Keeping the fragile, fragile

Infra-thin - Marcel Duchamp's word for measuring the almost imperceptible margins of difference between two seemingly identical items.

Infra-thin measures the all but immeasurable interslice between two things or ideas as they transit into and between one another, the passage between sense and non-sense and the delay or deferral of these passages between the senses themselves.

Infra-thin is impossible to define; it can only be illustrated.  The difference between adjectives and nouns is infra-thin.  So is the act of forgetting.
Other examples from Duchamp include an object at one time then a second later (the identity principle).  The warmth of a seat that has just been left, a stare, people who go through subway gates at the last minute.  The whistling made by velvet trousers when walking, a painting on glass seen from the opposite side, or the space between recto and verso.

How can I record these things?

I am looking at objects in the box this way.  The object as it is and the last person to touch it.  As I pick out and touch the objects, as simple as they are, I question the origin of the object, why, for instance they were saved and with the scraps of material what were they used for?

Last year for my piece Category 23 I used my own way of classifying objects that I found.

Those that attach
Those lined and written
Those that are Post-it notes
Those that are personal
Those that are rude
Those that are creatures
Those that are documents
Those that are plain
Those that are hair
Those that contain fluff
Those that are creased
Those that are large
Those that are small
Those that are organic
Those that contain words
Those that are faded
Those I cannot keep
Those that are medical
Those that are coloured
Those that are bookmarks
Those that write
Those that are parts
Those that do not fit the above categories#


As I sorted through the box of items I sorted them into categories

Those that are pointless
Those that stitch
Those that are organic
Those that fasten
Those that hold
Those that mend
Those that cut
Those that are personal
Those that are paper
Those that are tangled
Those that are sharp
Those that are useful
Those that are perished

I simplified the text

Attach
Lined
Written
Post-It notes
Personal
Rude
Creatures
Documents
Plain
Hair
Fluff
Creased
Large
Small
Organic
Words
Faded
Keep
Medical
Coloured
Bookmarks
Write
Parts

and the latest collection.....

Pointless
Stitch
Organic
Fasten
Hold
Mend
Cut
Personal
Paper
Tangled
Sharp
Useful
Perished

Ideas: screenprint large, into the different categories, use cut vinyl, boxes.

Display: Old cabinet/haberdashery, museum cases, collectors cabinet.