Throughout this whole semester, I have been thinking about objects one keeps after a significantly intimate relationship or friendship ends. Personally, I have kept a lot of objects from these similar kinds of relationships. As I was thinking of the significant value these objects hold to my identity as well as my past, I thought about others who might do the same. So, I began to ask my friends and family what objects they have kept from their past relationships.
I decided to do a video interview because I believe it is most effective at capturing true responses. I interviewed Marie Bruno (my grandma), Greg Benlien (my dad), Regina Benlien (my mom), Robert Shaw (my boyfriend), and Sky Rolnick (my friend/classmate). All of these people come from different backgrounds, genders, and ages so, I got a variety of responses for my project. Three people chose to recall objects from past friendships and two people spoke about an object given to them by an ex.
After taking feedback from my classmates, I walked around campus and asked random people about objects they have kept from their past friendships or relationships. I got a variety of answers and was pleasantly surprised by the number of people eager to be interviewed for my project. I believe these short interviews, which I interspersed in my video, strengthened my project because I got to interact with even more people about this topic.
Before I interviewed my longer segment interviewees I asked them if they wanted to participate in my video. Then we found time to meet and I recorded them on my phone. I asked them questions like, “Who gave you this object?”, “What is your relationship with that person?”, and “ Why did you hold onto this object?”. After the interview was over I asked to take a picture of their object and used a white piece of paper for the background. Once I got all my video clips and pictures, I used iMovie to edit the video. I also record a voice-over to explain what my project was about and a conclusion.
I learned a lot from interviewing my family, friends, and strangers about their objects. Each of them had a unique story associated with their object that tells me more about the person they are. I found it shocking that they all were happy to talk about the objects they selected, even though it could potentially be a touchy subject. I found it interesting that all of these stories happened a significant amount of time ago but they were able to recall the story of how they got the object as if it happened yesterday. For many of my interviewees they at first didn’t think they had any objects they held on to after an end of a friendship or relationship. Each one of them as they thought about it realized that they did in fact have something.
Overall this project taught me that the objects we hold on to after a relationship or friendship ends are how we identify with our past. These objects are not always apparent to us but they bring us comfort or in some cases pain. I infer that many people (myself included) keep these objects as a remembrance of the person they lost. This object serves not only as a reminder but as a placeholder for the person that is no longer in their everyday lives. When I was first coming into this project I thought many people threw out objects after a relationship or friendship ended. I was comforted to hear that many people keep these kinds of objects, similar to myself.
In the future, I would love to continue this work either through a longer interview documentary or maybe into a piece of artwork. I began to wonder how the person who gave the other person the object feels about them still having said object. It is so fascinating what objects we choose to hold on to and how we choose to remember the past.
Caption: Aren’t you curious about why this woman is crying? What secrets are buried within this artwork? What historical impact does this lithograph have? Who had this lithograph? Where is it now?
Physical Description of the Object: Overwhelmingly somber 18 x 15.5-inch lithograph before you. A woman in a black dress leans on the monument in a cemetery, distraught, as her handkerchief blows subtly in the wind. The monument was inscribed with the words “To the Memory of Miss Ann Hasbrouck, who died June 3rd, 1840, AGED 17 years, 8 months, 14 days”. The monument towers over the woman as an embracing willow tree seems to wrap the woman and tomb together. Pink roses flourish around the tomb as well as other plants do. In the distance, other headstones are clearly not as extravagant as this one. In the far back there is a white church. The sky is a dusty thick gray and appears to be on the verge of crying alongside the women dressed in black. At the bottom of the lithograph says “Lith. and Pub by N Currier 2 Spruce Street NY”.
Provenance: This lithograph was first created in approximately 1840-1856 by Nathaniel Currier. Nathaniel Currier was born on March 27, 1813. He learned the art of this printing technique in Philadelphia and moved later to New York to pursue his love of lithography further. Currier and his business partner James Ives created over seven thousand different prints of American culture, everyday life, and American leaders. Together they were unstoppable and became the most celebrated lithographers. A majority of their lithographs were affordably priced so a wide range of people could purchase their work. Their work touched so many lives by depicting American culture throughout America and the rest of the world. Currier died on November 20, 1888, and Ives died on January 3, 1895. Historians from Huguenot Street believe this artwork was probably created near the end of Ann Hasbrouck’s life. Historians from Huguenot Street say they purchased it in 1979 and it is currently housed in “Grimm: Painting Storage: Unit 2:Shelf B: Rack 1” (McGoldrick and Patkus). However, they do not know the chain of ownership prior to the purchase.
