Imani Copeland

But let’s turn around and look at those folks in the audience. It’s sobering to see what they’re actually doing. Consumers of culture have so many options to choose from—so what do they pick?

The brutal truth is that there’s an ocean of stuff out there, but consumers sip it with a narrow straw.

Things give meaning to the lives of people who are deprived of authentic human contact. It is not necessarily a quirk of the poor: the millionaire builds an ostentatious house; the CEO wears a Rolex; the politician has a few people in his pocket; the dictator has his disposable private army; the preacher surrounds herself with unread theology

“To collect is to organize the world in your own image, and Aurora Sedge clearly had a very strong sense of who she was. You can tell a lot about a person by what they collect.