pieces of koco

I recently returned to Philadelphia, my home town, and was presented with 10+ years worth of photos, art, letters, clothes, books, journals, files, and, well, STUFF. I have documented and stored the last decade of my life extraordinarily well. I'm enjoying going through some of the stuff and looking all that has happened to me in the recent years of my life--NYC, grad school, living in Korea, traveling--but also very cautious not to sink into over-examination of the past. I've been so excited about what's next, and how not knowing exactly what that is feels like an adventure, and I want to stay in that state of mind. In attempts to live less in the moments captured in my documents I've started a project, Pieces of Koco. I'll document, I'll purge, I'll give things away, I'll recycle! I'll organize, hopefully I'm meet and help people along the way and I'll create new things from the old pieces of me.

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Objects hold stories and memories. This is what gives them intrinsic value and why I have immense difficulty throwing away or getting rid of things. Ticket stubs to museums represent a whole series of inspiring ideas, a plastic spider ring is the first gift received from a first love, an old biology book actually is the hours spent studying, the smell of the massive library, and the knowledge gained. Discarding the item removes the reminder. And, until recently I believed that disposal dissolves the significance and the evidence of the memory... and of my existence.

My fascination with the history of objects and the way things can map time, place, and experience led me to study art history and anthropology. My thesis project in undergrad and graduate school focused on documentation as art. Pieces of Koco, attempts to continue that work and looks to incorporate as many opportunities as possible to make connections with members of my local community, to donate, and to recycle.