Possessed: A Cultural History of Hoarding

265 Pages·2021·3.162 MB·English

by  Rebecca R. Falkoff

Possessed

Possessed
A Cultural History of Hoarding
Rebecca R. Falkoff
Cornell University Press
Ithaca and London
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First published 2021 by Cornell University Press
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Falkoff, Rebecca R., 1976– author.
Title: Possessed : a cultural history of hoarding / Rebecca R. Falkoff.
Description: Ithaca [New York] : Cornell University Press, 2021. |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020025167 (print) | LCCN 2020025168 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781501752803 (paperback) | ISBN 9781501752827 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781501752810 (pdf)
Subjects: LCSH: Compulsive hoarding—Social aspects—History. |
Hoarders—History. | Compulsive hoarding—Philosophy.
Classification: LCC RC569.5.H63 F35 2021 (print) | LCC RC569.5.H63
(ebook) | DDC 616.85/227—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020025167
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020025168
Cover illustration: Carey Lin, Untitled (Screen shot 2009-10-19 at
1.20.48), 2011. Oil on canvas, 15 x 22 in., from the series Hardly
Nothing to Do Without. Used by permission of the artist.
In memory of my grandmother,
Fontaine Maverick Falkoff,
A poet, hoarder, and maverick.
Fall from Grace
While casing the fl ea markets
For fabulous fi nds
Priced for the penurious,
I’ve felt little quick
Subcultural
Darts of desire
For those delightful things.
Avon bottles, I mean.
Perfume bottles shaped like poodles,
Turtles of aftershave, ships at sea,
The rosebud with the honeybee.
Well, today I fell from Grace.
It cost me a dollar:
Two green glass parakeets,
Shining likenesses,
Their screw-on heads of amber glass,
And one still full of perfume.
Is there shame on my face?
No, I’ve a gleam in my eye.
I see them as great emeralds,
The very essence of parakeet.
I think, now, I’ll be collecting
All that shimmers,
Dazzles and dazes,
The daydreams of
Demented artisans.
This will be
One of my phases.
—Fontaine Maverick Falkoff
Contents
List of Figures ix
Preface: A Book and Two Hoards xi
Acknowledgments xv
Introduction to Hoardiculture 1
1 Psychologies: The Personal Library 14
2 Economies: The Flea Market 54
3 Epistemologies: The Crime Scene 108
4 Ecologies: An O ikos for Everything 142
Conclusion: Archive Failures 170
Notes 181
Bibliography 219
Index 237

Figures
0.1 Clutter Image Rating, Living Room 7
1.1 Martin Hampton, P ossessed , 2008 52
2.1 Paul Klee, A ngelus Novus , 1920 59
2.2 Eugène Atget, C hiffonnier , 1899–1901 63
2.3 Eugène Atget, V illa d’un chiffonnier , 1912 65
2.4 Eugène Atget, I ntérieur d’un chiffonnier:
Boulevard Masséna , 1912 67
2.5 Jacques-André Boiffard, M arché aux
puces , 1928 84
2.6 André Kertész, M arché aux puces , 1929 87
2.7 Untitled photograph, 1932 88
2.8 Alberto Lattuada, F iera di Senigallia , 1941 91
2.9 Alberto Lattuada, F iera di Senigallia , 1941 93
2.10 Alberto Lattuada, F iera di Senigallia , 1941 94
2.11 Giuseppe Pagano, “Fiera a Milano,”
Panorama, 1940 97
2.12 Giuseppe Pagano, F iera di Senigallia , 1940 98