Everyone has an item they cherish, or maybe a piece of scrap metal or wood lying in their garage. Whether it was fabric scraps or a scratched-up record, artists Harper Folsom and Heather Steckler collected them all — and turned them into art.
“HOLD ON/LET GO” was a community art project by artists and University of Iowa MFA students Folsom and Steckler. The installation focused on repurposing objects that people had kept for too long and needed to let go of. It consisted of items donated by the community that had either outlived their original purpose or were too precious to relinquish.
When Public Space One announced they were accepting applications almost a year ago, both artists knew they wanted to do a project involving the community. Since they both traditionally work with themes of recycling and repurposing, they had no idea what materials they would be working with.
The final exhibit spanned two rooms and featured a myriad of objects. Whether it was a rusted children’s table inlaid with computer keys and dominos, or mismatched socks hanging from the doorway, it all came together to make a beautiful, collaborative piece.
The most eye-catching portion of the exhibit was the collage wall in the second room. Set against a simple brown background, it housed most of the objects donated for the project.
Everything from books to envelopes to rusted tools to a singular lightbulb that, as Steckler demonstrated, was still functioning. With the light streaming in from the handmade curtains, it was truly a play for the eyes.
“It’s the most monumental piece in the exhibit,” Folsom said, in regard to the collage wall. “We’ll take it down, and then that’s it. Those objects will never be together again, and that makes it special.”
To the right of the collage wall were cracked vinyl records of Christmas songs. According to Steckler, they were given to her by a professor because they were a part of his favorite aunt’s collection and were scratched and unusable. They were originally whole, but Folsom and Steckler decided to crack them.
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“I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be great if there was a cracked one?’” Steckler said. “It felt so wrong because they were these treasured records, but he gave them to us because he wanted to let go of them. So, I also had to let go of this feeling of preciousness, even though it wasn’t my stuff.”
Some of the other objects they received were already broken or in an obvious state of disuse. Folsom and Steckler even had to clean bugs and dirt off the objects before deciding how to repurpose them. However, the finished project was well worth it.
“There’s something satisfying about seeing all those things side by side, [because] objects don’t necessarily have more or less value. They have the value that you assign to it,” Folsom said.
Many attendees at the gallery’s closing event were people who donated objects to the project. Artist Dave Dugan donated a pair of fluorescent light end caps with a sun pattern, a Philippine Jeepney toy car, a Dr. John tape recording, and many more objects that were featured in the exhibit.
“I do a lot of recycling and reusing of materials for my art projects,” Dugan said. “Sometimes, I accumulate a lot of stuff that I end up not using, and when they [Steckler and Folsom] put out the call for their exhibit, I said, ‘Ok, this is something that I don’t think I’ll ever use, but maybe somebody else might.’”
An eye-catching, vibrant exhibit, “HOLD ON/LET GO” reminded attendees to treasure their belongings and the memories behind them. Yet, it also reminded them that sometimes they’ve been holding on to objects for too long, and it is okay to let them go.
“I hope people feel like they can see the potential and value in the objects that they have,” Folsom said. “And I hope that they can slow down and not see things as [invaluable] even if they don’t have the purpose that they once did.”