Date(s) of Creation Narrative: Many people walk by art in museums and never stop to read where this art has come from or the significant value of what they are looking at. As of recently I have been self-aware of this habit and try to take time to read the artist’s statement when I am at a museum. I have been researching a lithograph that is currently untitled and found in the storage at Hugenote Street. Historians at Huguenot Street refer to this lithograph by calling it “Mourning Scene for Miss Ann Hasbrouck”. If my former self saw this hanging in a museum I probably would have taken a moment to appreciate it and moved on to the next piece of art. I am so glad I was assigned this object because this lithograph has a powerful and deep historical significance to New Paltz’s history that many people do not know about.
This lithograph was created by Nathaniel Currier and purchased by the Hasbrouck family in memory of Ann Hasbrock’s passing. The Hasbrouck family were French Huguenots who left France and later moved to the Locust Lawn in New Paltz. The site was later donated to Huguenot Street in 1958. One of the very first settlers Josiah Hasbrouck passed the family farm business to his son Levi Hasbrouck. Levi continued his family legacy and generated sustainable wealth. It is also critical to identify that the Hasbrock family did have slaves working on their property.
Ann Hasbrouck is the woman’s name depicted in the lithograph. She was born on September 18, 1822. Ann was the eldest of the Hasbrouck family. She died on June 3, 1840. This monument is fictional so, one could not visit this sight today. You can find however her headstone in the New Paltz Rural Cemetery.
This item is historically significant because regardless of your class, anyone could purchase these lithographs from Currier and Ives. At Huguenot Street, it says that it is of good quality which means that this lithograph was kept in good care and this was something of value to the family. When I put this image into Google Images a variety of lithographs were generated with a variety of names. This is because black and white lithographs were only six cents and hand colored were twenty cents. Larger works could be purchased for anywhere between three to five dollars which is equivalent to eighty to one hundred and twenty dollars today. It was shocking to see that the monument and the willow tree in the “Mourning Scene for Miss Ann Hasbrouck” are almost identical to those in the other images. Currier and Ives created a variety of lithograph that was mass printed and left the grave or memorial blank so families could personalize the name of the person who died. People who purchased this could fill in the names of those who passed away. I found it shocking to note that Walmart has replicas of them, you can purchase anywhere between approximately ten to forty dollars.
I concluded that this object shows that regardless of your class, New Paltz and the rest of America, could remember their loved ones in a similar way. I find it interesting that anyone could purchase from the artist’s collection of work. This reminds me of how today people all buy from the same products or stores. This further shows how they mourn their dead and how they further preserve their memory. It is evident that there is still so much we don’t know about the “Mourning Scene for Miss Ann Hasbrouck”.
References
1830; Census Place: New Paltz, Ulster, New York; Series: M19; Roll: 106; Page: 233; Family History Library Film: 0017166
Ancestry.com. 1830 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.
Ancestry.com. 1850 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.
Ancestry.com. New York, U.S., State Census, 1855 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013.
Fifth Census of the United States, 1830. (NARA microfilm publication M19, 201 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C.
The National Archives in Washington D.C.; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census; Record Group Number: 29; Series Number: M432; Residence Date: 1850; Home in 1850: New Paltz, Ulster, New York; Roll: 608; Page: 329a
In our group project, I wanted to continue the discussion on cloth proverbs used in Ghana. These textiles displayed in the exhibit are from 1990’s and are used to share messages and stories. The material displayed carries a rich history as well as very beautiful and detailed artwork. As I was thinking about cloth proverbs, I began to ponder other ways people use material/textiles to share their stories.
