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

50 Couches Launch aka Too Much Stuff

Posted by 50 Couches in 50 Nights ⋅ June 3, 2010 ⋅ 13 Comments

It’s been two days since I’ve started my 50 Couches in 50 Nights Project and I’m only now blogging. Well, actually it’s later than that since the internet is down as I type this. The last few days have been crazy. I moved out of my apartment of 11 years and into a 5×10 storage space. Have you even seen a 5×10 storage space? It’s not that big. Have you ever seen how much stuff I have? I have a lot. Being a recovering pack rat, while I have stopped collecting, I haven’t quite gotten rid of everything I should have. Just ask my friends Brian and Jay. They helped me move. I mean, I did go through a bunch of stuff prior to moving. I sold some curtain rods, threw out a TV, and even got rid of my bed. As well, since I had been there 11 years, I had sort of forgotten exactly how much stuff it really was. All of this led me to plan poorly. That poor planning led me to stay up nearly all night on Sunday packing. Then, on about 2 hours of sleep, with the great help of the aforementioned Brian and Jay, on Memorial Day, I moved my stuff into the storage space. Well…alot of my stuff. I mean after I nearly completely filled up my storage space, how much more could there be, right? While it didn’t seem like a lot, it really was. Again, I really have alot of stuff. But it really didn’t look like a lot. So I proceeded to come back on the 1st to try to wrap everything up. That didn’t go so well. After starting at 8am and taking one full carload to the storage space, I was still not done, the storage space was packed to the gills, and it was 7pm. And I still had a couch to get to. More on that later. Thankfully, my landlord was understanding. And thankfully my friend John has some space in his place. So Tuesday morning I returned to wrap things up. Again, how much more could there be, really? Well, 7 hours later, after another carload of stuff to Venice, I was finally done. Well, except, for the fact that the backseat of my car is now my combination dresser and laundry.
The plan now is to keep everything in storage until I need it and to clean it out as I have time, so that I never have to move that stuff again. I never want to ask anyone to do that again, never mind doing it myself. The first step is to sell or give away most of my furniture. As I will hopefully end up at a house or apartment with a roommate, I hopefully will not need most of it. For the moment, however, I’m glad it’s done, and I’m out of my apartment. I’m finally, really, starting to feel relaxed. More on the couches soon.

50 Couches in 50 Nights

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