Here’s a change in perspective that slapped me in the face today. I was walking through Jimbocho and passed by a “vintage goods” shop full of Rolleiflex cameras, Zippo lighters, and Omega watches. What shocked me were the two neon green and orange plastic Swatches from the early 80s.
Could 1984 possibly be vintage? Antique? Oh,please…no!
I spent the rest of my walk pondering the concepts of old, antique and vintage. What do I think of as antique? Certainly any thing older than the 40s qualifies. Stuff from the 50s were my parents’ things growing up so some of them were in my childhood home. They were old, but not antique. Certain items from the 60s seem antique—mainly things that I use the modern equivalent of today: 1960s computers are antiques. Anything from the 70s forward, though, I can’t classify as vintage.
It boils down to “anything older than me” is antique. Things that existed from the time I became cognizant of the world simply are not old enough to be antiques. I imagine that this will hold true even when I am 100.
Those Swatches will never be antiques. But they will always be tacky.
I don’t think I necessarily seek to include either the modern or the ancient in my creative work. But I do rely on places, people and things that influenced me growing up and as an adult. That means that people older than me have a much richer selection of influences and that I have more depth to draw from than a teenager.
So what’s antique or old to you? Do you think that your childhood “contemporania” influences your art and creativity?
Posted by kuri at October 01, 2004 09:50 PM