[Winter 2001-2002]
Veli Granö, Esko Rahkonen, Old Cars, colour print from the series Tangible Cosmologies, 1993-1996. © Veli Granö
Veli Granö, Asko Kalkusalo, Mouse Traps, Small Game, Traps, Stuffed Small Mammals, colour print from the series Tangible Cosmologies, 1993-1996. © Veli Granö
Veli Granö, Erkki Kahru, Eero Karhu, Old Tractors, Chainsaws, Agricultural Machines, colour print from the series Tangible Cosmologies, 1993-1996. © Veli Granö
Veli Granö, Timo Lehtonen, Railroad Tank Cars, colour print from the series Tangible Cosmologies, 1993-1996. © Veli Granö
Veli Granö, Ilmari Joronen, Sound Systems, colour print from the series Tangible Cosmologies, 1993-1996. © Veli Granö
Veli Granö, Osmo Pulkkinen, The TV Museum of Central Finland, colour print from the series Tangible Cosmologies, 1993-1996. © Veli Granö
Veli Granö, Timo Tuomivaara, Handcuffs and Chains, colour print from the series Tangible Cosmologies, 1993-1996. © Veli Granö
Veli Granö, Aune Kivistö, Empty Bottles, colour print from the series Tangible Cosmologies, 1993-1996. © Veli Granö
Veli Granö, Jaakko, Army Helmets, colour prints from the series Tangible Cosmologies, 1993-1996. © Veli Granö
Summary
Today’s collector is of a new kind: a historian, a restorer of meaning. This figure, the expert collector, shows us where our past is hidden and how we can rediscover it. Such collectors give meaning and historical perspective to everyday objects and convey this meaning to the millions of consumers who use the same objects. They are able to give a new value and content to objects that have been pronounced vain and condemned to destruction. They are champions of microhistory, history that is the size of the human experience of the everyday.