Traces left on instruments…

In the second Section of the Exhibit we explore Instruments that have had traces left on them.  All instruments are made for a purpose but what happens when someone, or many people use these instruments? Often the users of instruments will leave traces of their own.  These traces could be just a small label that gives insight into what the item was used for or it could be a way of marking the work of an artisan.  Regardless of what the trace is, these traces can either change the meaning of an item or rescue the meaning to so that instruments do not end up, as unknown instruments in collections, like the instruments in section 3 of our exhibit. What traces have you left upon your instruments? How do you think someone would change his or her opinion of that item thanks to your use of it? These are the questions we wish to raise in this section.