In Ghan, featured in the Smithsonian exhibit titled African Voices, cloth proverbs are material that shares a story. These cloths are made into clothing for different occasions. The intricate patterns are almost like keys; if you know the pattern, you know the message. These clothes become a way to communicate non-verbal with people in your community. Many of these cloth proverbs are made into funeral attire but other cloths are used for more day-to-day attire. Some of the cloth proverbs translate to themes of jealousy, greed, and intention. The proverb says, “ A royal doesn’t cry… Not everyone has the good fortune of being born into royalty, so one must be prepared for hard time” (CITE). This proverb is reminding the wearer that not everyone has the same kind of status and wealth. Each cloth shows the values and mindsets of the people in Ghana. Many of these cloth proverbs carry oral stories and traditions passed down from generation to generation.
In comparison, in Lesotho, South Africa, it is common for people to wear Basotho blankets. They are very colorful and intricately designed. The Basotho blankets protect them from the cold but more importantly, they are “statues symbols and cultural identification” (Faces of Africa). These blankets are specially designed to protect the wearer from wind, rain, and extreme temperatures. Basotho blankets have three different class rankings to show status. They rank from acrylic to wool and cotton made for royalty. It is said that the first blanket was given as a gift to King Moshoeshoe by a British trader. The King began to wear this garment in a similar way indigenous people of Southern Africa wore animal skins. In the article, it quotes Elizabeth Masetho a waitress and a cultural activist when she says, “You have to know the history behind each pattern and why is that pattern there and what happened in Lesotho, You have to know your history in order to understand your future…” (Face of Africa). Each blanket had deep cultural stories woven into each stitch of its making. Traditionally, men will pin the blanket on their shoulders and women will pin the blanket across their chest.
The Smithsonian exhibit, African Voices, that highlights these cloth proverbs, I believe did not do a good job of displaying these objects. From what I could see of the exhibit, it had limited information on these cloth proverbs. I was wondering how these clothes were acquired and if the translation provided was accurate. In addition, there is hardly any information on the artists that created these cloths. As I being to look at museum description, the more I find the need to add additional information to make it a well rounded description. Much of these descriptions in this exhibit are detailed so that the viewers are satisfied enough not to ask any more questions. I wonder if the artists in Ghana where asked about how these cloths were displayed in the museum .
Today, in our society, we use materials and textiles for a variety of purposes. It is important to see what kinds of messages your clothing projects to the world. No matter where you live or in what time period, we have always used materials and textiles as a form of communication and storytelling.
I have always preferred browsing over scrolling for most things. I love going to malls, stores, small businesses, and even thrift stores, for the fun of the search. However, I do think scrolling has its advantages especially when you are in a pinch for time or a certain store is inaccessible to you.
I chose to search for a new book. I didn’t care what genre, author, or style the book was, as long as it looked interesting. I am a book worm and I can spend hours upon hours in a bookstore, so it was hard for me just to find one.
On the first day of this experiment, I decided to browse first because I have a large bias toward bookstores. The first store I went to was Barnes and Noble in Poughkeepsie. I spent about two hours going through each row and taking my time wandering the store and seeing what covers caught my eye. I noticed in Barnes and Noble that the books that first caught my eye were on display or set aside from the other books on the shelf. For example, each table of books in the front of the store had a cohesive theme, whether that was black history, romance, on-sale fiction, or highlighted classics. This reminded me of how online stores such as amazon push the items they want to sell by displaying them aside from other items. I found Barnes and Noble had an overwhelmingly large selection of books in stock. I took notice of how other customers either were on their phones or quickly grabbed the book they were in search of and left the store.
The other bookstore I went to was Inquiring Minds Bookstore in New Paltz. These kinds of small business bookstores are my favorite way to buy books. As a person who loves everything neat and organized; I believe a messer bookstore is a better bookstore. I find the organized mess provides an extra element of searching for a book. I also feel there’s nothing that beats the smell of an old bookstore. I spent about another two hours in Inquiring Minds Bookstore. I personally like used books, so I had a blast uncovering all of my findings. I feel bookstores like this allow you to be surprised with what you find, free from expectations.
On the second day of this experiment, I scrolled the internet to see what books would catch my eye. I first went on Amazon and because I bought countless books from there, I was already getting recommendations for books Amazon thinks I would like. While this is a nice feature of online shopping it doesn’t always work. For example, I just recently bought a few textbooks along with book gifts, thus causing my recommendations to be skewed. I found that books on Amazon are a lot cheaper than at a bookstore like Barnes and Noble. However, in comparison books from thrift bookstores like Inquiring Minds were cheaper than both of the other stores. I found an infinite amount of books that simply no one could go through all of them. Scrolling through Amazon took me about an hour. I was able to find a lot that interested me in a short period of time.
