Illustrator Memory Issue, HELP!!

Ive got a big problem with illustrator, after 10 minutes of being open I get an error message stating that my system has run out of application memory. Opening up Activity monitor to see whats going on I am greeted with this...

Its unbelievable and I have no idea what is causing the problem. Any help would be massively appreciated as I am unable to work.

Many thanks

Jed