Found Objects

Found Object

A natural or man-made object (or fragment of an object) found (or sometimes bought) by an artist and kept because of some intrinsic interest the artist sees in it. Found objects may be out on a shelf or treated as works of art in themselves, as well as providing inspiration for the artist.(Tate Gallery)

Our popular Idiom 23 Writers' Workshop for 2011 was held on North Keppel Island, known locally and traditionally as Kanomi. The workshop this year focussed on found objects and their usefulness, both to inform writing and to provide inspiration. Our first exercise saw writers scouring the beaches of Kanomi in search of an object that attracted their eye and intrigued them. The object could be manufactured or natural, large or small, lightweight or incredibly heavy. Each object was recorded and catalogued by photographer Wes Hicks and participants were required to describe it carefully, then consider several important questions about its origins, purposes, journey to Kanomi and most importantly why they picked it up. The found objects were as interesting and varied as the stories told about their origins, and set the tone for the rest of workshop - those with lightweight and portable objects were required to carry and consider their object for the remainder of the weekend, before setting the object back in the sand or on the dunes where it was found.

Off the beach and back in the Longhouse, writers were then faced with the task of creating a piece in any genre that explored their found object and their Kanomi experience.. From this exercise stemmed a myriad of poems and stories, each as unique as the object that inspired them.

Please refer to the tabs on the left for each author and their submitted work. A photograph of their found object accompanies each piece of writing.