Google, like hoover, has become a commonplace word to mean “internet search”. In the beginning it was simple, proud to give search results in fractions of a second. The company even had a motto: do no evil. Other search engines have since bowed to the inevitable. Google über alles.
Now? The motto is long gone. Alphabet, the parent corporation, is enormous with tentacles spreading into everything. Search results, initially just full of advertising, are now becoming garbage regurgitated by so-called artificial intelligence.
For a long time I have subscribed to the YouTube channel of the BBC Archive. In its earlier days, the channel posted selected clips from programmes, more like teasers, leaving the viewer wishing they could watch the entire programme.
Happily, in more recent times, the channel is uploading full length programmes. There are some oddities, but also some real gems. My favourites tend to be from the 1950s and 1960s. Here is an excellent example of the breed: Rathlin — the Island Betwixt and Between.
It took me quite some time to feel strong enough to pick up clearing Paul’s stuff from where I left off earlier in the year. His side of the wardrobe had become something of a dump for unwanted clothes over the years.
Feeling the time was probably right, I gathered some bin bags and began the task. One bag of good clothes found their way to the local charity shop. Two bags were filled with ratty stuff at which even moths would turn up their noses.
Right at the back, though, was a surprise. It wasn’t a secret door that led to a magical snow-covered forest. It was a school blazer.
I mentioned the British Museum’s YouTube channel in my last post, in a sort of desultory fashion. One of my favourite things is Curator’s Corner. The museum publishes the Corner in “seasons”, and we are in Season 10 at the moment. Do go and have a gander. Essentially, one of the museum’s curating staff is given 15 minutes or so to talk about their favourite pieces.
As I type, the latest video in the Corner is about some of the Sutton Hoo treasures, and how they reveal Anglo Saxon links to far corners of the world in the 6th century CE.
I have been discovering new channels – new to me, at least – on YouTube. I have been much taken, for example, by a couple of large and well-known museums that have embraced video to allow somewhat deeper explanation of their collections.
Part of what I enjoy about such channels is the care and attention that objects receive when undergoing conservation. I watched one video from the Victoria & Albert museum where a conservator worked on gently repairing an 18th century fan. I wanted to share it with you, but I can’t, oddly, find the video on the channel now. You will have to make do with this video instead, where a portrait is being carefully removed from a modern frame.
You can see a whole load more videos like this on the V&A YouTube channel. In fact, the missing fan video has now resurfaced. Here it is:
Watching these videos is something I find relaxing and educational. Often, the thought strikes me conservation and restoration is just the kind of work I would love to be involved with.
Yet, when I was at school, back in the 1970s, careers guidance never mentioned “museum conservation”. It was office work, typist, accountant, hair dresser, car mechanic, the armed forces… The thought of steering my educational qualifications towards becoming a conservator would never have entered my head. I had no inkling that such a career even existed. A whole different life might have been mapped out for me if I had known.
I now find, at my advancing age, that I am disappointed I won’t get to be a museum conservator. I will have to make do with the careful repair and restoration of models I manage to break instead!