Lastly, I checked out an online thrift book store called ThriftedBooks. This was my first and definitely not the last time I will be using this sight. I spent about an hour on this site. The deals we insane and as little as four dollars. There was a variety of used and new books. You could also select the condition you wish to purchase your book. My only critique is, what qualifies as a good or acceptable standard for thrift books is objective, so there is a bit of a gamble. They also had other categories such as video games, movies, and music I looked through as well.
This experiment was truly eye-opening in the differences between Browsing vs. Scrolling. I came to the conclusion that for some items like household essentials and everyday products, online shopping is a great resource to have. However, when it comes to items we hold close to our hearts, I think browsing is the best. I learned that there is nothing like holding a book in your hand and thumbing through shelves rather than just scrolling through pictures of covers. There is definitely an intentional connection when browsing for books otherwise not provided through the internet. I am a known wanderer in bookstores so I find that I go up and down every aisle thus discovering finds I would not have seen had I been scrolling for a book on the internet. For example, I don’t read many psychology or self-help books but I found “Thinking Fast And Slow” by Daniel Kahneman really appealed to me. You never know what you are going to find and who you might meet along the way. Sometimes you won’t find exactly what you are looking for but you might find something even better. Even though it is time-consuming I believe it is a privilege to browse rather than scroll.
The object I chose to trace is a wooden mortar pilon from Puerto Rico that was my great-great-grandmother’s, Felicidad Rodriguez Baez. Pilons are handmade traditional kitchen item in Puerto Rico. It is used for a variety of purposes but it is most commonly used to mash garlic into powder. Garlic is extremely popular in traditional Puerto Rican cooking and they use the pilon to prepare garlic for meal preparation by smashing it, turning it into a paste like substance. Many people use this kitchen tool to make mofongo which is a traditional Puerto Rico dish that is made up of green plantains and chicharrón (crunchy pork skin). While I have never had mofongo, my dad tells me it is a savory dish with a subtle sweet flavor from the plantains.
My great-great-grandmother, Felicidad Rodriguez Baez, bought this item in her youth from a craftsman Merchant at the market in Dorado, a beach near my great-great-grandmother’s house. She had many pilons at her house but this one, in particular, caught her eye because of the artistic markings. This pilon, in particular, she used throughout her life and prepared many meals with it. When my great-grandmother, Carmen Baez was engaged, Felicidad gave it to her as a gift to start her new life with her husband, my great-grandfather Ignacio Cruz. Same as her mother, she used this very pilon to make these same traditional dishes.
My great-great-grandmother, Felicidad Rodriguez Baez, and her husband Modesto Baez wanted to move to America for a better opportunity. While Carmen stayed in Puerto Rico her daughter, my grandmother, Sandra Coffey moved with her grandparents when she was twenty years old. Her mother, Carmen, gave her the gift of the pilon to bring with her to America.
My grandmother, Sandra, and her grandparents moved to America and settled in St. Louis, Missouri. Even though my grandmother, Sandra, visited her mother frequently, she was homesick for her mother’s cooking in America. Cooking, for my grandmother, was a bridge between her Puerto Rican culture and American cuisine. As she learned to make American dishes she would always incorporate a Spanish twist. For example, she would make meatballs but use the pilon to grind her fresh herbs into seasonings. After my grandmother was married she had my dad, Greg Benlien. He tells me that he has so many memories of his mom and him talking in the kitchen as she would make dinner with the pilon. My dad was always very close with his mom, Sandra, so when he turned ten years old he started to express an interest in cooking. My grandma was so thrilled that she would spend every Sunday cooking with my dad and teaching him traditional meals she learned from her mother back in Puerto Rico.
When my dad was eighteen years old, he was working at CPI and there was a call from the New York office with a problem. The caller on the other line was my mom, Regina Bruno. As they fixed the problem that should have only taken five minutes to fix, they sat on the phone for hours talking. My parents had a long-distance friendship but a year later my dad came to visit my mom in New York. They began to date and four years later they got engaged. When my dad was packing up and leaving St. Louis, my grandmother gave him the pilon to bring with him to New York. After my parents got married a year later they had me. Ever since I could remember this pilon was an active kitchen tool in my house. When I was just four years old I learned how to mash garlic with it just like my great-great-grandmother did. Today, the pilon sits by my oven and I try to invent new ways to use the pilon in new dishes I come up with. I hope I can pass this important family heirloom to my children one day and tell them the story of this pilon.
