Are you talking to me? : Jim and Mary Barr on collecting

Abstract

Well-known collectors Jim and Mary Barr discuss their collection, it's history, the motivations behind it and it's rewards. "People collect things because they want to have them close at hand; to have the opportunity for a long-term relationship with selected objects, whether that relationship is meditative or comparative, competitive or collaborative. This is as true for collectors of stamps as it is for those who collect cars, books and art. Some collections go beyond goes beyond these more conventional needs and develop what Walter Benjamin called a "passion [that] borders on the chaos of memories?."