50 Couches in 50 Nights

My name is Dean MacKay. In June and July of 2010, I slept on 50 different couches in 50 consecutive nights. I took photographs of the couches, both as a couch and as my bed. I took portraits of my hosts and interviewed them. I documented their homes on film and digitally as well as in a journal. I was treated to home cooked meals and intimate secrets. I was cared for when I was ill and checked in on after I was long gone. There were sleepless nights and busy days and times spent discussing the past and dreaming about the future. I drank a lot of coffee at a lot of different coffee houses. There were old friends who became closer and acquaintances who I now call my friends. There were even strangers who invited me into their homes. Threads were woven among them all. My skills were honed as I practiced my craft on a daily basis. I learned many things about my hosts and I continue to learn many things about myself. These times are unforgettable. This journey was initially born out of necessity. The economic times had taken their toll. But the fruit of this labor is not simply financial. It is emotional and spiritual and societal. I tapped into something that is still developing. And as it develops I will share with you this knowledge as well as providing you a way to share it with others. I hope that you will support me as this journey continue and grows. I plan to unveil many things from this work including a coffee table book on the couches, and perhaps other books and a documentary. I'm also hoping to get the blog carried on a major website. Of course, and second project is also in the works although what form it will take has yet to be determined. Any assistance or advice that you can offer to further these projects is welcome. Your support, both financial and emotional, is crucial to my success. Thank You. © Dean MacKay 2010

50 Couches in 50 Nights has written 48 posts for 50 Couches in 50 Nights

Couch #20 – Shannon – June 19th, 2010

Posted by 50 Couches in 50 Nights ⋅ February 7, 2011 ⋅ Leave a comment

THE INTERVIEW

Couch #20 belongs Shannon, or really it belongs to her roommmate, Andy. They live in a house in Fullerton, California. Fullerton is above Anaheim. It’s ten minutes away from Disneyland. At some point the house was moved to it’s present location to make room for the 605 Freeway but Shannon doesn’t know where it used to be. The house is on the oldest road in Fullerton. Shannon grew up in the house since she was 2. Her parents still own it and she rents it from them. Shannon also lives there with her daughter Sydney, who is ten years old and Andy’s dog, Neko.

Shannon doesn’t really know completely the history of the couch since it’s Andy’s. She met Andy on myspace a long time ago. They like a lot of the same music and hung out a couple of times, when he told her that he needed to move out of his house. His roommates were a couple and were getting married and also moving out. Shannon was in a bad place at the time and needed a roommate really bad and invited Andy to move in with her. Shannon had a couch, which was pretty cool. It was half red and half leopard. But, the cat had destroyed it, and so she had to get rid of it. Andy brought the leather couch with him and sold Shannon on it, although it wasn’t as cool as he made it out to be. It does, however, look good in the decor of the room. The living room decor is a little crazy. It’s half Andy and half Shannon, but it does all flow together really nicely

Shannon doesn’t sit on the couch ever. If you do happen to get Shannon to watch a movie, which is rare, she stands on the floor and does yoga or workouts out with her weights. She is always needs to be doing something. She can’t sit still whereas Andy is always sitting on the couch watching tv or playing video games.

One story that Andy tells is that he had a roommate that paid rent and slept on the couch. He didn’t have a room or want a room, he just wanted to sleep on the couch because it was that comfortable.

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50 Couches in 50 Nights

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