When what to my wondering eyes should appear...
One of my favorite memories of Christmas morning as a kid was the frenzy of six people opening presents at the same time. Although opening them one at a time might have been the preferred preference of parents, it never worked it out, at least not back then.
Christmas wrapping, tissue paper, ribbons and bows buried the living room carpet in vibrant Christmas color. Of course my mother immediately went into drill Sargent mode, grabbing the paper, bows and ribbon she could reuse next year. Once she had what she needed, and snapped at us for ripping the paper off instead of gentling unwrapping it, she pulled out the garbage and recycling bags and the beautiful mess of a masterpiece was sadly quickly erased.
I'll miss that this year with my mother not around to ensure the mess is cleaned up. Even as adults, we all usually still need someone to encourage us to clean up our messes, or at least not stew in them too long. Messes, especially hot ones, are fun for awhile, but ultimately, or maybe sadly, we end up throwing our most miraculous messes away far too soon.
The hot mess that Christmas so often becomes is of course of our own making. Between the pressures to shop, overspend and waste time with people we wouldn't interact with the rest of the year, we've added to the pressure pile, and not just with Christmas wrap and sparkling decorations.
But... ironically, and really... very annoyingly, every year Christmas is followed up by an even bigger hot mess, New Years. New Year's is the time the world has devoted for us to feel guilty about our messes. To self judge every bad decision we've made. Not just of the past year, but our entire lives! It's the time so many of us sadly beat ourselves up for the mistakes we've made, and vow that next year....we'll finally get our shit together.
I love that Richard Rothstein not only captured this hot mess, but within his images, he and Sergey celebrate the beauty a hot mess can be. Hot messes are loud, colorful and for awhile, a hell of a lot of fun. They are also often incredibly erotic and sexy, maybe in part because we know the sensation is soon to be extinguished. If not by a mother with a recycling bag, a friend or family member who thinks you've spent enough tie wallowing in your own filth.
No matter how old we get, those Christmas messes are never far from our minds. I love how perfectly Richard captured the craze and color that is Christmas. Richard's images of Sergey remind me of that feeling we have when we squint and look at our lit Christmas tree.
It's a timeless feeling, that looks the same magical way whether you're 3 or 30. No matter how badly that tree is decorated, no matter how much clutter surrounds it, no matter how much crap is going on in your life.... when you squint, you just see the beauty, the vibrant colors....and the light.
If you want to squint a little longer, and you should, check out more from Richard and Sergey's hot mess Christmas on Page 2 HERE:
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