Ellen Lake

Oakland based media artist

Collectible

Ann’s Hoard, 2003, 7 min, digital video, color, sound

Confessions of a hoarder. Ann considers herself more of a hoarder than a collector. She has vases, covered glass dishes (butter dishes, candy dishes, cake platters), hats, wigs, loads and loads of jewelry and clothes, most bought from eBay. She stashes her collections in the attic, the garage, under beds, and in closets.

French Fries, 2003/2009, 3 minutes, super 8 & digital video, color, sound

LA filmmaker, Rebecca Baron, only has two collections: A compass collection and a French Fry collection. This video is a close-up look at Rebecca french fries, individual fries gathered while on a filmshoot in 1998-1999, sealed in ziploc bags, and now in various states of decay.

Still from Ian’s Collections, 2000, 6 min. hi-8, color, sound

Ian Golder collects sand, macaroni and cheese boxes, straws, and M&M icons.

Still from Ian’s Collections, 2000, 6 min. hi-8, color, sound

Ian Golder collects sand, macaroni and cheese boxes, straws, and M&M icons.

Trina’s Collections, 2003, 7 min, digital video, color, sound

Trina Robbins, the writer/creator of Go Girl! Comics is an eclectic collector. Her collections mostly have to do with pop culture and with women. She has girl action figures, bathtub figurines, saints and tikis, popeware, queensware, and more.

Norm and Brian’s Collections, 2003/2012, 5 min, digital video, color, sound

Norman Francis and Brian Hauptli have been together for 26 years and have amassed an impressive array of collections during that time. Highlights include tin toys, mickey mouse, lunch boxes, odd and curious money, animals (alive and stuffed) and primitive art.1 min. excerpt here.

A series of shorts exploring the impulse to collect, the complexity of obsession, the place where these two  issues intersect, and their relationship to art making. Collection of short documentaries, 2000 – present, 2-6 minutes each, digital video, color, sound.

Project Description

In our consumer-oriented, mobile, and rootless society, we are supposed to believe we are what we own. With few ties to the past, collecting becomes one way of building a history. It helps us define who we are and helps us to fit into our world. Collecting then is about individuality and belonging. What else might collecting be about? What are the impulses that drive collectors? Is it about comfort and security? Is it about power and status? Is it about capture and possession? Is it about creating a sense of identity? Is it about systems and classification? How has the Internet extended the realm of what collecting can be? When does the mania of collecting undo the ordering of an archive? Where do obsession and collecting meet? These questions and thoughts drive this body of work.