![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
solarbirdI'm working on moving my ministudio out of the library/office/server room and upstairs into the storeroom/guestroom, thereby making it a studio/guestroom, and I'm trying to figure out what to Do with Stuff. Some of it's no problem - a lot of empty boxes being held pending expiration of warranties, things like that. G'BYE! Some is just a matter of repacking, or putting on the storage shelves in the basement.
One of the difficult cases, however... okay, this is a music journal, and I talk about my music here, but I used to be pretty seriously active as a visual artist and glass sculptor. I haven't done much of this lately - I keep my hand in, a little, doing design work, I even draw a very little once in a while. And I have this massive and completely unsorted collection of human and animal figure reference shots taken from magazines, calendars, and anywhere else that I could grab, all from the pre-web days.
I've never sorted them, or, in fact, actually ever used them. But I have two rather substantial boxes of it that I never got around to sorting. Better yet, the last time I tried, it triggered a massive allergy attack from dust and whatever. Since then, I've had a lot of allergy shots and I have a HEPA filter and I could probably open the boxes now without falling over or anything, but I'm really supposed to avoid exposure to things like that.
This is a pretty decent start to what they used to call an image morgue - sorted and filed, it'd be probably two large filing cabinet drawers. It's probably 15 years of image gathering, and I hate to throw something like that away. The odds of me ever sorting it or using it or anything is... pretty low. But not zero. And there's the allergy thing.
So. Any thoughts?
One of the difficult cases, however... okay, this is a music journal, and I talk about my music here, but I used to be pretty seriously active as a visual artist and glass sculptor. I haven't done much of this lately - I keep my hand in, a little, doing design work, I even draw a very little once in a while. And I have this massive and completely unsorted collection of human and animal figure reference shots taken from magazines, calendars, and anywhere else that I could grab, all from the pre-web days.
I've never sorted them, or, in fact, actually ever used them. But I have two rather substantial boxes of it that I never got around to sorting. Better yet, the last time I tried, it triggered a massive allergy attack from dust and whatever. Since then, I've had a lot of allergy shots and I have a HEPA filter and I could probably open the boxes now without falling over or anything, but I'm really supposed to avoid exposure to things like that.
This is a pretty decent start to what they used to call an image morgue - sorted and filed, it'd be probably two large filing cabinet drawers. It's probably 15 years of image gathering, and I hate to throw something like that away. The odds of me ever sorting it or using it or anything is... pretty low. But not zero. And there's the allergy thing.
So. Any thoughts?
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2009-07-17 04:25 am (UTC)we have metric gazillions of file boxes here, and we keep a note of their location and one-line mention of contained record series, in our house-book. works okay when one is averse to tossing useful things out.
long as you don't have to pay rent for storage space, no need to toss things when p(utility) is > zero.
my advice is of course worth what you paid for it :)
no subject
Date: 2009-07-17 07:18 pm (UTC)Also, I can't just stick them on a shelf in the basement, 'cause I'm out of shelves.
no subject
Date: 2009-07-17 01:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-17 02:16 am (UTC)Post to freecycle, maybe someone at Seattle Art Institute or something will pop up and offer to take it, dust and all?
If not, recycle.
yet another datum point for your consideration
Date: 2009-07-17 02:48 am (UTC)Hey, I never throw out anything remotely resembling 'data'.
no subject
Date: 2009-07-17 03:43 am (UTC)A dust mask and cans of Lysol spray.
I've been going through something similar, discovering that things (including magazines) I put in cardboard boxes in my basement are nasty. Some of them from cockroach invasions. (Why any of these boxes would attract those vermin I don't understand. Why one would be full of their droppings and dead bodies while those around it are pristine baffles me.) I believe mold is the biggest culprit, however. I'm slowly moving things from the cardboard boxes to plastic storage bins with tight lids. I'm putting mothballs in all of them, dehumidification packets in some, and spraying the worst thoroughly with Lysol.
Also, Febreze makes a version of its spray specifically designed to reduce allergens.
Whether or not you save those photos, you'll probably need to work with long-close boxes at some point.
no subject
Date: 2009-07-17 04:47 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-17 04:55 am (UTC)Are these closed boxes? Maybe most of the dust is on the outside?
Damp sponges or washcloths, to wipe the dust off things without lofting it into the air. Lay the images out flat for a few minutes to dry before restacking.
Outdoors/on the porch, on a breezy day, with you upwind of the photos? You might need to come up with a way to keep them from flying away.
As soon as you're done handling them, go into another room, change all your clothes, and wipe all your exposed skin and hair with a damp washcloth. Vigorously. Several times. This removes the allergens clinging to your face/hands/hair/shirt.
no subject
Date: 2009-07-17 05:56 am (UTC)I also cling to artistic thingies unreasonably. So . . .
Depends on exactly how bad the allergies are, and whether everything is dusty or just outside of boxes. The dust mask idea sounded essential.
no subject
Date: 2009-07-17 07:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-17 07:01 pm (UTC)Cathy