Why are stigmas attached to adults who collect toys?
Collecting is a very natural human activity that spans all
ages and kinds of societies. In my dissertation I have investigated the
representations and motivations of adults who collect toys. I did this through
extensive exploration of the stereotypes of a collector and how these ideas
have emerged.
After researching into collecting behaviours I found there
was an extensive variety of reasons as to why people collect. To collect is a
very personal and emotional activity and I wanted to capture the emotions
within my practical piece. For instance, some collectors are motivated by the
jealousy they feel when they see fellow collectors finding items they want,
which provokes them to want it more and gives an incentive to search for the
next piece before others. Moreover, the need to own things and get envious
relates and has connotations with the colour green.
The decision for creating an unknown character was so that
they wouldn’t distract or be associated with anything else. The toys are simply
intended to be vessels that encase and capture the emotions that they would
absorb through a collectors journey. It was extremely important to have all the
characters identical to symbolise the repetition of collecting, plus they
clearly are part of a set or series. If I had the chance to continue further, I
would expand the set with more colours, as the range of emotions is vast. The
reason I chose the colours that I did over others was because I felt from my findings
that they had the most connection with a collector.
