The Plan
Michael Schmelling
The Plan
Photographs: Michael Schmelling
Text: Richard Maxwell
Publisher: J&L Books
566 pages
Pictures: 490
Year: 2009
Comments: Softcover. First edition, 2009. Black and white offset onto newsprint.Text in english. Edition limited to 500 copies. Numbered. Some wear otherwise in very good condition.
Between 2003 and 2005 Michael Schmelling photographed a number of residences in the accompaniment of Disaster Masters, a New York-based company that specializes in cleaning homes and counseling hoarders. Facing eviction, health hazards, and family interventions, the owners of these homes were unable or unwilling to get rid of the things they had accumulated. These people are often diagnosed clinically as having Obsessive Compulsive Hoarding Disorder (OCDHD). Through a process of salvaging and discarding, the contents of a home can be disposed of and rearranged within hours. The process can be both invasive and cathartic. Working through this chaos, Schmelling illuminates the random sentimentality that can infuse one’s belongings.
While hoarding may at first appear to be an aberration, looking through The Plan can inspire a sense of familiarity and empathy. Many of the things Schmelling photographed are the same things that pass through our homes every day: an old baseball, a weeks worth of junk mail, some spare change, a rotten piece of fruit, unread books. Schmelling documented these interiors, their contents, and the process of clearing, as a means to examine the nature of hoarding and its antecedents: compulsion, consumerism, and the human need to impart meaning to objects.
The design of the The Plan takes its conceptual lead from its content, with 490 photographs on 576 pages. It takes its name from Disaster Masters’ toll-free number (1-800-THE PLAN). The book is divided into twelve chapters, each documenting a different home. The Plan is an arresting art object as well as a fascinating document of urban archaeology and psychology. Includes an essay by Richard Maxwell.
more books tagged »Artist's book« | >> see all
-
Surface series
by Batia Suter
sold -
En Présence de l'Absence (SIGNED & NUMBERED /5)
by Jean-Marc Caimi & Valentina Piccinni
Euro 350 -
You wait (ONLY 100 COPIES - SIGNED)
by Roman Pyatkovka
sold -
Spark (Signed Ltd edt of 10)
by Kinzazadan
sold -
MALIA (SIGNED AND NUMBERED, edt of 3)
by Laura Rodari
Euro 2000 -
FENDU/E (SIGNED AND NUMBERED, edt of 7)
by Bastien Deschamps
Euro 2000
more books tagged »out of print « | >> see all
-
She dances on Jackson
by Vanessa Winship
sold -
7 days Athens November 2011
by JH Engström
sold -
Bruce Lee
by Dimitri Bruni & Manuel Krebs (ed.)
sold -
01) The Significant Savages
by Gregoire Pujade - Lauraine
Euro 150 -
STUDIO
by Paolo Roversi
sold -
Ingen har sett allt
by Anders Petersen
sold
Books from the Virtual Bookshelf josefchladek.com