The Thousands

Managing to find a fresh angle in the tired but ever-universal love story genre, Important Artifacts and Personal Property cleverly reduces a relationship down to the form of an auction catalogue.

It all begins with a flyer to a friend’s Halloween party where New Yorkers Lenore and Harold first met, then continues through the postcards, presents and general ‘stuff’ that weaves the tapestry of their years together. All are listed dispassionately as individual lots, along with valuations and telling inscriptions, such as a folded piece of paper found in a jacket pocket that reads: ‘Veal thing/ Polenta cake/ Cakewalk due/ cried in shower’.

By effectively allowing you to read between the lines, Canadian artist and graphic novelist Leanne Shapton really draws you into the characters’ lives, while giving enough space to place yourself within the story that unfolds. Some of the stuff this couple did just kills me – like keeping a box of Trivial Pursuit cards in the bathroom, or reading separate copies of the same novel while they’re apart.

I kind of wish they were my friends, so I could convince them to get back together, or at least score some of their sweet stuff. I even take the same size as Harold.