The pics above represent the life of Zhao Xiangyua, a now deceased resident of Beijing. Her son Song Dong turned his mothers extreme hoarding into a thought provoking and eye-opening installation at the Museum of Modern Art titled, Waste Not.
"Zhao Xiangyua, was born in China in 1938 and died in Beijing in January. For nearly 60 years she lived in the city with her husband and two children in a tiny house crammed with domestic odds and ends — clothes, books, kitchen utensils, toiletries, school supplies, shopping bags, rice bowls, dolls — which were used, then recycled, then indiscriminately hoarded." writes Holland Cotter of the New York Times.
Zhao once lived a wealthy life then had everything taking away after a family member was jailed, which would explain why she refused to let anything go. After her husband died "She continued to live in the jammed Beijing house, throwing nothing away and obsessively bringing more stuff in it, as if continuing to feather a nest for a now-absent family. And despite the fact that surrounding area was threatened with destruction, she would make no move that entailed parting with her possessions." The logic behind hoarding is a sad reality, but to see over 60 years of someones life on display is something to marvel at.
-Doni W.
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