WHY?

Why do i think you gave this assignment?
It taught me about working on something with no specific desired out come. No expectations.
It taught me to focus on one type of item and get very up close and personal with that item. Be absorbed by it.
evne though I was collecting the same thing(multiples) the things didd not seem completely the same. even when appear to be similar sometimes on closer inspection they are quite different. at the same time collecting the same thing can teach us about the things that are the same and recurring throughout. To collect something in this way is to give yourself to it to let the project define itself as time moves forward, like something unraveling or a web being created. This assignment was also important because it taught me to branch out from the original thought while still keeping the original goal.

documentation for collection

All samples were scanned at 360dpi at 8X10 inches.
I collected a variety of samples including various human, dog, cat, and bird hair.


Initially I was excited about the idea of collecting something so symbolic as hair and did not know what would come of it. In the process I learned how protective some people are with their hair and how much of outward indentity is defined by how we wear our hair. Many people asked what I was gonna do with their samples infering that I was up tp something sinister. The magical implications of having someone's hair is that you can cast spells over them with greater ease. I was surprised how many "normal" people were superstitious about this idea. When I did some digging on drug testing using hair i learned that it is pretty specific and dyes and bleaches do not affect the test, it apparently works better from the nap of the neck and with some folical attached. Still pretty amazing that an individuals substance history can be pretty accuratly determined by testing of the hair.Not to mention that our gentic code is embedded in our hair shaft.
I was thinking about hair as essence and that gave me the idea to present the samples in small jars , referencing Egyptian Canopic Jars as well as medical specimans. The idea to show the highly magnified scans larger seemed to be an obvious way to create a visual dynamic questioning size relationships.
I started to branch out and collect other hair like specimans bird feathers for example cause I liked the similarity that these adornments were quite similar to our hair _if only our hair let us fly. The visual similarities of seeing these different samples scanned and magnified was exciting to my geek side. love microphotography.
finally I realized that there are so many layers of information that exist in the world and in substances ther is an endless availabilty of visual and intellectual scapes to explore.

Proposal For Installation

One of the main things this project showed me was how there is so much beauty in the littlest of objects. hair is something that we usually take for granted -we all have it mostly and it is such a vital aprt of our identity on the genetic scale as well as on a purely vain tip. Another thing I wanted to play with in the final presentation was the idea of size contrast. This is why I have the box with the compartments and the tweezers so that the viewer will be able to extract the hairs if they wish to inspect them. This dainty size is contrasted by the larger light panels that would be covered with the even smaller view( high resolution scans) of the various samples. The juxtaposition of the tiny bottles and the large prints will create a nice dynamic between what is small being made smaller but then larger again. the box would be white plastic with seperrate compartments for the hair samples. the samples would be in uniform glass jars for viewing. There would be a small set of tweezers also housed in white plastic( Like the medical reference) . The larger scans of the hair would be uniform on the wall printed on clear acetate and mounted covering the largest light panels 16X20 maybe. Both forms of presentation would have a slick medical quality but hopefully the delicate beauty I saw in these scans will also come thru. contrrasting art and medical usese for the same samples.

4/25/08 the end is near

i do have samples i must scan them though.

4/18 /08 Last few samples..

more cat hair/fur

4/11/08

These are cat hair.

So.. hair we are again buta bump! 4/04/08

Gotta figure out what to do with all this hair.... I have afew notions brewing up.
Webster's defines hair as -any of the thread-like outgrowths from the skin.Also as -a very small space or degree.
other words for hair are-locks, wig,whiskers, eyebrow, mane, fluff, fur, down, fleece, wool

3/28/08 Hair Etc...

Ok so honsetly I am gettin alittle bit bored with just collecting hair-so i am branching out to include objects worn in the hair or used in hair mantinence.

3/21/08 Anonymous Donors

Noticing that more and more samplesa re starting to look very similar at the intensified scanning level. Don't know if I just have alot of the same anonymous hair or if there are similarities once you get to a certain level. Gonna try to collect some more specific and controlled samples for next week. Also been thinking about all the objects that are associated with ahir-brushes-barrettes- combs-ribbons-products-my fav those cool hair pins and sticks that mostly asian women wear. Might have to incorporate some of those objects. Wondering what I am gonna do with all this hair-

3/21/08 Furry Friends

More Samples 3/14/08

Aononymous Samples 3/14/08

Got a big full bag of hair from salon yesterday. At the time it all looked the same and at first glance I was rather disappointed that there seemedd to be no variety. Upon closer inspection today i was able to seperate some very distinct samples. It goes to show i thought all the hair looked the same but on closer inspection I found it was all quite different.

Bird Hair 2/29/08

Still like the idea of feathers being the bird equivalent to human hair. Also thought these samples were particularly beautiful.

More Samples 2/28/08

These samples are from a sheep in Ireland, my mother has been learning to spin and she uses sheeps wool for this. Makes me wonder if human hair would work for this purpose. Remember learning about how the hair of concentration camp victims was collected upon entry into the camp, this served partially as a method for removing each person's individuality and perhaps their sense of sexual identity as well. It occurs to me that this also happens in the military and in some religious sects.

Samples 2/29/08

Started thinking about objects that are made of hair. These images are of a makeup brush made of animal hair.

Sample 2/22/08

Didn't have alot of time this week to collect samples, been deep into indentity project. however, I did happen upon one sample in a friends yard that he agreed to let me have after a lengthy discussion about how genetic info is obtained from hair samples and what other info is stored.

Samples 2/14/08

Wondering about the old tradition of keeping a lock of a lover's hair in a locket. Was it the smell of the texture or the fact that the hair is one of the few physical parts of ourselves that can be removed without significant pain( fingernal clippings are not quite as romantic as hair) Guessing it goes to the whole hair representing sexuality thing.

samples 2/08/08

was having abit of difficulty getting donors for this project then i remembered my hairdresser friends, went to the salon to day and got anonymous samples from unsuspecting clients.Also noticed a few art pieces at The Mint Museum of Craft and design that used human hair, one was a purse with a braided hair handle, another had hair and other objects embedded in a peice using wax to seal it in. My mother told me she saw a show once that was all art made from human hair, gonna do some surfing tonight see what facts I can dig up about art encorporating human or other types of hair.

Hair and Feather Samples 2/01/08

Starting to realize exactly how personal hair is. Asked one person I didn't know very well and they wondered what Iwas really going to do with the hair and if I new that their hair could be tested for substances and also had genetic information in it. They wanted to check out the Accumulation site before releasing their sample. I remembered a film, Starman where an alien entity creates a likeness of a deceased human by photos and hair from a scrapbook. This made me think about how much has changed in human knowlege of oursleves has increased in my lifetime, the fact that you can take a starnd of hair of drop of blood and know the donors genetic make-up is pretty amazing. I'm not reall sure what would be done with this info but some people do not want their detailed physical make-up tp be public knowledge.