[IxD Studio] Reflections on Collections

For our interaction design studio class we're doing a project on collections. I don't collect much, but I do have this box of letters and snapshots that belonged to my grandparents. Most of the letters are written in Japanese, and all of the snapshots are completely anonymous. Why am I keeping this stuff? I'm not really sure, but I think my initial desire to save the letters and photos has to do with the aesthetic value -- their appeal as visual artifacts.

Already, this project has brought to the surface challenges and motivations that I did not expect. My experience with the photography exhibit at the California Historical Society was the first revelation in regards to my collection. The exhibit, I See Beauty in this Life, made it clear to me that fragments or snapshots of a story can be just as compelling as a story rich with detail. After I presented my collection, the class asked for the details of how my grandparents came to be in the situations they were in; I think this points to a key issue I need to figure out: how do I give enough detail to hook passers by, but withhold enough so there is appeal in the mystery and universality.

My presentation also changed my thoughts around translation. For starters, I had no idea how difficult it was going to be to get the letters written in Japanese translated. And, even if I get all the letters translated, how much am I missing because I grew up in a different culture and at a different time in society? Is what appeals to me in this collection actually the elements that don’t need to be translated? The act of keeping family memorabilia crosses cultures and crosses generations. Despite everything that was happening in the war and the years following the war, what my grandparents held onto were letters from friends commenting on everyday life, letters from loved ones far away, and snapshots from an afternoon.