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CNN Live At Daybreak

Woman Gives Away Everything

Aired December 04, 2002 - 05:51   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: OK, here's a philosophical question for you to ponder this holiday season. Could you sell everything you own? Really, could you? It sounds pretty farfetched, doesn't it?
But our Jeanne Moos has found someone who's doing just that. Let's meet her.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): She's a woman possessed with getting rid of her possessions.

(on camera): What's in the bottle?

ELANIT KAYNE, ARTIST: My hair. Isn't that nice?

MOOS (voice-over): From the odd to the mundane.

KAYNE: The bed is being sold, my furniture is being sold.

MOOS (on camera): What are you going to sleep on?

KAYNE: My television. The floor.

MOOS (voice-over): Imagine selling the ring your ex-boyfriend made you, the tiara you wore to the prom, your mouthwash?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a brave thing, don't you think, giving -- could you give away all your things?

MOOS (on camera): No.

(voice-over): The "New York Post" called it the sale of a lifetime, Elanit Kayne's lifetime, all 26 years of it.

KAYNE: I really don't want anything.

MOOS (on camera): But why don't you want anything?

KAYNE: So that I can see.

MOOS (voice-over): In case you don't see...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is she down and out, or what?

MOOS (on camera): Is she down and out? No, it's an art thing. (voice-over): Elanit creates sculptures. She's not getting rid of them, but almost everything else has been moved from her Brooklyn apartment to a storefront on 42nd Street.

KAYNE: What are we going to pay for that? It's funny. OK.

MOOS: For a locket Elanit's grandfather gave her.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's almost like a part of her is now going to continue on without her.

MOOS: If you really want a part of her, do what we did and buy one of Elanit's wisdom teeth.

KAYNE: Five bucks.

MOOS: Each item is tagged with a short history.

KAYNE: These teeth were dug out of my mouth at NYU by a student learning on my face.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have her baby teeth at home.

MOOS (on camera): Safe.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Safe.

MOOS (voice-over): That's Elanit's mom. She had a hard time getting used to the idea that her daughter is even selling family photos. That's mom holding baby Elanit. Nevertheless...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I admire her. She's doing...

MOOS (on camera): You're not taking it personally?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. It has nothing to do with me. I did kind of go vitamins that I bought you and I spent $29 on, now should I buy them back?

MOOS (voice-over): Larger items have their history written right on them. This guy bought a painting. This woman paid $90 for a saxophone a boyfriend once bought Elanit. Another woman paid two bucks for a pin.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm a decorator, so part of the problem is helping people amass more crap.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got socks and a glass.

MOOS: The buyer proposes a price, say, for this Ella Fitzgerald CD collection.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What, two bucks? That cheap.

KAYNE: You really think that that's what it's worth? Do you, are you going to feel good walking away that, knowing that you bought that for $2?

MOOS: Elanit turned him down.

(on camera): Isn't there something that it breaks your heart to give up?

KAYNE: Yes. I cried over one thing, just this pink bag.

MOOS (voice-over): She's traveled with it since she was 13. She'll be keeping a few things.

(on camera): So your life fits in a box now?

KAYNE: It does.

MOOS (voice-over): Overalls, T-shirts, socks and underwear. Bye-bye pig whistle. Farewell dad's baby picture.

(on camera): I mean how can you give this away?

KAYNE: I can. I think...

MOOS: This kind of looks like you.

(voice-over): Hairless and without possessions.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired December 4, 2002 - 05:51   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: OK, here's a philosophical question for you to ponder this holiday season. Could you sell everything you own? Really, could you? It sounds pretty farfetched, doesn't it?
But our Jeanne Moos has found someone who's doing just that. Let's meet her.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): She's a woman possessed with getting rid of her possessions.

(on camera): What's in the bottle?

ELANIT KAYNE, ARTIST: My hair. Isn't that nice?

MOOS (voice-over): From the odd to the mundane.

KAYNE: The bed is being sold, my furniture is being sold.

MOOS (on camera): What are you going to sleep on?

KAYNE: My television. The floor.

MOOS (voice-over): Imagine selling the ring your ex-boyfriend made you, the tiara you wore to the prom, your mouthwash?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a brave thing, don't you think, giving -- could you give away all your things?

MOOS (on camera): No.

(voice-over): The "New York Post" called it the sale of a lifetime, Elanit Kayne's lifetime, all 26 years of it.

KAYNE: I really don't want anything.

MOOS (on camera): But why don't you want anything?

KAYNE: So that I can see.

MOOS (voice-over): In case you don't see...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is she down and out, or what?

MOOS (on camera): Is she down and out? No, it's an art thing. (voice-over): Elanit creates sculptures. She's not getting rid of them, but almost everything else has been moved from her Brooklyn apartment to a storefront on 42nd Street.

KAYNE: What are we going to pay for that? It's funny. OK.

MOOS: For a locket Elanit's grandfather gave her.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's almost like a part of her is now going to continue on without her.

MOOS: If you really want a part of her, do what we did and buy one of Elanit's wisdom teeth.

KAYNE: Five bucks.

MOOS: Each item is tagged with a short history.

KAYNE: These teeth were dug out of my mouth at NYU by a student learning on my face.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have her baby teeth at home.

MOOS (on camera): Safe.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Safe.

MOOS (voice-over): That's Elanit's mom. She had a hard time getting used to the idea that her daughter is even selling family photos. That's mom holding baby Elanit. Nevertheless...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I admire her. She's doing...

MOOS (on camera): You're not taking it personally?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. It has nothing to do with me. I did kind of go vitamins that I bought you and I spent $29 on, now should I buy them back?

MOOS (voice-over): Larger items have their history written right on them. This guy bought a painting. This woman paid $90 for a saxophone a boyfriend once bought Elanit. Another woman paid two bucks for a pin.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm a decorator, so part of the problem is helping people amass more crap.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got socks and a glass.

MOOS: The buyer proposes a price, say, for this Ella Fitzgerald CD collection.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What, two bucks? That cheap.

KAYNE: You really think that that's what it's worth? Do you, are you going to feel good walking away that, knowing that you bought that for $2?

MOOS: Elanit turned him down.

(on camera): Isn't there something that it breaks your heart to give up?

KAYNE: Yes. I cried over one thing, just this pink bag.

MOOS (voice-over): She's traveled with it since she was 13. She'll be keeping a few things.

(on camera): So your life fits in a box now?

KAYNE: It does.

MOOS (voice-over): Overalls, T-shirts, socks and underwear. Bye-bye pig whistle. Farewell dad's baby picture.

(on camera): I mean how can you give this away?

KAYNE: I can. I think...

MOOS: This kind of looks like you.

(voice-over): Hairless and without possessions.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com