"Drip catcher The carpet hangers disappeared from the rear courtyards when wall-to-wall carpeting and vacuum cleaners were introduced when the Persian carpets had been bombed away, when there was no money to buy new ones, when the men who used to carry the rolled-up carpets down the stairs for cleaning had been killed in the war. The shop where I used to take my"
"Things disappear when they are deprived of their means for existence, as if they have a hunger that must be satisfied Things disappear when they are deprived of their means for existence, as if they, too, have a hunger that must be satisfied. And even if the reason for their disappearance is infinitely far removed from the things themselves as far removed, say, as the crimes of the German Wehrmacht are from German coffee,"
Everyday objects vanish when social, economic, or technological changes remove the conditions that sustained them. Carpet hangers disappear after wall-to-wall carpeting, vacuum cleaners, bombed Persian carpets, lack of money, and the deaths of men who carried carpets for cleaning in the war. A mending shop called Run Express vanishes when the Wall falls and inexpensive western tights flood the east. Coffee drip catchers fade as children born during the war stop planning family reunions and import espresso makers from Italy. Disappearance is described as if objects have a hunger for existence and forges an intimate bond between object and historical cause.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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