A submission from Jane

On my way to see the exhibit I, by chance, stopped by a thrift store to drop off a couple of bags of clothes and shoes. Some of them were mine and some were things my children had grown out of. I was conscious as I handed them to the woman at the thrift store of a feeling of shame. Some of the items in the bags were in good shape and I felt certain that someone would want to buy them — a pair of barely used Kenneth Cole shoes, a shirt that someone gave my daughter that still had the store tags on it. But other things were badly worn and it was hard for me to imagine anyone wanting to buy them. Yet I still couldn’t bring myself to throw them in the garbage — they had once been useful, people are in need, couldn’t a little more use be wrung out of them? I felt ashamed though of thse worn things, ashamed that I was foisting them off on the thrift store, ashamed of being a person who would give such a useless donation. I wanted to be anonymous, to give the things and go, before anyone could call me on it. As I drove away, I felt relieved to be rid of the things, but the shame lingered and I tried to comfort myself with the thought of the Kenneth Cole shoes. It struck me that ridding ourselves of things we no longer want is not unlike ridding ourselves of bodily waste — we wish for privacy, we may have been taught shame about those functions of our body, and yet it may also bring relief.

Participant Guest Submissions

A submission from John DeMerritt

This is a spindle of WHILE YOU WERE OUT notes accumulated over several years at my studio and business. I almost recycled them but many people who come through my studio are mesmerized by them, so I kept them.

Participant Guest Submissions

A submission from Sarah

My undergraduate thesis was a film and video installation titled ‘Domestic Taxonomies’, so there was a time in my recent life where I was thinking a lot about the objects in our homes - how we collect and display them, and how they are linked to history, memory, and the formation of imagined or fictional versions of both. Strangely enough, in trying to think about the objects I’ve discarded, I’ve had a hard time remembering any of them.

Collecting is a way to remember (the French word ’souvenir’ is the perfect descriptor of the objects we collect). When you throw something out, are you making a decision to forget?

Participant Guest Submissions

A submission from Sasha

While I’m just as guilty as the next person of frequently acquiring and collecting needless items, at the same time, sometimes there is nothing better than going through your closet and purging neglected clothes. I constantly have a bag of clothes that I am adding to for donation at the Salvation Army. I love spending a Sunday afternoon cleaning out the closet or reorganizing the garage. You always find things that were taking up space that you don’t need anymore.

Recent objects that I have rid myself of:

- white shimmery heels that I was forced to wear in a friend’s wedding 6 years ago and have never worn since (the accompanying dress should also be released, but I can’t bring myself to do that just yet)

- a really cute vintage top that was green with trains printed on it that I have held onto for years even though it’s way to small to fit any adult

- 2 white lace curtains that were hanging in my house when we moved in. For the last 3 years, we have not liked them but never motivated to replace them until now.

Participant Guest Submissions