The Cultures of Collecting

by Roger Cardinal

This book traces the psychology, history and theory of the compulsion to collect, focusing not just on the normative collections of the Western canon, but also on collections that reflect a fascination with the "Other" and the marginal – the ephemeral, exotic, or just plain curious.

There are essays on the Neoclassical architect Sir John Soane, Sigmund Freud and Kurt Schwitters, one of the masters of collage. Others examine imperialist encounters with remote cultures – the consquitadors in America in the sixteenth century, and the British in the Pacific in the eighteenth – and the more recent collectors of popular culture, be they of Swatch watches, Elvis Presley memorabilia or of packaging and advertising.

With essays by Jean Baudrillard, Thomas DaCosta Kaufmann, Nicholas Thomas, Mieke Bal, John Forrester, John Windsor, Naomi Schor, Susan Stewart, Anthony Alan Shelton, John Elsner, Roger Cardinal and an interview with Robert Opie.

Genres: Nonfiction, Art, Art History, College

312 pages, Paperback

First published December 31, 1993

Reviews

[Melis Baloglu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jean Baudrillard ve Mieke Bal'ın yazdıkları bölümler özellikle ilgimi çekti. Kendim bir toplayıcı olduğum için biraz kendimi anlamak biraz da diğer benzer tutkulara sahip kişileri -Freud kadar değil- tanımak için güzel bir kitap. Daha kapsamlı olmasını tercih ederdim doğrusu. Bu yıldız verme meselesini çok sevmiyorum ama 3 ile 4 arası bir yerde, toplama, koleksiyon oluşturma, fetiş, saklama ve objelere yüklediğiniz anlamlar üzerine düşünmek hoşunuza gidiyorsa okuyun derim.

[Norman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been a collector - AM a collector - my minimalist wife would say, and have mused over the many aspects of obsessional collecting. I suspect all collectors know many aspects intuitively: desire versus nostalgia; saving and loss; the urge to erect something permanent that transcends their short span of life versus the destruction of time. All these come from the first chapter. Do we really "rescue" books from a secondhand shop and what does that mean? For what or whom do we rescue the book? From what? Interesting thinking.
The book is made up of several academic essays all covering some aspect of collecting. Some seem to focus more on the telling of collections and their history; others focus on semantics. All contribute something to thinking about collecting. Some are very academic but nevertheless useful. Some are fascinating insights into particular collections. Can one really talk about Kurt Schwitters artworks without talking about collecting. Baudrillard brings his usual analysis which set me thinking. The Habsburgs, Captain Cook, Sir John Soane are just some of the names written about.
A heavy book but fascinating and aiding self-reflection

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good collection of articles about facets of collecting.

[Jane]

This book was reading for my Art and Politics of Collecting class at uni.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's taken me ages to finish this collection of essays, which is partly because I've been reading other things but also because many of them are not so compelling. On the surface, the "theory" sections of many of the pieces are helpful (Naomi Schor's essay, in particular, analyzes and consolidates Benjamin's, Baudrillard's and Susan Stewart's work on collection with incredible depth and skill), but the topics the authors discuss are so far afield from the collectible objects at the heart of my own study, I found parallels nearly impossible to make. I think this is partly due to the historical quality of many of the essays' topics (collections of actual Victorians etc.), but also due to the fact that there was little desire to extrapolate what was largely narrative descriptions of such collections into larger theoretical constructs. Where this was done (see above example), I found the contributions useful. At least, in the end, I finished.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Various essays on the intrinsic human need to accumulate, organize, and categorize. I'd have preferred more pieces on theory rather than specific collections throughout history. Highlights: Baudrillard's "The System of Collecting" and Mieke Bal's "Telling Objects: A Narrative Perspective on Collecting."

[Hao Guang Tse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great collection, ahaha, of essays relating the act of collecting to the discourses of self-fashioning. In a way, we all know this and we all do this -- but analyzing this both everyday and extraordinary activity provides much insight into the human psyche and its drive to depend upon objects to think, feel and even love on its behalf.

[ProofProfessor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Suitably heavy but very rewarding academic essays on different aspects, and 'histories/patterns', of collecting. Superbly edited and proofread, and lovely printing, leading, binding etc. - just a very, very good product. Baudrillard's opening essay is superb