Beautiful Armoire - Perfect Condition, 2009
This web piece starts with an idealized image of an armoire from a home decor website, and follows with images I have taken from Craigslist and eBay posted by anonymous individuals selling the same armoire. Navigating through the pages engages the user in a self-reflective critique of object accumulation.
The juxtaposition of a perverse fantasy played out in the abstract idealized spaces of home-improvement Internet sites, where the promise of better self-image, without the out-of-control mess of everyday life, quickly deflates within the context of the average lived-in home, along with a reciprocal deflation of the object that is no longer wanted.
In our culture of object abundance and accumulation, the armoire is the prefect symbol of a container that promises control and organization over this growing accumulation of stuff. But navigating through my site (possibly in search of a solution for one’s domestic mess) reveals quite the opposite story.