A special Exhibition at the MOMA is Project 90:Song Dong. Artist Song Dong's installation titled "Waste Not" displays the complete contents of his mother's home. The small frame of her home was in the middle of the exhibition room while around it lay the complete contents she amassed over fifty years. J and I couldn't help wondering how she fit all those objects in her home.
Installers brought alike items together. All the spoons, all the tools, pans, linen, etc. were arranged together. I kept thinking that this created order didn't exist in her real life.
Song Dong's mother fell into depression after the death of his father. As a way to deal with her grief he convinced his mother to participate in the installation. The exhibition is a commentary on consumerism that people around the world can relate to. In a way it relates to Jean-Francois Millet's "The Gleaners." Millet's painting is tidy and pastoral, while "Waste Not" is has a gritty reality.
A flood of conflicting thoughts swam through my mind . . . What was the message of this work?
It is important to not be wasteful.
Life should not be governed by your possessions.
Sentimental value means more than monetary value.
Needs can be clouded by want.
Neediness can promote greediness.
Objects have energy.
Objects create energy.
New does not mean better.
Reusing and repurposing is not always responsible.
Acquiring things can give us a sense of liberation.
Being in need can be heavy.
The show was liberating and heavy.
I know people who are so fastidious and that go through objects so quickly. At the first sign of wear the object is tossed aside without emotional attachment. These people truly use their belongings. Their only sentimental investment rests in the objects newness. I know other people who have so much stuff that their homes are are more than curious collections, they are temporary holdings for landfills. I know a lot of personal possession horror stories.
This blog could be devoted solely to my obsessive thoughts about owning things. Objects and ownership is an ongoing dialog in my mind that I never try to quiet.
I wonder. Are there any poor people who live in good style? How do poor people create good ambiance? Do poor people care about good ambiance?
Once I met a woman who had a lot of money but she lived like a pauper. On her windowsill she grew geraniums in tin cans. They plants flowered profusely in the dusty house. I loved the charm of those tin can planters.
Anyway, wait till you see what else I bought in New York!
1 comment:
wow... i can't help but feel like this is what the contents of my home would look like. minus what looks to be pudding cups? just lots of tools and buttons and things massed together. just wow.
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