The object I decided to describe is a single, pointe shoe that was a part of my very first pair. I got these on October 22, 2017, and wore these for about two years.
The shoe is wrapped in a smooth champagne pink satin. When the light hits the shoe it shimmers. One can see the diminutive fibers and threading when it is held up to the light. If one scratches their nail on the material of the pointe shoe, it creates a zipper-like sound.
Front View Pointe Shoe in Comparison to Pen
The shoe is about 7 ½ inches tall. It is shaped like a bowling pin, small at the top, pinched at the sides, round and thick, and then tapered at the base. The pointe shoe is wrapped in this traditional storage way creating a “y” shape at the top. The top of the pointe shoe is about an inch to an inch and a half in thickness. In the middle, between where the two lines of the “y” meet is a rectangle reinforcement strip that covers where the two sides of the shoe are sewn. This rectangle is tall and about one inch thick with a single stitch on either side. The satin on the very top and down the reinforcement strip of the shoe is lightly dusted with a gray tarnish. It is squeezed with a light pink satin ribbon about 7/8th of an inch in thickness. It appears that the ribbon is wrapped six times on top of each other, around the neck of the shoe. It looks as if the ribbon is acting like a corset containing and shaping the pointe shoe to this particular shape. The wrapping of the ribbon causes a ripple of creases to occur. Just below the ribbon, the shoe has a teardrop opening where a foot may go when it is unwrapped and unfolded. This teardrop shape is outlined with a 5/16th of an inch smooth material that is the same color as the ribbon, sewn together with a single line stitch. The teardrop outlined encases two thin, cylinder, ribbed elastic strings that are the same color as the outlined material. The elastic string is about 5 ½ inches long and knotted at the base. The remaining elastic string is pushed inside the pointe shoe.
The inside of the teardrop hole has a worn, hard, canvas material with grey fibers. There is also a small metal circle that appears nailed into the canvas near the middle top of the opening.
The toe box of the pointe shoe is harder than any other part of the shoe and makes a knocking sound when hit.
Bottom of the Toe Box
The bottom of the toe box is sideways oval-shaped, worn with light gray tarnish similar to the top of the pointe shoe. The side of the oval closer to the back of the shoe has a little less than a one-inch sideways rectangle that is curved at bottom of the shoe. This rectangle shows many parallel strings that were once satin.
Bottom of Pointe Shoe
The rectangle from the top of the pointe shoe wraps around the back of the shoe and escapes under an upside side down egg-shaped leather sole. The leather is a milk chocolate brown color with single white stitching around the perimeter. The leather is also tarnished with a grey dusting and has six upward-facing curve designs pressed into the leather. Below the last curve is the number “4 ½” pressed into the leather of the shoe. Below that, are two capital “X’s” again pressed into the leather. The tip of the upside-down egg-shaped leather is cut off by the ribbons that wrap around the pointe shoe. The ribbons are crossed over each other making a small “y” pattern. It seems that the outer layer of ribbon that is on the front of the shoe is tucked under another piece of ribbon in the back. A small piece of the ribbon escapes the tuck and dangles outside this fold. The tip of the escaped piece of ribbon is folded and clumsily sewn with a cotton candy-colored string. The small piece of freed ribbon is frayed at the bottom and has pulls near the stitching. Below this, at the center base, is another leather sole that is in the shape of a candy corn that is the same color as the other sole with a darker grey tarnish dusting. The top of the sole has what looks to be a little metal staple puncturing the leather. Below this metal piece is the numbers “50172.” pressed into the leather. Under this is the word “BLOCH” in all capitals and the letters look slightly stretched, pressed into the leather. Under this is seven downward-facing curve designs pressed into the leather that becomes more faded at the bottom. Tucked underneath this leather sole are ten satin folds from the satin that wraps around the entire shoe. The middle folds are dusted in grey and again one sees the worn strings that appear to be the remains of satin.
The Materials of History, Thought, and Art 