Rainy Day Philosophies

Well, stymied by the rain, we are sitting here categorising the stories we have collected so far.  First of all we did it by the days we were out, then by the stories that were stories and those that weren't (or we couldn't read) and now we are thinking about how people can access them- or categorising them so that people can access them. 

Categorising doesn't have to be static, it can change over time.  And, change according to who is doing it.  It was important that people chose which box to put their story in, but now we have taken them out of the boxes to view them, it can no longer be so important.  It was about not being in charge somehow, but by taking them out we are in charge.  It is also important about how we direct the stories.  We thought, or we wanted, to collect histories and geographies, important bits/tales that people in Derbyshire wanted to share.  We didn't really think we had done that.  On looking at the stories, we can see that there is already a wealth of social anthropology from a personal point of view- the minutiae of everyday life. 

Sally L posed the question- 'What should we do with the stories?'  'How should we keep them?'.  Do we have a physical museum that we keep all these labels in at the end?  But where do we keep it?  Where would it be? It would be nice if it was an object that travelled around for people to see.  What about if we offered it to Tourist Information Centres?  But that is very static and institutionalised.  Then Sally N shouted 'I've got it.. Geocaching'.

How would that work with our stories?  We could slot into other people's Geocaches but that would be difficult by bike, especially if the cache was at the top of a remote mountain.  We like the idea of the stories continuing to travel and be swapped, shared and made public without using a specific building, or designated art space.  The museum then continues to be an evolving collection that travels across the world, not tied to a physical place- an adventure not an archive.  This takes our project to another group of people, geographically more diverse, not just people in Derbyshire, but people from all over the world.

So, how would we set up this Geocache?  Rather than cardboard boxes, we could use small tins- like sweetie tins and tobacco containers.  We need to start collecting. Do we use the original labels, or do we send copies?  Could we put the collection in a book?  Could we do this once the stories have travelled so that we can record in the book where they got to and who read them. 

How many more stories do we need for the museum?  We have 72 already.  Do we need to stop, or do we just keep on collecting?  Once a week- a trip out on the bikes and see who we meet without any planning.  And then, trips out without the trailer to leave Geocaches along the roadsides.  Without the trailer we could go by train with the bikes and get further in a day.  Without a trailer it would be easier to stay over.  But, since we have now used up all the funding from Derbyshire County Council and are now running the project from our own money, it would be good to secure further funding.