Affective Clutter: Three Viewpoints on Lived Objects that Create Discomfort at Home

Abstract

Over-consumption and the domestic abundance of things have become a problem in affluent Western homes, which are full of new commodities and layers of lived things. At the same time, the encounter with mess and clutter generates a strong moral charge. We should not approach clutter as simply meaningless or lacking order, but rather as a form of trouble-making materiality that forces people to engage with materiality due to a sense of discomfort. In this article, we focus on specific objects that are considered as clutter, asking thirteen people to introduce the materiality of their homes. Overall, we find three different viewpoints on clutter: stuff materializing social relations and family connections; stuff referring to personal memories; and stuff that constructs the feeling of home. We conclude that clutter is not a simple matter of disorder, but rather something affective that calls for attention and emotional work.