Hey Arnold: A Shrine To Love
A photo series recreating a Helga-inspired shrine to explore how we memorialize past loves.
Pola Pucheta
When I think about the media and pop culture references that have most influenced my own roomscape, I think of the Nickelodeon show Hey Arnold. However, it's not the abode of the show's titular character that has stuck with me into adulthood. It's the room of the show's antagonist: Helga Pataki. For better or worse, Helga is a character I identified with in my adolescent romantic life—having a tough exterior to guard a soft and gooey inside. The most notable part of Helga's space is the elaborate shrine dedicated to the recipient of her obsession (and her bullying)—Arnold—materialized in found objects and ephemera that Helga has come into contact with.
I've recognized a similar pattern of relic-keeping from lovers, exes, and crushes in myself. And while I've wondered whether this practice inhibits healthily moving on (or is maybe a romanticized form of hoarding?), I can't help but endear my trinkets. When I hold old notes, photos, or tokens, I get a feeling similar to when I flip through my middle school yearbook— intense cringe, shortly followed by laughter.
I can’t deny the compulsive urge to let my hand slip when arranging the candles I hold for my old lovers and burn it all down. Instead, I gather myself and memorialize past loves from past lives. I let them adorn my space and pay homage to the way their love once adorned my life.
Pola Pucheta is a first-generation queer creative based in Brooklyn, NY. Her work is informed by a passion for familial legacy, introspection, and investigating vulnerable spaces. When she's not hosting the NEW RECORDING podcast, she works as a documentary professional at Brown Girls Doc Mafia. You can follow her on Instagram, and find her podcast wherever you stream.
