A Nail to Hang the Day On

Embedded within even the most basic household item is an emotional charge that binds it to the lives of those who use it, far exceeding the function of the object itself. Habit, trauma, fantasy, desire, or memory lodge themselves into our belongings, and the cold surfaces of a toaster or a cutting board transform, become abstract, and fossilise over time, from possessions into something else. The less directly useful an object slowly becomes, the more it accumulates meaning, specificity, and identity—and a broken chair can sometimes mean and matter more than a new one.