The Thousands

Before it was cool to serve beverages inside them, glass jars were used by my family to collect odds and ends around the house. Containers emptied of Strawberry Jam were aligned around the garage, filled with nails, screws, nuts and bolts. I couldn’t see it as a child, but those jars were indeed a mini-exhibition concerning the things we place aside for future use.

The Conservatorium speaks to both the practice and thematic impulses behind an empty jar. Curated by Proximity’s Renae Coles and Perth Zine Collective’s Anna Dunhill, this exhibition will be the first hosted in the recently opened Paper Mountain, an artist-run community centre which will be decorated by multiple mini-spaces of the glass, plastic or ceramic variety. Amongst the artists involved are such luminaries as photographer Jackson Eaton, artist Sheridan Coleman and writer Lily Chan. Even a live school of fish will be present within one container in Abdul-Rahman Abdullah’s Life Support System – talk about creativity in confined spaces!

Like a plastic Peanut Butter jar of Allen keys, The Conservatorium reminds us that the most essential of items exist in the tiniest of spaces, prompting us to reflect on what we store away. Not only what we collect for future preservation, but for past introspection.