Paul Ellis is a transplant to California from another place much like so many of us. Originally from Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, he studied costume and clothing design in college before relocating, though he chose not to complete a degree. Paul comes to you, not as some gray eminence, but as a person who has spent his life studying and observing the human condition, and more specifically the manner in which we dress ourselves. He cannot claim to some elevated degree. Paul only has decades of studying and observation to bring to hand. That said, he has never believed that a degree instantly conferred wisdom or real knowledge.
Paul has spent 40 years in study both official and not, looking at the history and structure of apparel, as well as the behaviors of my fellow humans. Along with those studies he has had an interest in beads and beadwork, having done numerous projects both for his own enjoyment and use as well as applied beadwork for clients when he maintained a business as a costumer. The way we do things and the reasons behind what we choose to do as a species and as individuals is a major driver in his life and has informed all my studies along the way.
This presentation will be taking us backwards in time all the way to our dimly perceived beginnings, to look at the how and why of the origin of these small sensual objects we call beads, and the nearly endless meanings we have attached to them since. As a species, we are intensely curious and creative, manipulating the world around us, not only to control it in some manner or simply put it to our use, but also to try and understand it. Our attraction to and use of beads is something we have carried with us since our earliest days, since it was way back then that we first discovered that a small object with a natural hole in it could be threaded with a bit of sinew or vine and be worn on the body. From that time to this, we have been giving these things meanings, a catalog of which would be vast indeed since there is not a society anywhere on earth that doesn’t use beads in some way as adornment or as some other adjunct to communication and socialization.
Speaker: Attire’s Mind (Greg Ellis), October 15, 2019, beginning at 7:00pm with a 30 minute social, presentation at 7:30-9:00pm.
Location: Albany Community Center, 1249 Marin Avenue, Albany, CA map . Parking is in the back of the building.
Everyone is invited to attend this speaker meeting. Members with membership card: free, non-members: $5. Membership can be purchased at the meeting or online by clicking here.