Commission Unit: Research Questionnaire

After my initial ideas & research I have decided to begin honing in on my concept by doing a questionnaire which I have decided to focus on materialistic ideas & waste mainly to do with clothing. I expanded these ideas by exploring my mum’s attic where I found lots of my old baby clothes & toys, christening dress, my mum’s wedding dress & even some of my grandmother’s clothes. Therefore I chose to investigate other people’s ideas of waste & memories by handing out my questionnaire to people at my mum’s work; I did this as I felt it would be the best age range for this research.   

These are the following questions I asked & each individual’s answers:

Questions:

1.      Do you have any children?

 2.      Do you keep things from the past & if so what sort of items?

 3.      If so, why do you think you do this & if not why do you think others do?

 4.      If you answered Q.2 as ‘yes’, do they remind you of certain events in your life? Give  examples.

 5.      What is your definition of the word ‘waste’?

Answers:

Participant a

1.      No

2.      Photographs & jewellery

3.      Keepsakes, see how people have changed, fashions etc.

4.      When I was younger, memories of parents & late relatives

5.      Not needed items of good items that are not used, bad purchases.

Participant b

1.      Yes, 2

2.      Yes, some of my children’s toys & clothes, some of my clothes from when I was younger

3.      They bring back memories, it’s nice to remember times as the years seem to come and go very quickly

4.      Both my children’s 1^st pair of shoes, a favourite outfit I used to dress them in, my wedding dress, 2 jumpers that my husband bought me before we were married (I no longer wear them though!)

5.      I mainly think of food as waste, out of date food or food left uneaten, although waste covers a multiple of things including paper.

Participant c

1.      Yes, 2

2.      Photos, school reports, birthday & mothers’ day cards, christening gown, certificates

3.      Part of my family ‘memory bank’

4.      Christening, mothers’ day, Christmas, births, wedding

5.      Some things thrown away which has a use.

Participant d

1.      Yes, 2

2.      Birth docs & clip, 1^st playschool pictures, photographs from school days

3.      Memorabilia, to show my children when they get older- sentimental

4.      Days & months leading up to birth, my children’s progression leading up to adulthood.

5.      Unwanted items.

Participant e

1.      Yes, 2

2.      Kids 1^st teeth, 1^st birthday cards, 1^st pair of shoes, hospital bracelets, old brochures (from Canada holiday), parents personal items, my Nan’s personal items

3.      These items hold memories of my babies. Parents and Nan’s stuff hold memories of growing up, my childhood. Holiday memories, happy times. Maybe others don’t want to hold on to the past but I do.

4.       The birth of my boys- the best moments in the world. Canada- seeing my uncle and cousins, being so far away, hadn’t seen them for years. Personal items- Mum, Dad, Nan- they have all passed away and I miss them, it makes me feel closer to them and brings back happy childhood memories.

5.      Rubbish, items that serve no purpose. Items that you have no connection with that take up unnecessary space. Things that hold bad memories I would throw away.

From the questionnaire I found that people with children in particular kept things which reminded them of their childhoods & events that are based around this eg. christening, birth etc. When asked why they did this most believe the items hold memories, sentimentality, as the years pass quickly & memories fade if not renewed by the items. This in itself highlights societies attachment to items & materialistic ways. For those without children, kept items were more about reminding them of their own childhood & past such as fashions which highlights the question of whether keeping clothing as memories isn’t wasteful if they’ve gone out of fashion and wouldn’t be used again anyway.

When I asked people their concept of waste there seemed to be two main descriptions, the first is that it is stuff that people don’t need anymore and therefore throw away. The second concept is that waste is when things that are usable are not used, things thrown away that still have a use either by themselves or others.

I’m now going to start researching a variety of different photographers and artists who explore these ideas of materialistic waste; I’m particularly intrigued by this idea that an item of clothing can have only one use per person that wears it such as a wedding dress due to the title given to it.