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tried to eat?

Jennifer: I didn’t try to eat all of them. After a while, the batteries kind of spoil. They turn like green and white; there is lots of that. It is pretty disgusting. When you leave batteries in cassette players, they blow up.

Gelman: They blow up?

Jennifer: Well they start getting moldy.

Gelman: They start leaking.

Jennifer: Yeah, really gross. I used to get yelled at a lot for that.

Gelman: By whom?

Jennifer: My parents, for messing up electronics, because I never used my electronics properly...

Gelman: Tell me about your family.

Jennifer: My family is from China. When my grandma came here, and my dad came here, they had nothing. It was very exciting when they came here and finally got to own something, even when it was like a paper bag or newspaper- it was theirs. They just accumulated things. Little, useless things, until it filled up the whole house. I didn’t recognize that until recently, when I was going through some stuff and there were fruit containers. They get piles whenever they order takeout, and they never throw them away; there is no way out of it. Chinese people, I wouldn’t say they are frugal, but they never throw anything away because they don’t want to waste things.

Gelman: They keep everything.

Jennifer: Yeah, so we keep everything. And I noticed that I was doing that too. With batteries.

Gelman: What else do you accumulate?

Jennifer: Lots of Zip disks. If you guys find you are missing any after I leave, it’s probably me.

Gelman: We don't use them anymore.

Jennifer: I have lots of them. I don’t know why I have lots of them.

Gelman: You’re just stealing them?

Jennifer: I am. Wherever I go it seems.

Gelman: What else do you steal?

Jennifer: Do you really want me to talk about it? Okay. When I was younger I was caught stealing lipstick.

Gelman: So now you’re smarter and you’re not getting caught?

Jennifer: No, I don’t do that.

Gelman: You don’t steal anymore.

Jennifer: I don’t steal anymore. I just take.

Gelman: Tell me about your day gig?

Jennifer: Simon and Schuster. It's a day job to support my...

Gelman: Mainland?

Jennifer: Yeah. Which I do at night, weekends and special holidays.

Gelman: What is the audience for your stuffed animals?

Jennifer: I’m not really focusing on children, although kids would like them. I’m really gearing them more towards designers and people who would understand the conceptual idea of each animal, and people that have good taste. And people that have money to afford them.

Gelman: So they are expensive?

Jennifer: It depends how many hours I work on them.

Gelman: Do you make editions of the same design or are they always different?

Jennifer: They are always going to be different, slightly, because they are all hand made. I’ve tried making editions but I get bored easily. That’s why I try to create more and different kinds of stuffed animals. It gets really tiresome otherwise. Because you’re working on it for an hour and you finally finish, you feel so great that it’s done. But having to repeat the process...

Gelman: I heard that you are exploiting some teenagers.

Jennifer: What are you talking about?

Gelman: You hire teenagers to do the dirty work for you.

Jennifer: I don’t understand that question. No, I'm just giving someone an opportunity. I let them stuff the stuffed animals.

Gelman: They are actually stuffing them with the cotton?

Jennifer: Well, with the stuffing.

Gelman: Stuffing?

Jennifer: It’s actually made just for pillows and stuffed animals. It’s made of an acrylic polyester blend. So I have them doing that.

Gelman: Are they washable?

Jennifer: Felt is a fabric that shouldn’t be washed because it will fuzz up. But my cotton ones, Hamster and Pigeon, are washable.

Gelman: What is your plan for the future?

Jennifer: I want to control people and have people under me so I don’t have to work so hard. I’ve been researching other toy companies. Can I mention names?

Gelman: Absolutely.

Jennifer: There are these companies, Scary Stories Inc. and Ugly Dolls Co., they make these stuffed animals that are supposed to look creepy but cute. It’s really strange to see that. I don’t think my stuff is like that at all. It’s more simple. And I want to work at Rockefeller center, where the big fucking Christmas tree is.