Freddy Slater

Cleaning Out the Closet (Or Ticket Booth!)

There is something about cleaning that we automatically associate with new beginnings; a clean slate, clean sweep or clean break. Clean means fresh and new, whilst dirty means old and tired. However, there is something about dirt that gives things a character… the tarnished gleam of family silver or the frayed and discoloured edge of an heirloom rug are like the callouses on a workman’s hands or scars from our childhood, blemishes tell a story; they describe a history of use and abuse more eloquently than we realise.

In archaeology a place that’s been inhabited for generations is called a tell. The landscape swells to accommodate centuries of rubbish, rubble and refuse to such an extent that it creates an artificial hill, each layer ready to be peeled away to reveal a new chapter of history. In a sense cleaning, scraping away the dirt or washing away muck, removes the secret history of an object layer by layer. That’s what it felt like we were doing today when we cleaned out what will soon become the history archive. In scraping away the layers of paint that surround our front door we were revealing snap shots in time going all the way back to the 60′s, getting the room ready to accept a new identity as the VoQ archive, but all the while being reminded of its former use as a ticket booth.

Have you ever had a similar experience? By cleaning something have you revealed a hidden secret or a former use? Have you ever discovered anything unexpected when you’ve been cleaning or tidying?

2 responses to Cleaning Out the Closet (Or Ticket Booth!)

  1. Marc De'ath

    When we first launched the Hidden Kiosk project way back over 2 years go in the old Waiting room we uncovered so many layers of history and continue to do so as the Waiting Room project expands throughout the rest of the building

    My favourite so far has to be Kiosk 1, an old newsagents where Lucy’s Hazel gallery is now thriving nice, clean and shiny full to the brim with crafty items.

    When we first inherited the kiosks we found loads of gems from old tills, letters, retro Christmas cards and clocks to bus timetables, town centre maps and most importantly stories about the previous occupants from elderly passers by..

    Some photos below – almost unrecognisable…

    Kiosk 1
    http://share.creative.coop/image/221q3C3M0T3S
    http://share.creative.coop/image/0M1P1t1Z463R
    http://share.creative.coop/image/3C1Y470t0I3Z
    http://share.creative.coop/image/422O0w323J2b

    Kiosk 2
    http://share.creative.coop/image/2L0z0g3d090N
    http://share.creative.coop/image/120C2S3X2F0R

    Outside
    http://share.creative.coop/image/3e2k1O1E3s0d
    http://share.creative.coop/image/2x0N0d0a0541

  2. The Waiting Room | Common Libraries

    […] incubates and supports creative start-ups which have, most tangibly, included a Gallery, History Archive, Community Workshop and Bar/Café/Restaurant to date – and, all of this on a successful joint […]

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