Treviso, December 2010. People like to surround themselves with objects, it’s part of our nature. Whether they are useful, decorative, beautiful, ugly, common or rare, we can’t help but leave clues everywhere as to our identity. Our objects reflect who we really are, and who we want to be, so says Peter Gabriel in the introduction to the book “COLORS Extra/Ordinary Objects” published by Taschen back in 2000.

In the year of its 20th anniversary, COLORS has decided to dedicate the winter 2010-2011 edition to collectors: those who amass, categorise and catalogue objects of the same type. They may be collectors of nature, works of art or, in most cases, everyday objects which, because they are rare, distinctive or represent something special, become extraordinary cult objects, steeped in memories that feed passions and obsessions.

True to its tradition as a ‘magazine that talks about the rest of the world’, COLORS 79 “Collector” seeks to celebrate the diversity of local cultures and of creativity, casting a contemporary eye on tradition and crossing the boundaries between ordinary and extraordinary, between reality and representation. These objects of desire, refined, coveted and exchanged, thus become the pretext for a journey into the history of design, graphics and industrial production, and at the same time, into the habits, interests and needs of human beings.

There are those like 61-year-old American Becky Martz, who collect the labels stuck on bananas in shops. A short-lived item, made to be thrown away, but when catalogued and organised, it acquires its own aesthetic value, and can even seem beautiful. Or 43-year-old Jens Veerbeck from Germany, who was captivated by the different forms of bread-turning mechanisms, leading him to bring home some 600 old toasters. For Jens the design of each toaster “is like a little window that opens on the trends of a decade in a given country”. Patti Gaal-Holmes from England, on the other hand, collects used tea bags. She says that the collection is a kind of log of personal consumption, and each tea bag is a “time capsule” full of memories.

And just this once, COLORS will also feature itself: indeed, one of the stories talks about Liú Marino, a COLORS fan who lives in Chile, and who has never missed a single issue of the magazine in 20 years.

Numerous prominent personalities have also accepted the editorial staff's invitation to contribute to “Collector”. From the interview with Martin Parr, a famous English photographer and collector of books, postcards, watches and political memorabilia, to pieces written by four internationally renowned design curators and critics: Cristina Morozzi, journalist, exhibition curator and art director of Skitsch; Pierre Doze, French journalist and writer; Kanki, editor of the Japanese design magazine AXIS, and Italian architect and journalist Marco Romanelli.

COLORS 79 “Collector” is edited by French designer Sam Baron, in collaboration with the design department at FABRICA, which he directs.

Colors 79 – Collector

At newsagents, bookshops and in the App Store in mid-December 2010 in four bilingual editions (English + Italian, French, Spanish or Korean).

Available online from the website

http://www.staffonline.biz/colors/htm/page.php