Using Brett Whiteley’s record collection as an example, this talk considers the desires that underpin the chaos and order of the collection – and of the collector.
If you're an old soul who loves physical media in a digital world, come along to the next SAM Talks session led by Jon Dale from the University of Melbourne.
The talk picks up a thread from critic Walter Benjamin’s 1931 essay Unpacking My Library, where collecting becomes a way to bring order to chaos. Benjamin saw collectors as placing items in a kind of “magic circle”, trying to renew the old world. Scholar Kevin Moist puts it simply, collecting is about creating coherence in a chaotic world.
Program details
Date and time: Thursday 18 September, 6pm to 7.15pm
Location: Shepparton Art Museum, 530 Wyndham Street, Shepparton
Price: Free, registration essential
