Pitman self-storage and services, Honolulu, Hawaii

Abstract

The thesis project consisted of briefly converting the Commons Gallery at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa into a self-storage facility that also functioned as a visual and mnemonic catalog of everything I own in Honolulu. In addition, this space offered a sundry variety of free services to the public on demand such as mending, daily storing of bicycles and backpacks, homework help and momentary child care (15 minutes to less than one hour). By combining these multiple purposes into a dialogic space, I briefly asserted that I was a small, open-ended cultural institution and archive, in addition to being a small family business. Through confronting this material/site, the viewer found themselves mapping and navigating my archive/collection with my assistance as docent, collector, artist, collection manager, registrar, facility manager, boss, worker and the authority figure who stationed herselves behind the counter, in the space, temporarily. My goal was to initiate a dialogue that generated tension and questions for both the viewer and myself which lead to a new understanding.