I've been desiring to the attend COSI's The Titanic Exhibition ever since I first heard about it. I don't know if it is the artist in me, the mystery, the legend ---- myths, drama, the sense of sadness of the tragedy, or that miracle that people actually survived in such harsh conditions but the story of Titanic has always fascinated me. Anyways, yesterday Don decided it was time he took me to actually see the exhibit. One word can only describe the experience, AMAZING! If anyone gets the opportunity to see this exhibit, GO! We walked among huge pictures which featured everything regarding Titanic from its history of shipbuilding, facts, and figures regarding the ship, the birth of the legend, to design features that made Titanic unique, learned about the launch of the voyage, facts and myths; we saw actual underwater footage of the recovery efforts and viewed actual artifacts retrieved from the depths of the Atlantic.
Upon entering the exhibit, Don and I were given boarding passes that resemble the actual tickets of the original passengers aboard the Titanic. I received a boarding pass for Mrs. Stephen Hold {Annie Margaret Hill} Ticket # 26707, who sailed from Southampton on the 10th of April, 1912, at the age of 36 from Cornwall, England accompanied by her husband, Stephen Hold in 2ND class. Stephen and Annie had traveled to England due to an illness in the family and after several months of visiting, the couple were returning to America. The Holds were transferred to the Titanic because of the coal strikes. Annie survived the tragedy being saved from lifeboat #10; while her husband, Stephen, didn't survive.
I did some investigating via the internet, to discover some information re: Annie, to discover she returned to Sacramento for a short while after the death of her husband before returning to forethought's to live with her grandfather, James Hill.
Don's ticket or boarding pass states, "Ticket #PC 17757" Sailing from Cherbourg on 10th of April 1912 as Colonel John Jacob Aster IV, at age 47,originally from New York, New York accompanied by his wife, Madeleine Force Aster, a maid, Rosaline Bidois, Caroline Endres {nurse}, Victor Robbins {manservant}, and their dog, Kitty, an Airedale. {I discovered there were 5 dogs aboard the Titanic}. They traveled 1st class after being on an extended honeymoon in Europe and Egypt, partly to get away from the gossip about their differences in age. (Madeline was 18; Astor was 47). The couple decided to return to the US when they learned that Madeline was pregnant. Colonel Astor was the richest man aboard the Titanic, thought to be worth about $100 million dollars. John Jacob Astor did not survive.
As an artist the fascination with Titanic has always intrigued me, so I believe I may just take this as an opportunity to create something with the Titanic theme and use our "assigned boarding passages" as an opportunity to create something. Whether that something will be a scrapbook or a handmade book, I've yet to decide........ however, I welcome the opportunity to create something in a theme that has always fascinated me. I think it will be fun to research and discovery actual facts, photographs, and memorabilia for this project.
For souvenirs, I picked up two Titanic postcards, saved our tickets to the COSI exhibit, "our boarding passages", and a softcover book titled, "TITANIC - The Artefact Exhibition" which contains a lot of the actual facts, photographs, items on display at the exhibit and so on. I believe this will be fun to do, recreate --- even fictiously, a storyline, a work of art to treasure and a bit time-consuming, although I'm certain the results and the chance to experience it will be time well-spent.
No comments:
Post a Comment