August, 2003:
constantly accumulating

I don't have to look for objects - they find me. Much of it is desk clutter, or items stashed away in rarely opened drawers. Often they're out of sight, though I know they're there. This never ending accumulating doesn't threaten me, though it does become exasperating when for every object that I succeed in throwing out two or three new ones always appear to take its place.

Some of these objects have stories to tell, and of course the longer I hold onto them the more there is to tell - even if at first it was little more than a banal story. Now it's a banal story enhanced by nostalgia.

This year started out as an attempt at reporting on objects that are in some way meaningful to me, either through a tangible essence, or simply because through reflecting upon them they acquire meaning. Throughout the year I felt compelled to continually ask myself whether I was reporting on my activities of accumulating, or whether the fact that I'd chosen to report on the act of accumulating was causing me to always be on the lookout for something to report.

There's no clear answer to that question. At some point collecting and reporting become intertwined, such that distinguishing which came first is close to impossible.

And though it may not seem that way, my pockets are still filled with objects that could merit their own fifteen minutes of fame. I simply haven't yet found the proper way to spotlight them. Still others, sometimes after a lengthy period of indecision have actually found their way to the waste basket before they ever achieved recognition in these pages.

In numerous ways, this project has become a great equalizer, allowing both the simple and the exalted equal footing. Perhaps it should also be regarded as a great banalizer - objects, after all, are just objects, even if originally they held real meaning. I may attempt to preserve some of that meaning within these pages, but ultimately they simply look back at us and force us to do all the work.