Monthly Statement:
October 2005
This month we tackled most of her clothing, donating nearly half of what was there; things that haven’t been worn in decades and even clothes put away for years with the price tags still on them that no longer fit. Thankfully there haven’t been any major infestations, though we did find some kind of mealy bugs in some of the leather purses and woolen sweaters. Previously she would hang the clothes she wears regularly on the doors in her bedroom. After sorting and donating almost all of her clothes fit into the two closets and dressers.

While de-accumulating, I try to be optimistic and relaxed, and to reason with her that she will never in her lifetime need or be able to use so many things. Each time I open a cupboard or a draw and find yet another stash, I can almost hear her cringe. Rather than put up a fight, she has really been clear-headed and I think she finally sees that she really doesn’t need all of these things. This is a major breakthrough. I tried to help her with this process five years ago and whenever we’d make a dent in one particular area by the next time I returned that space was filled up again. I truly believe that this time, because of major life changes, by cleaning up and clearing out the entire apartment over the course of the year, it will actually remain in a normal state.

The kitchen is almost in a normal state, now that we’ve removed almost all of the collections of twist ties, stacks of paper towels, glass jars, lids from ice cream containers and hundreds of empty plastic shopping bags. I selected the plastic bags as the document of accumulation for this month. We have been consistently using plastic shopping bags to carry out bags of trash each time we meet. Even so, there are still hundreds of bags. I started to fold and tie the bags to make them more manageable, consolidating three bags of bags into one. Aside from the ones I photographed, there are still an additional seven bags of bags that I removed from the apartment but will probably have to throw away..

Process:
My interest in the accumulation project began with a close individual, an obsessive hoarder, who is emerging from a decade long depression. I am the only other person who has been inside of the apartment since she moved in. The apartment is completely filled, waist-high with accumulation. There are stacks and piles of everything imaginable: unread New York Times newspapers dating back to 1997, hundreds of Penny Saver circulars, yogurt lids, and soda bottle caps. Nothing has been thrown away in years.

There are several pathways to navigate through the clutter in her apartment, though you have to move very carefully so as not to start a landslide. One path goes from the front door to the only empty chair; another goes past the refrigerator to the kitchen sink; one path leads through the hallway into the bedroom to the bed; another forks off to the bathroom. Despite all of the clutter, she is in fact a minimalist at heart, only utilizing the bare minimum in the apartment. I believe she is at point in her life when she can finally let go of all of this accumulation and move on.

Throughout the duration of the accumulation project (one year), I will visit this person in her apartment to help clear out all that she has been accumulating for years. I will collect some of the items we would otherwise discard and save them as documents of her accumulation. I will select things that are most striking by the quantity of the objects or by the nature of the objects themselves and their visual appeal.

As we work together to empty out her space, I will document the changing landscape of her apartment through photographs. The process of sifting through the clutter is like an archeological excavation: the various layers of debris correspond with different times in her past. For the two “accumulation project” exhibitions, I will show both the physical documents of the accumulation as well as the photographs of the process of de-accumulation in the apartment. This project is a social sculpture that involves the interaction between the obsessive collector and myself to create a positive change in her life and in her space through emptying the clutter she’s been accumulating for years.

My project explores the extreme case of accumulation in our disposable, consumerist society. I understand the impulse to save, reuse and recycle - however the rate of consumption of objects of planned obsolescence is significantly faster than the rate of reusing or creative ideas for reuse.