GM asked me to write about her deepest fear as an avid collector. She asked, “Am I a Hoarder? Or just a collector? Or maybe a hoarder in collector’s clothing?”
I have in fact seen hoarder’s homes which make no effort to appear anything but that.
The difference between a hoarder’s home and a collector’s home:
In a hoarder’s home the mess is life threatening and life-restricting. The collection does not add to the quality of that person’s life but has become a pathological block to physic balance.
When boxes block windows, doors, and plumbing, if the owner isn’t actively involved in moving the house, I judge the objects have become a problem. The problem in a house like that is the difficulty to make a quick exit.
Collecting differs from hoarding in that collecting involves self-restraint, not the lack of it. I mean that a collector discriminates, which in many cases does not appear obvious to the collector’s friends or family. But collectors know what they do NOT want to add to their collections.
The internet makes collecting more dangerous because of the ubiquity of any type of object online, pictured in a lovely image, and accessible by a keystroke to PayPal (Pay? Really?). I don’t buy online, I want to see the art or the object in person and feel it myself. I’ve even been known to smell the silver and taste the oil paint.
A real collector engages in a long process of material research.
A collector becomes emotionally involved with their objects, but they don’t feel compulsed to buy because it looks good or reminds them of their childhood. They know the object’s place in history, the object’s value upon creation, who created it and why, the social impact of that object. Sometimes they know the objects composition and workmanship level.
A collector sets a goal to know as much about that class of object they’ll know more than the guy next to them at the flea market. Yes a collector feels the excitement of the hunt and the chase, might get swept blindly away by that excitement. But if a mistake ends up in the house, before the spouse complains, the collector smiles bravely and learns from it. Then they get rid of it.
True Collectors
A true collector sets a budget and hates to pay top dollar for anything. Except when they spot an object so rare or one needed to complete a full set. Then sometimes they need to pay top dollar.
A true collector doesn’t amass more of one type of object because more of that object exists. They narrow out the collection as they learn more about the class of object and the field it lies in (think marbles lying in the field known as glass).
A collector becomes a connoisseur
The goal of a collector is to become a connoisseur. I myself know when a client reaches the verge of becoming a connoisseur. That person calls to instruct me to sell the bottom third of their collection so they can focus on the better two-thirds and add to the top instead of acquiring for the bottom end. The focus is to constantly improve their knowledge of that type of material culture. A collector becomes a connoisseur when they realizes that quality, however they perceive it – i just bought a 1960’s garage station vintage Bendix Brakes lighted clock in perfect industrial condition – trumps quantity.
Buyer’s remorse is a real disease and really strikes, and if you collect you’ll come down with it. Buyer’s remorse has an equal and opposite reaction when you ruminate on “the one that got away.” My best collectors shoot themselves in the foot only once for this transgression and move on to greener pastures. I still, however, hate the woman who grabbed a painting away from me at Alpha Thrift. Anyway, real collectors possess the physiological balance to take the hit and learn from the loss. As in life, as in collecting.