From the Art Gallery with Love x

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Rebecca Farkas
Object Love
2020

Object Love is an animated video of objects from the collections of Museums Worcestershire and from people’s own homes. Rebecca considers her work like a moving version of an art historical Still Life, adding a fresh dynamism to otherwise static objects. Her work brings new perspectives to the things that we collect, both in museums and in our homes.

For this work, part of the From the Art Gallery with Love project, Rebecca also conducted community workshops which encouraged a creative look at people’s most treasured items. Download the exhibition booklet to find out more about the project.

Object Love

Object Love, Rebecca Farkas, 2020.
Copyright the artist

Rebecca says: “We all have things in our homes that we cherish, whether they have monetary value or for sentimental reasons, and many museum objects are items that were once in an individual’s home.

In autumn 2020, I invited people to choose an object, and tell me the story behind it for Object Love, an artwork commissioned by Worcester City Art Gallery & Museum. Worcester’s art gallery is housed in one of the oldest museums in the country; the Worcester Museums collection of objects and art is very varied and full of fascinating things. I also collected images of some of the objects that people have at home that they cherish. The animation contains many of the suggestions that people sent to me.

My recent work has explored the Memento Mori/Vanitas painting tradition, which was an idea that started in the 17th century. Artists created paintings that gathered together objects, which could include flowers, fruit, vegetables, insects, skulls, books, clocks and so on. The translation of ‘memento mori’ is ‘remember you must die’ and the idea was to remind people that they should live their lives to the full. I like to think of it as a nudge about possessions and materialism that reminds us that, ‘You can’t take it with you.’”

The Sandwich

Object Love: The Sandwich, Rebecca Farkas, 2020.
Copyright the artist

“In autumn 2020, I invited people to choose an object, and tell me the story behind it for Object Love, an artwork commissioned by Worcester City Art Gallery & Museum. Worcester’s art gallery is housed in one of the oldest museums in the country; the Worcester Museums collection of objects and art is very varied and full of fascinating things.

One of the objects suggested to me was intriguing: Emalee Beddoes Davis, a former curator at the Art Gallery & Museum with an insider’s knowledge of the collection told me about The Sandwich. You can imagine my surprise to learn that the collection contains a dried-up sandwich, wrapped in a newspaper from 1899! I have re-staged the sandwich and animated a new sequence that ends with the original. Who knows what things of yours might end up in a museum one day?”

Other things you might like…
From the Art Gallery with Love x

Jennifer Lane Baker & Georgie Proctor – The Adventures of Albert the Albatross interactive video series

Steve Wilson & Sarah Edwards – Wilson & Edwards: Purveyors of Heritage & Wisdom video series

Sarah Leavesley – Mosaic of Modern Worcestershire exhibition

Susan Birth – Echoes of Ancient Art exhibition

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