Hope for Hoarders, Trophy Exhibit
Big surprise that I saw this exhibit in Harajuku, right? (that's sarcasm) It was at the LaForet Museum and bonus...it was free! When I saw the flyer for this exhibit, I knew I had to go see it in person. It was like looking into the toy bin at Goodwill, filled with stuffed animals, plastic toys from Happy Meals, and just about any other crap from your childhood, buying it all—then making art out of it. It was great! (that's not sarcasm)
Several of the pieces made me think that Kim Songhe (the artist) was the lovechild between the popular 80's sticker goddess, Lisa Frank and a hoarder. I'm talking like, old man who pushes a shopping cart full of scavenged junk who lives down by the river—hoarder. I have seen every episode of every TV series about hoarders, I find them fascinating (although sometimes terribly sad) so I basically am a self-taught expert on the subject. (I don’t really think I’m an expert)
In the case of Kim Songhe, I don’t know if she is a hoarder, but I’m sure her studio looks like it. Imagine what the workspace must look like where these pieces are created…..How can you not look like a hoarder if you have hundreds of Gizmos piled up somewhere? And where in hell do you even get that many Gizmos? I truly would like to know the process. Does she scour the earth going to flea markets, thrift stores, and yard sales? Does she order them on eBay? Does she have a staff that deals with that sort of thing, like an acquisition team (that would be a crazy-fun job)? Is there just a shopping list in her office that is like:
- 200 Gizmos
- 20 E.T.s
- 50 lawn gnomes
- 100 baby heads
- 25 troll dolls…….
“How” is what I want to know. I’m not too interested in “what it means” more like “why”? Not that it matters, I loved it all regardless of the reason, although I might love it a tiny bit more if she was in fact a diagnosed hoarder. You know, that proud feeling you could have for her knowing she took her illness and turned it into a goldmine! I feel like if that were that case she could be the poster child of hope for hoarders everywhere. “Turn your trash into treasures!”
Unfortunately, I doubt that’s the case. She’s probably just a girl that likes junk. I like junk. I like to put do-dads on everything…buttons, dangles, jewels….really jazz things up! Kim Songhe is my new inspiration though. She is like the double diamond platinum uppermost echelon of ‘jazzing things up.’ It’s a level of gaudiness that I didn’t even know could be achieved! And now I don’t think I can ever throw anything away because I see potential in everything. Oh god, what if she’s not creating hope for hoarders, but in fact inspiring more people to become hoarders???
