Know Your Stuff - Esther

I have a lot of stuff. It’s everywhere, unapologetically cluttering up all my spaces. All the stuff has to work for its existence. I don’t have time to look after it or keep it all that clean. It can’t be high maintenance. Clean enough is good enough. I’m in no way neat, but I like to have a place for everything. The stuff I own has to be really nice or really useful, preferably a bit of both. 

I’m quite guarded about my own stuff at work. I’ve had to learn that the hard way – I’ve loved & lost stuff too often - so now I never lend books nor DVDs & I only lend other stuff with the passive aggressive & casually delivered, “Just put it back in this drawer when you’re done with it,” with a tight smile & deliberate gesture towards said drawer. Just because the stuff has to earn its keep doesn’t mean I don’t want to decide what happens to it.

Artists get this. They know about clutter & stuff & the comfort it can bring. Sometimes they live it & it’s one of the many ways they can communicate that they relate to us. There are examples of people’s stuff in various art world guises. It represents something about us, how we live, how we see space & the stuff we own; why do we “need” it, value it or keep it? What does it tell us about ourselves & is there anyone who’s NOT aware of this? & people that don’t have much stuff or a place to live will surely need some handy bits & pieces. Even the tidiest of people with a home & the minimum of possessions needs a bathroom cabinet. This week’s blog goes in search of stuff & finds it.

Ephraim Rubenstein (b. 1956), Book Pile XXXIV (?)

I have to say, Rubenstein has painted some much more upsetting, even triggering images of books, ones that are scattered around open & face down, which no matter how messy my space might get, I’d never do. I actively discourage it in others. Books constitute a lot of the stuff we have in our flat. My partner & I love books & until lockdown I never thought I’d ever buy a kindle. So now, I not only have piles of books to read plus the ones in the many bookcases, but I also have a virtual bookpile. Thanks, kindle.

Tim Nobel & Sue Webster, Dirty White Trash (With Gulls) (1998)

This artistic duo have cleverly fashioned the stuff - rubbish – to create a shadow that makes sense when lit in a certain way. With added gulls which is a plus. Of course they are making a valid point about what stuff we use, what we throw away & what happens to it next. They reject the idea of waste & in a way that’s the most pro-stuff I can think of. There is hope & a bid to make us feel accountable in their work. 

Felix Gonzalez-Torres, An Untitled Pile of Symbolic Candy (Also Known As “Ross in L.A.”) (1991) 

This was created at the time when the partner of Gonzalez-Torres was dying of AIDS. People were allowed to take the sweets from this & other similar installations, perhaps not realising the symbolic intent. The idea was that as the pile of sweets diminished, it represented the chipping away of the body & functions of those dying of the virus. Though as one website notes, “While the candy is eaten, while the body begins to disappear, the love remains.” This stuff is the stuff of love itself.

Tracey Emin, My Bed (1998)

It annoyed a lot of people at the time. Infuriated them in fact. Especially as it was nominated for a Turner Prize. People thought Tracey’s stuff was merely rubbish but she too made it into art. It represented a time when she did nothing but stay in bed for four days in a depressed state, not eating & drinking nothing but alcohol. She said more recently that she likes to look back on it as something that doesn’t epitomise her life any more.

Richard Bawden (b. 1936), Clutter (?)

Here is a man & his stuff. At first, I liked this painting very much, but then I saw the man’s expression & now it gives me the creeps. 

Ric Darrell, Craft Drawer Clutter (before 2017)

One of the most relatable images of stuff I could find. It’s become a cliché: “who doesn’t have a drawer like this?” It’s made with digital pen & coloured pencils. & here I was under the misapprehension that digital technology was meant to help us dispense with physical stuff.

Igor Zhuk, Artist at Work (2006)

The stuff of artists & their studios in art is a popular theme. It’s perhaps an attempt to allow the viewer to see what they want us to see. Perhaps the stuff has been tidied up for the picture. Anyway, it amuses me to wonder whether those are bottles of turps or whisky & whether this artist gets the teacups muddled up with the paint pots…

Chris Roberts-Antieu, The Collector (2017)

Though nothing like his style, this makes me think of Gustav Klimt’s portraits, where the person is painted & then besieged by patterns & decoration that perhaps represent them in some way. Here the person surrounds the stuff, however. 

Joe Orton, Bedroom (to 1967)

Technically, this would have been also made by his partner Kenneth Halliwell, but if Joe’s own sister can’t forgive Halliwell for murdering her brother, I don’t see why I should give him credit in a subheading. In any case, this always reminded me of my bedroom at home. Before seeing Joe’s version, I covered mine completely at one point, including the ceiling. It’s stuff alright. You might not consider it art, but it’s a thorough expression of our inner selves & the things we love.  Plus, if you look closely, you can see Rembrandt, da Vinci & Michelangelo represented. So if you want to quibble, the art is there.

David Teniers the Younger, The Archduke Leopold Wilhelm in his Painting Gallery in Brussels (1651)

Hot on the heels of Joe’s wall is this gallery, a room possibly worth more in monetary terms than a small bedroom pasted with newspaper & magazine cuttings, even if said bedroom is situated in Islington. With a title as busy as the picture & weighing in at 104.8cm x 130.4cm, everything about it screams “stuff as status symbol.” Look at my stuff, look at my great taste, look at the stuff I can afford, look at all of it!

Okay, does anyone else now feel like “stuff” is a really weird word?