Allmylifeforsale
Welcome
to Allmylifeforsale, an online project that explored
our relationship to the objects around us, their
role in the concept of identity, as well as the
emerging commercial systems of the Internet. Using
the public/commercial space of the online trading
community Ebay
in conjunction with his online catalogue Allmylifeforsale.com,
John Freyer catalogued and sold nearly everything
that he owned, from his kitchen cutlery to his
personal hygiene products, his Star Wars sheets
and finally even the domain name Allmylifeforsale.com
itself. (Now owned by the University of Iowa,
Museum of
Art)
To
date he has sold more than 600 items including
his false teeth, a full size office copier, personal
photographs, and his winter coat (in the middle
of the winter). Each item -- whether spectacular
or mundane -- began trading at one dollar. When
the auction had ended, he sent each of the high
bidders details about the project as well as a
brief history of the object s/he had purchased.
Freyer then requested updates from each bidder
on his/her new object and incorporated these updates
-- including written feedback and photographs
of Freyer's former possessions in their new homes
--into Allmylifeforsale.com. In August of 2001
he embarked on a journey to visit the various
places where his items had ended up, his travels
were chronicled on his ongoing travelogue site
Temporama.com
(the UIMA's
fist Online Exhibition)
Bloomsbury
USA published a full color hard cover
book about the Allmylifeforsale project.
The
book,
released in November of 2002, is a unique collaboration
between artist and publisher. Rather than contracting
the design of the project to their usual design
firm, Bloomsbury has entrusted the design and
layout of the book to Allmylifeforsale's creator
John Freyer. Freyer has extensive experience
with
in the DIY world of self-publishing, letter press
printing, and artist books. This current project
is the largest he has ever taken on, and is an
interesting translation from the non-linear
temporary nature of the Internet,
to
a more permanent physical record of the Allmylifeforsale
Project.
Before
and After QTVR's of his House
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