Collections & Peregrinations

Peregrination is becoming a rather fun journey. I’m learning so much about myself and more so about others, especially about the stuff people will collect. Human nature is defined by the need to hoard and store. I’m not going to go into an analysis on human nature and the need to collect. You can search for the same online and there is enough said about it. Much of these go into the dark psychology of human nature and yada yada yada.....(yah I really think Freud was screwed up and has left behind so many more of his kind for us to deal with). I am merely trying to share my excitement at knowing that my need to create a work of art brought me searching for collectors and  what I thought would be a “weird collection to have”, turns out to be quite a norm for many.

Interestingly enough this is the crux of Peregrinations. Life differs for each one of us. How we view it and chose to go through it, how we want to remember it, also, varies for each. By now some of you have already opened the online dictionary to read the meaning of Peregrination. What!!?!! Not yet!! Well in that case take a pause and do so.

Now that you have, let’s continue. Yes! So like I was saying, collecting and often, the collections people have, make me marvel. There are all those marble, stamps, butterfly, napkins, air sickness bags, match boxes, bar coasters and the list goes on. Long back my husband used to collect. His collection was bus tickets. For many of you who did not actually know Singapore used to actually give you paper tickets for each commute of yours. So these were his bachelor days when he left to study, his mom did a major cleaning of his room. Yah in case you are wondering it’s a usual Asian thing to live with your parents and here in Singapore you could put your name down for a HDB only after your ROM was done. Singles at that point were not entitled to subsidised living. Things have changed now and all for the better.

To come back to the story, my m-i-l, conducted a major surgery of her sons room and found over 1000 bus tickets. Yes, I kid you not, 1000. That’s almost over three years worth of bus rides at the least. I guess he thought that under the bed, was the best place, to keep his collection tucked away. What did she do, she did what any sane Mom would do. She threw them and made the room all liveable again. After marriage he did try to collect them again, only thing I have an issue with bits of paper; they always make it to the dustbin. I know right! What a crazy habit. Someday must visit a shrink for the same. :P Nowadays he collects bills in the wallet!

“What does all this have to do with Peregrination”, you ask. Like I said I was making a new art work and I needed a travel related item. To my good fortune many promised, a few delivered and some others left me with my mouth open wide. They had boxes of this item stacked in their homes from years of travel. So I come back to my learning. Journeys yes they have an effect on us. And we want to remind ourselves that we had taken one, while forgetting that we are constantly living on a tourist visa, stamped invisibly, on our breaths.

Why do we collect, what do we hope to achieve, will anyone ever see it, who the dash knows! Yet we “do”, for “do”, we “must”. Now to go back to my creative process, for “I must”! As that is what is my journey and my emblem. Aha, your curios monkey mind, wants to know, what is the article, I was looking for. Na, it wasn’t a puke bag from a flight or a sugar sachet, from cafes. To know what it was check out Peregrinations, coming soon to your very own Tigerland, Lioncity. Enuf clues arready. Got to go. Have a good holiday you all and yah collect what you must, postcards, stamps, chocolates, crates, bottles, wine corks, and the list goes on.