I am not usually the type of person who can summon a quote off the top of their head but one came to mind as I looked around the Rock And Roll Public Library in St Giles. This is a collection of pop culture and ephemera accumulated by Mick Jones – of The Clash and Big Audio Dynamite – and it’s gloriously random nature reminds me of something I once read about collecting: “The most important item in any collection is always the next one”.
The Rock And Roll Public Library includes all manner of Clash and BAD-related material: lyrics, tapes, costumes, instruments, props etc. But it also includes loads of stuff. Comics, VHS tapes, posters, flyers, toys, board games – the sort of ephemera that collectively explains how we become ourselves, how we develop our areas of interest and points of references, our personal passions or things that, for some reason, struck a chord at a particular moment in our lives.
I particularly liked the colour-coordinated montages of otherwise unconnected items. There were also areas set up to look like Jones’s childhood home, and areas that focused on specific themes – Americana, Elvis and WWII for instances – showing how these influenced his musical approach both in the Clash and BAD.
I’m told that this this exhibition constitutes less than half-a-percent of the objects that Jones has collected – and continues to collect. The exhibition at the Farsight Gallery on Flitcroft Street – comes with a fantastic hardback magazine about the collection, the first of three planned issues that will come out during the year.
It’s open daily 12-7pm and entry is free. Get there before it closes on March 16 – although there are rumours of an extension.
https://farsightcollective.com/
The Great Wen 