BONES

Can I tell you something weird about me? I have a box of deer bones that I can’t get rid of. I want to be more minimal and cut down my things to only what I absolutely need. But I love the way they fit into the box I keep in the studio labeled “Deer Bones”.

MINIMALIST

I heard that Socrates traveled with everything he owned: a compact tied bag of possessions including a small cup. One day he went to a river to get a drink of water. There he saw a boy drinking from the river with his cupped hands. Socrates threw away his cup. I love this story.

We can survive as our naked selves with no wrapping, or tools. But we would only be a shadow of our potential. The things we carry complete our bodies. A bicycle extends our legs. A hat adds to our hair. A phone extends our voices. Even a house extends our skin. So we surround ourselves with a sphere of objects. We live in a time different from Socrates but we still have to carry things.

FRIENDS

A pen only works if you have some paper. A phone only can be used if you have electricity. Your things are like a group of friends whose conversation gets more and more animated since they all make sense to each other.

YOGURT

I like yogurt. We’re told it has good bacteria. After I eat it, a silent conversation between my body and the bacteria in the yogurt begins. Bacteria plays important roles in digestion and immunity. There are a ton of different microorganisms in our bodies. All of the DNA of those microorganisms adds up to more than my own DNA. It’s a community. So inside my body is a collective. Outside is a sphere of created objects that complete my body. I’m a collage of elements working together.

BAKERY

In a local bakery are rows of trays bearing raisin bread, cheese bread, and egg salad sandwiches. This bakery also sells other things. Spatulas, twine, house paint, buckets, and they make keys. What if the baker started to add those things into their bread? Key bread. String bread. Paint bread. The bread is a container for things concealed inside. The line between bread and tools disappears.

CORAL

What is coral? What we think of as a coral reef is mostly the accumulated skeletons of the tiny coral living on the surface. The animals that make their habitat in and around the coral are a large part of the colorful life we associate with coral. We are like coral. The things we gather around us are what allow us to live and to be complete.

SUPERORGANISM

We are not individuals but superorganisms, built with both human and nonhuman elements. Their interaction determines who we are. This is definitely not minimalist. Why does this matter?

The future depends on considering our complete selves. This includes the things we surround ourselves with and the elements within us. Our superorganism. I want to make my choices with this new larger idea of who and what we are in mind. We don’t just buy single things. We are creating the community of objects that completes what we are.