i didn't need these things, i'll never need these things

So. I hoard things. Wikipedia says, "In archaeology, a 'hoard' is a collection of valuable objects or artifacts, sometimes purposely buried in the ground." Well, I use boxes. And the value is pretty questionable. This isn't the 8th century A.D., and you don't just go bury everything you want to keep in unplotted land anymore, you just don't. Plus, half the shit I keep (papers, flyers, notes, zines, photographs, etc.) won't last through the centuries--how unfortunate. I just need it to exist while I do, you know? Yeah, me neither.

Half of what I collect and hoard away is for never-to-be-finished art projects and works, found objects, made 'pieces' of a whole never-to-exist, the list goes on. The rest are things I don't want to forget, I don't want to lose. Which is everything. I am still not certain how I will photograph the contents of the older boxes. Possibly I won't leave it all in the box, I've got some ample floor space (definitely it wouldn't be enough).

I don't know why I keep things, it's sort of impulsive--like I might need it or want it some day for some reason. All the memories I don't want to lose, little trinkets of my life that don't really matter, but what does that mean anyway? I'm too sentimental and nostalgic, but I'm also lazy. That's why most of these things are part of half-way completed ideas for art projects I'll never finish--I lose steam, get disinterested, whatever.

I decided instead of making an art show of everything--all neatly placed out, decipherable--I'd start to document my incessant need to keep, to store, to hoard away all these little pieces (and at the same time documenting those pieces, and hoarding them once more). To never throw things out, but also, half the time, never look at those things again. I actually have a statement for the show I was planning, but it never came to fruition (imagine that)--it was (to be) called 'A Million Screaming Pieces' (PUNX REFERENCE). We needed to make statements for the final critique at RMIT and I think it's in one of these boxes. I just found my sketchbooks from Australia, so it must be nearby.

I'm not sure what I'll do with these photographs ('shows' scare the shit out of me, I've been well aware for many years now, hence I've only been in ones remote from me), but I've been thinking about doing this for awhile. This idea arrived (and happened) because my parents were (are?) remodeling their house, so a lot of my stuff is in jeopardy. You know how they handle artwork at galleries? Consider the opposite, and then you can understand what most of the shit I've ever made/kept has been through. Regardless, it's also good, because I come across things I've been hoarding, but wouldn't come across without being forced to. It's all just sitting there in boxes in storage.

I don't only do this (put things in a box to keep that maybe you might throw away) with big things, packing things up from the past--this 'first' one is from the last couple of months. I had to move things off a dresser at my parents house so that they could replace the floor. This is one of the resulting 'boxes,' and its contents as best as I can remember. I found it in a drawer when trying to find a pair of jeans I had borrowed from a friend. And yes, I arranged the contents that were in the box, but I did not add or remove anything. Most likely, that will get embarrassing soon.

Box #1:

Verizon Cell Phone Box--dimensions: (coming, admittedly too lazy to find a ruler right now)

Contents:

2 feathers found in Melbourne, Australia while walking to class (best class I've ever taken)

1 small feather found at Flinders St station (Melb)

1 receipt for lunch at a Sushi restaurant after class, my first time having a glass of Japanese plum wine, May 19th, 2009 (Melb)

1 Wolf Blass champagne cork (Melb)

1 5 dollar note, Singapore--used to hold a needle with black thread (I don't remember what I had been sewing--this is from a long time ago)

2 dried flower pods (I don't know how else to describe them, or where I found them) in a plastic container from Ravari Room

3 baggage claim stickers from the trip back to America from Australia (I think, I didn't actually check)

5 dried flowers from the bush in front of my parents' house

1 JIMIBABY pin that I took when we were in Brooklyn and wore on my skirt until it fell off

1 rock with the imprint of a shell from the Scioto riverbed in my parents' backyard that Greg found while looking for skipping stones

1 drawing made on my birthday (November 9th, 2009) by Conrad, Sara and Jimi (this is a game, but I can't remember what it's called)

P.S. I asked. The game is called Exquisite Corpse!