1. Of What Value, and to Whom – Your Trash, My Treasure? Penny Grennan (AHRC BGP PhD, Northumbria University)

2. Aims To examine the ways in which paintings might function as souvenirs. To identify the qualities that souvenirs share in the light of current writings by key theorists To examine the work of key artists whose own practice throws light on such issues.

3. What is a Souvenir?

5. Background There has been a growing interest in research that examines the way that our cultural, social and political perceptions of the world impact upon our understanding of aesthetics and beauty in painting. The impact of the subjective response upon the intellectual has not been examined in relation to the nostalgic as memory and I intend to contribute to this knowledge through an examination of the painting and the souvenir.

6. Background I want to understand the place of the souvenir in my own work as a painter and through that enquiry offer an analysis of the value of paintings. Through this I shall be contributing to the examination of how we understand aesthetic response in the visual, through objects.

7. What is it about Objects? The particular value of the object, its exchange value, is a function of social and cultural determinants. Its absolute singularity, on the other hand, arises from the fact of being possessed by me – and this allows me, in turn to recognize myself in the object as an absolute singular being. (2005:97) Baudrillard, J. (2005) The system of Objects. London. New York. Verso.

8. The Narrative of Origins What is the narrative of origins? It is a narrative of interiority and authenticity. It is not the narrative of the object; it is the narrative of the possessor.” (1993: 136) Stewart, S. (1993) On Longing. Durham, USA and London. Duke University Press.

9. Studio Practice as Research My painting practice offers a valuable research process. The act of collecting and painting these objects documents both a subjective and intellectual a response. My job, as a researcher is to act upon these responses and to present them. In exploring ideas through paint; I will attempt to resolve, or confront, our subjective desires in the face of the objective or intellectual.

10. The Aesthetic in Painting The painting as object The painting as image The relationship between subject and object Notions of Value Notions of Beauty

11. A Trip to the Tip

18. Distinctiveness The distinctiveness of this research lies in the attempt to integrate theory with practice through the medium of paint, thereby adding to the discourse around painting, the nature of objects and their value. This is unchartered territory. The research’s original contribution to knowledge lies in its engagement with painting as souvenir. Other practitioners have used the souvenir as art, but this research calls into question the relationship between art and souvenir.