Classification & Taxonomy

So I have been thinking about how I can continue to exhibit the work of the participants.

Something else that I would like to include in my installation relates to an aspect of my own identity. I regard myself as being organised and systematic in the way in which I work. This trait has shaped the way in which I work, and the person that I have come to be.

I want to incorporate a sense of classification into my installation, possibly the way in which I percieve, organise, and classify the identities of the participants who have actually created responses for this project. 

I have always been inspired by the way in which things around us are organised and classified. Whether this be in folders, cupboards, filing cabinets, or art in art galleries.

By reflecting on my visit to the Bristol Museum & Art Gallery, in the main part of the museum, there were many stuffed animals that had been preserved and classified in relation to their hierarchy of all living things.

This has led me to the concept of The Taxonomic Classification of Living Things. I have researched into this, and it is a method which is used by biologists to group and categorise organisms by biological type. It's a system which uses a letters and symbols to represent the categorisation of these organisms.

I have decided to adapt this principle within my installation and personalise it to me, and the participants of the project.

I have classified all those who I have participated thus far in my project in the following way:

Kingdom - Animal = I. (The value of using "I" = Identity, 1, person.

Phylum - Humans = A.

Class - Mammals = 1.

Order - Gender = a, b, c. (Female, Male, Both (if both female and males have contributed to the same response).

Family = N (Newman) or NN (Not Newman). - Process become more personal here.

Genus - Subject Connection = Ed (education), AD (Art & Design) etc.

Species - conceptual in terms of how I percieve others in relation to myself = "STAFF", "STUDENT", or a block of colour to show my relationship with the participant in a way that reflects a personal experience.  

Using the above system, I am going to give each of the responses that I exhibit on my boards individual labels to represent this classification of the participants responses in relation to how I regard their identities to myself. 

I am planning to have 15 responses on each of the boards that I have. From a design perspective, 3's and 5's work well. I don't want my boards to be too overcrowded and too busy. A balance is needed between them. As I have decided to exhibit the participants work in sandwich bags, I would like to keep the amount of responses on each board the same to support this notion of continuity.  

I am also aware that I am not going to be able to exhibit all of the responses that have been accumalated on the five boards that I will have. So I need to think about how I can incorporate all of the responses that I have recieved to date within the installation.