Yard Sales: A Book and an Exhibition: From Selling Off Objects to Redeeming Memory
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3384/cu.2000.1525.1571123Keywords:
Yard sales (vide-greniers), objects, memory, exhibition, second-hand, FranceAbstract
The fate of everyday objects, when they reach the end of their lives — worn out, and sometimes even broken — varies a great deal. In some cases, their remains are exhibited in museums as instances of our heritage; in others, they end up in garages and attics, or are simply disposed of. This paper focuses on the social operations surrounding the redefinition of their status as second-hand objects. We pay special attention to what happens when they are requalified as objects of memory in yard sales. Over the past thirty years, such markets — where personal stories change hands — have become favoured destinations for Sunday outings in France. They are open-air museums, where new memories are cobbled together from old objects. We attempt to show what is at stake in these transactions and transitions through a presentation of a book and an exhibition (2011-2012) devoted to French yard sales.
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