, used/faded raspberry-pink
Night sky from photograph, Carnival, 2005/deep Van Gogh, navygrey
Dishcloth, man-made, unused/candy floss-pink
Cropped edges of water colour paintings, unused, date unknown/pinkish-brown and greenish-ochre
Mock Crocodile paper, unused, worn, origin unknown/pale viridian-green
My for best handbag, pretend leather, 1985/deep mullberry
Child’s pencil case plastic 1969, used/viridian green
Ingres paper, unused, 1988/dove grey
Asda Value egg-box, used, recycled card, 2014/neutral creamy-vellum
Upholstery leather for dining chair, unused off-cut, 2008/chesterfield brown
Left-over, kid-glove leather, unused, from To Cover 2012/Alizarin crimson
Left over rubber sampler, unused, from To Smother 2010/bubblegum pink
Water colour cut-offs, unused (2)from Nicholette Goff (date unknown) yellow ochre & raw sienna and mullberry
