From: Patent Tactics, George Brock-Nannestad
Hello,
Tom Fine wrote some wise words about collections and their public worth, but
then came a clanger:
Much better to have a little pail of golden wheat than a silo of
> chaffe.
----- now, there speaks a person who wants to decide what the future should
research! It is an error of judgement of huge proportions. Everybody has that
pail, because that is what constituted "good taste". It is the ephemeric
stuff, the stuff that only lived for a short time, the stuff that was played
again and again, because those who bought the item had no more for a whole
month and could not affort to buy another one until more money was available,
that is the stuff that is hard to find. Wear in itself may tell the
researcher very much indeed.
Try to make a list of the items of information -- intended and non-intended --
that sits in a given artefact, in this case a record and its cover, and you
will be astounded how many traces of the recording, manufacturing,
distribution and listening processes you will find. You will realise that
golden wheat is just as sterile as the corn sold by Monsanto companies. They
decide what we are going to eat.
I am sorry about the harsh words, but there are some who have looked at
records as multifaceted cultural objects for many, many years, and a
statement like this rubs me the wrong way.
Kind regards,
George
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Mark Durenberger" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Thursday, April 15, 2010 9:17 AM
> Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] The trials of trying to give away a record
> collection
>
>
> > >From the perspective of a Museum operative (Pavek) it should be noted
> that
> > in today's environment it's difficult to accept a collection without also
> finding the funding for
> > the collection's preservation. It's too bad, but that's often the
> situation...
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > Mark Durenberger
> >
> > --------------------------------------------------
> > From: "Richard L. Hess" <[log in to unmask]>
> >
> >>
> http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/u-of-m-rejects-massive-donation-of-re
> cordings-90816414.html
> >>
> >> The University of Manitoba first accepted and then rejected a donation of
> 56,500 discs. Some
> >> points in the article don't seem to hold up (like dates and record
> types), but here is a
> >> collection of 56,500 discs dating back to 1913 that appears to be looking
> for a home. Cheers,
> >> Richard
> >
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