Hoarding for Earthday

I had a dream of an avalanche of shoes, which became silkscreens, which became art.  What is my unstoppable outflow?  Apparently, so many incomplete canvases that I can’t open my closet door without a refrigerator dolly.  Clearly, I need a Gallery.

Sick in bed the other day,‭ ‬I was fascinated to come upon a marathon showing of a program called‭ “‬hoarders‭”‬.‭   ‬I saw these people’s oceans of stored debris as a fight to keep some small amount of control over beautifully engineered packaging,‭  ‬and manufacturing artifacts out of the landfill–Lest we believe there is an‭ “‬away‭” ‬that allows us to blindly use third-world children as our slaves to save a buck,‭ ‬and throw our sewage into life-giving waters,‭ ‬or believe there is an‭ “‬other‭” ‬that we can bomb off the face of the earth to claim our own purity.‭ ‬   I recognized myself in these people,‭ ‬ victims of a throw-away culture, and their struggle to come to grips with a world of disposable ingenuity‭!  ‬As someone who has studied packaging, I have always collected beautiful wrappings and logos,  jars with interchangeable lids,‭ ‬cardboard boxes of certain reusable dimensions,‭ ‬magazine articles I hope to read someday when the world breaks down.‭   Styrofoam cut to fit fragile,‭ ‬expensive electronics is such a feat of engineering I keep it stored in the box it arrived in,‭ ‬as if some day when I am done with it, I will be able to ship it back to the manufacturer.‭  ‬In fact, the box itself tells me so.

birdnest medicine cabinet