Collections Facilitator, Fiona Green, discusses the recent talk by Susie MacMurray, one of the artists in the exhibition, Finding the Value, currently on display at York St Marys.

When Peter Madsen left his estate and art collection to York Museum Trust in 2011 no one could have predicated the insightful exhibition that developed from his bequest.

Five artists were given the opportunity to work with objects left over from his collection that were deemed worthless, to create their own work in response to the Madsen collection and the money they gave to York Art Gallery.

This October we were lucky enough for one of those artists, Susie MacMurray, to provide us with a thought-provoking talk in St Mary’s church about the Madsen collection, which objects she selected from it and explanations about her response to it through her new artwork.

Susie chose an old suitcase of Peter’s and placed everyday objects in it wrapped in gold-plated wire to conceal the nature of the object. She also selected two paintings which she covered in gold leaf and hung them on the wall over-looking the suitcase.

Susie talked about the emotions she felt when she first walked into St Mary’s Church and saw the Madsen’s collection laid out on trestle tables for the artists to look through.

It provoked a feeling of sadness and sorrow, that these objects now had no purpose without their owner and created questions about an object’s worth to a person when it has a story and a memory behind it.

Susie wanted to pick up the objects and cradle them, protect them, and she did just that by carefully wrapping several objects in gold-plated wire.

The precious material obscures what these objects once were, and symbolises the importance and meaning they would have had to their owner, to Peter Madsen.

The fact that the objects are now covered up demonstrates the ignorance that us, as viewers, have when it comes to the history and importance that these objects once had.

We know nothing about their provenance, why Peter bought them, what impact they had on his life or where he placed them in his home.

Though these objects may have had no monetary value to the gallery, their value through their history and significance may have been great to their owner and it is sad that it has now been lost forever.

What is even more interesting is the setting of St Mary’s Church where Susie’s work is displayed. It is another example of an object being ‘recycled’ into something new.

From being a Church since the 14th Century, St Mary’s now showcases some fantastic and interesting pieces of contemporary art.

One visitor commented on how poignant the relationship between death, the Church and the left-behind objects was and in-turn created an interesting discussion about how people place value on things.

To be a part of this on-going debate and to view the artist’s responses to the Madsen collection, the exhibition Finding the Value will continue at St Mary’s church until 2nd November.