The "Museum of Forgotten Art Supplies" has been making rounds of the web, recently.
What I cannot understand about it is how many of these "forgotten" supplies are actually not forgotten.
Obsolete computers? Marginally fitting the "art supplies" label, but alright, no one is probably using 1984 Macs nowadays. Polaroid cameras and Letraset stickers? Made obsolete by digital stuff; all right.
But ellipse templates and French curves, forgotten? Not only do I have a set hanging next to my desk, but they are still manufactured and sold. Hardly forgotten! Drafting sets? I still have my father's drafting set which is older than I am, still with all tools, and I still use it on occasion. This particular set counts as "vintage" in our day, but I had seen plenty of new ones sold in an art-and-calligraphy store in San Francisco Chinatown, so hardly forgotten by everybody. Razor blades? Rollers? Rulers?..
The book section is even more puzzling.
Designing with Type is still in print and not made less relevant by the digital tools. And if they think
Andrew Loomis is obsolete or forgotten, they should check out
conceptart.org where half the participants, me included, swear by the man's textbooks.
Then they have tape? I cannot work without tape!
It gets weirder when you see that there is a section for pens and
pencils.
I am not sure what to think. Perhaps the creator of the museum believes that if any art supply or text is not about computers, it is forgotten. There was no history before 2000!
Still, if you like to ogle art supplies or be reminded about old books on art technique, go check them out.
