Nadia Scott

Baby teeth, birthday cards, bus tickets, teddy bears, wedding bands — throughout our lives, we collect and curate personal archives of objects: objects that hold sentimental value through the memories we attach to them. Though often banal or bizarre from a distance, these objects anchor us to specific moments, places, and people, collectively forming a record of who we are and whom we love. How, then, do we determine which objects — and, in turn, which memories — are worth keeping?

My project takes the form of an extensive collection of sentimental objects displayed on cards, with each object assigned ratings based on sentimental, functional, universal, and monetary value. These cards highlight the vast range of artefacts gathered over a lifetime while acknowledging the impossibility of objectively rationalising such deeply personal attachments.

This project is an accumulative study of memory and the emotional tension that arises from being “overly” sentimental.