OBJECT STORY ARCHIVE 01 Fishing boat
“A student shared memories with me of fishing with his father almost every weekend. The space he constructed with cardboard sheets represents a space between a pair of sails. He told me the his memories of waking up in darkness in the early morning, packing up the equipment, going on the sailboat, and listening to the sound of the wind. Sitting together with his father between the two sails was home for him.”
OBJECT STORY ARCHIVE 02 Apple toy
“A student told me the story of a big red apple made from plastic. When he was a child, this apple toy was at the hospital where he was staying. Because he loved it so much, his parents let him keep it.”
OBJECT STORY ARCHIVE 03 Matisse poster
“A student explained the story of a poster showing a blue woman, one of Matisse’s cut-outs that hung above the family dining table. While staring at this poster, she wondered why the legs and hands of this woman were so long.”
OBJECT STORY ARCHIVE 04 Scarf
“A student told the story of his mother buying him a cashmere scarf in a market in India where he grew up. His mother wanted him to stay warm in Norway.”
OBJECT STORY ARCHIVE 05 Sewing machine
“A student from Estonia told me the story of her grandmother’s sewing machine that created the ‘sound of home’.”
OBJECT STORY ARCHIVE 06 Books
“A student told me a story about the endless amount of books , as owned by her father, who is a biologist. Like her father, she cannot throw away any books.”
OBJECT STORY ARCHIVE 07 Ribbon bow
“A student had to wear an embarrassingly large ribbon bow on her head as a child. It is a Russian tradition for girls to wear ribbons in their hair. Her mother’s hobby was to make ridiculously large balls out of ribbons to wear on her head. The student showed me a photograph of herself as a young girl dressed in a large bow as big as her head—a testament to her embarrassment.”