The most enduring childhood objects are often the ones that were never intended to be important.
A Tootsie Pop was designed to be eaten, not remembered. Yet its familiar shape, wrapper, and flavor have survived in the collective memory of generations.
That’s the heart of American Material Memory. Manufactured objects can outlive their original purpose by becoming symbols of the lives that surrounded them.
From the Artist:
By the second large orange Tootsie Pop, I understood something about these candy drawings: people didn't respond to them because they were impressed that I could draw a wrapper. They responded because they recognized something…
A flavor. A store. A childhood allowance. A friend. A moment.
Seeing all of these moments is when I realized the object was only the beginning of the artwork. The interesting part was the memories viewers shared.
That felt so big to me, the idea that a little piece of candy touched so many people differently.
The most enduring childhood objects are often the ones that were never intended to be important.
A Tootsie Pop was designed to be eaten, not remembered. Yet its familiar shape, wrapper, and flavor have survived in the collective memory of generations.
That’s the heart of American Material Memory. Manufactured objects can outlive their original purpose by becoming symbols of the lives that surrounded them.
From the Artist:
By the second large orange Tootsie Pop, I understood something about these candy drawings: people didn't respond to them because they were impressed that I could draw a wrapper. They responded because they recognized something…
A flavor. A store. A childhood allowance. A friend. A moment.
Seeing all of these moments is when I realized the object was only the beginning of the artwork. The interesting part was the memories viewers shared.
That felt so big to me, the idea that a little piece of candy touched so many people differently.
Image 1 of 6
Image 2 of 6
Image 3 of 6
Image 4 of 6
Image 5 of 6
Image 6 of 6