Throwaway Society, American Collectors Film

Throwaway Society

If you haven't read the book, "Cheap, the High Cost of Discount Culture", http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106431468
you really should check it out. It brings to mind so many of the clothes I've purchased lately that have fallen apart
within months of bringing home. Things are made to be replaced rather than repaired.

Contrast that with the clothes that you can find in a vintage shop. They have already been around for
over 40 years, with zippers still intact and functional. back then, it would be unthinkable to have to replace a winter
coat after one season, because the plastic snaps and zippers have disintegrated.

That's why I love to look at collections of things we use and see something made 75 years ago still
in good shape and ready to be resurected. In the documentary film, American Collectors, many of the collectors interviewed also
expressed the admiration of the quality and fact the items they collect have a long history and can still be used.

I know for myself that's why I'm attacted to older things, more care was taken in the construction and they were made to be handed down,
not thrown in the landfill. We have to thank collectors for saving these objects, they preserve our history and the planet too!

For more information about American Collectors please go to www.AmericanCollectorsMovie.com

Our Collectors, Keepers of Culture, American Collectors film

Our Collectors, Keepers of Culture

Caught the American Pickers NASCAR Challenge episode yesterday.
The boys went out to find artifacts for the NASCAR Hall of Fame. They called on people who where there in the beginning and uncovered some early artifacts. Nearly all people would have identified them as pieces of junk metal and car parts, but the items very exciting to the people at the Hall of Fame and they were delighted to get them.

The guys that saved these items, retained important artifacts and evidence of history. No matter what you may think about NASCAR, it is classic Americana and owes its start to Prohibition and the 18th Amendment.

We owe a lot to collectors who find value in things like this. The radio collector in the documentary film, American Collectors, has the history of our early communication and media on display in the Museum of Radio and Electricity in Bellingham WA

I think its important to know where we started and how we got here.

In the age of instant communication, its incredible to see where 100 years of technological advancement has gotten us.
As people rushed to get the latest upgrade, it's amazing to see what they cast aside. Looking at the elements of design and shapes of the early pieces we get an insight to what people valued.

If you ever find yourself in Bellingham WA, make the time and check out The Museum of Radio and Electricity. Its a world class museum. You can see a fraction of the vast collection in the film, American Collectors, available for download and video on demand on many digitable cable networks and IndieFlix.com

For more information please go to www.AmericanCollectorsMovie.com

The Making of American Collectors Film: by Terri Krantz co- producer / director

The Making of American Collectors Film: by Terri Krantz co- producer / director

Most of us know someone who collects- 30% -of Americans are die hard collectors, and we love them anyway. But what drives obsessions such as this? That is the beating heart and prime directive of this documentary that examines the relationship between people and their objects of desire

When we stated to think about the idea of making a film about collectors, we immediately knew what we didn't want to be.

It was 2007 and The Antiques Roadshow was the dominant collecting show, most others were independent efforts by collecting clubs or websites, and we also found a few coming out of the United Kingdom.

The main focus of these shows was about the objects collected with a very strong emphasis on how much money its worth and how much the person had paid for it. We did not want to go down that path.

We also did not want to be exploitive by finding people outside the norm, and put them on film for others to ridicule.

I've spent over twenty years in the antique business and after years of observing collectors, both as friends and clients, a few things stood out. Collectors are different.

No matter what they collect, they form an emotional attachment to objects. It may not last forever but this attachment fuels their passion which leads to a joy or purpose for some and obsession for others.

On the positive side, collectors are the keepers of our culture. If not for their efforts many important artists and artifacts which were considered to be unimportant or trivial at their time, would be lost forever.

On the negative side, strained relationships, financial ruin and isolation often accompany the drive to acquire.

When I started to research collecting, I looked at the psychological and psychiatric treatises on the subject. Most but not all, portrayed collectors as flawed humans, making up for a lack of human attention in their early years by transferring their emotional needs to inanimate objects.

In doing so, they were labeled as weak willed and obsessive, not quite normal and lacking skills in human relationships.

Its been my personal experience that collectors are quite passionate and at times can go overboard in the quest to acquire a new piece.

And yet there are other activities, such as sports fans, athletes and fishermen that routinely are very obsessed with their chosen hobby or activity that don't come under as much criticism and derision as collectors.

With these thoughts in mind, we designed our questions to find out in the collectors own words, why they were driven to collect things and what they got out of it.

Many collectors in the film said they had wondered the same thing, but had never gone about trying to give a thoughtful answer. They enjoyed pondering the questions and their answers were varied but contained similar threads of thought.

All were quite passionate about their chosen object, and enjoyed the hunt for new items. For many collectors, this is the main reason they do it, but once they get to own the item, it loses its fascination for them and they need to replace it with another. In a way, its very much like a Don Juan scenario, but with things rather than women.

Another way to describe this process is the word, “More-I-tis” . More-i-tis was mentioned by a couple of the collectors in the film. Larry, an Axe collector with over 1000 axes in his collection, in the film states “ Its like a disease called More- i- tis, the only way to cure it is to go out and find another item, then that helps for a week or two but then the effects of More- i -tis comes back”

What we found was that people collected because they found something that spoke to them in a profound way. Whether it was a toy that brought back memories of happier times, or appreciating the craftsmanship of a particular item, these objects made them happy and in many cases were a gateway to acquiring knowledge about the past and our culture. We found most people use their passion to connect with like minded people, join clubs and organizations and enrich their lives in the quest of collecting.

American Collectors Film can be seen on your Cable ( video on demand ) or IndieFlix.com

American Collectors film now on Cable VOD

Binary Recording Studio production "American Collectors" is now available on your cable system VOD ( video on demand ) A film about WHY people collect things and the relationship with their items.

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