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Museum of Trash  NYC

2/25/2013

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I can see that this is one museum that I'm going to have to visit the next time I'm in the Big Apple!



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From the NYTimes and TrashTalk-News from the Dumpster
"A New York City Sanitation Department located in the heart of Manhattan is unlike any other in the country. The two-story building housing the sanitation trucks and other equipment has been transformed into a makeshift art gallery stocked with paintings, sports memorabilia, sculptures and other works of art. The kicker is that all the items were collected along the curbside of New York City streets.

New York sanitation workers encounter more that just garbage bags filled with food scraps and junk on their daily routes, they also occasionally come across beautiful paintings, posters and photographs. According to the New York Times, workers at the 99th street Sanitation Department between First and Second Avenues have found four electric guitars, painting of Winston Churchill, antiques and even an MBA diploma from Harvard.

The art takes up most of the second floor of the sanitation building. The collection consists of art collected over the past 20 years. Nelson Molina, a New York sanitation worker since 1981, started it all. He began collecting items along his route and decorating his locker area back at the sanitation building. Needless to say, the collection ballooned into much more than a few wall decorations."

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"Today, other sanitation workers contribute to the art gallery collection by keeping an eye out for hidden treasures in the trash. Molina estimates the size of the collection to be about 1,000 items. He has an eye for good design."
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"Molina stated, “It doesn’t matter what it is. As long as it’s cool, I can hang it up and I’ve got a place for it. That’s why I tell the guys, just bring it in and I’ll decide if I can hang it.”

City policy prohibits sanitation workers from keeping items found in the trash for personal use. However, since Molina has the items on display for others to see, the rule doesn’t apply in this case."




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For more pictures, check out this slide show from the NY Times
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Artist Biederman

2/22/2013

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I've been looking (online) at some of the work of Charles Biederman...an American artist (early to mid to late 1900's) who created work that might be labeled as "geometric relief."  His is the kind of work that could so easily lend itself to the use of recycled materials...possibly with some similarities to the work of Louise Nevelson and her "scrap wood" creations.  This kind of work always catches my eye, especially after having had the experience of digging in the city dump for six months during my own art residency, and coming face to face with the mounds of wood that had made its way to the Metro Transfer Station.   Some of the examples of Biederman's work that I found with my search:
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And, some examples of the work of Louise Nevelson:
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Some of those massive piles of wood that I found whenever I went to glean for art materials at the city dump:
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Book Review 1

2/18/2013

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I got my hands on this very interesting book the other day written by a Nobel prize-winning author from Turkey.   I had originally seen this book about a month ago at one of our local bookstores (Powells), and decided to go the "cheap" direction and check it out from my local county library.  The author gives you a great visual tour of a museum that he has created and opened in Istanbul...The Museum of Innocence.  For you fellow assemblage/mixed media artists, you'll appreciate his amazing collection of ephemera from his childhood...many of those items that he then put into boxes, all of which help to tell the stories from his past.  


"Beautifully designed vitrines, or boxes, containing carefully arranged collections of objects, carry the visitor along the arc of the story, on a journey through time and space as well as into the mind of the collector himself..."


You can do a simple online image search for yourself to see more of the work in this museum.  A few of those images:
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The book is available for purchase at Amazon!
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February 9th, 2013

2/9/2013

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While I was at the Yard, Garden and Patio show yesterday, I crossed the street to see the recycled art show at Metro (Portland's government agency).  Metro, along with Cracked Pots, are the organizations who sponsor the five artists each year in the gleaning residency at the city dump.  Metro has one piece of art on permanent display from each of the glean artists  in their downstairs and upstairs gallery.  I finally got to see my piece (and everyone else's work) in this building.



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The "downstairs gallery" where the work from the first year's artists is displayed.  



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The "upstairs gallery" is where the work for those of us in the second year residency is displayed.  It's in a great area of the building...well lit...very visible.  
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Since they have already started the application process for another round of artists for year three, I'm wondering where they'll hang the new work next fall.  I didn't see any other wall spaces available.  
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More of the Glean Program at the Yard, Garden and Patio Show

2/8/2013

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I haven't been to one of these "yard and garden" shows at the Convention Center in years, but decided that this might be one of those years to  visit.  
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The "Crackedpots" people...the folks who sponsor the program for the five artists to glean at the city dump for six months each year...have their own booth again this year.  They needed some samples of some of the art work that was created from all that trash that came from the city dump a few months ago to advertise the Glean Program. Several of my assemblage boxes made it to one of the tables...woohoo!!  I'm not allowed to actually sell any of my pieces at this event (I'm not a paying participant), but I do get the benefit of displaying my work (more shameless promotion!), along with having my business cards available.   A few photos from this three day weekend event:
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By the way, I'm wearing one of my treasured "trashy clothing finds" from the city dump this past summer...a brand new Colombia Sportswear jacket.  This was gleaning at its finest!  And I've gotta' wonder...who would throw away a brand new jacket?  If I hadn't found it, it would have ended up at a landfill.  


This entire area of the show hall was dedicated to other artists who create from recycled materials:
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Ben, one of season one's glean artists, along with Amy, the Glean Program director.

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Since this was a "yard, garden and patio" show, there were a lot of other interesting things (displays, booths, vendors etc.)  to see:
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Big Trip

2/1/2013

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Big Trip To Hawaii
January 23 - 30  2013


Visiting Hawaii's State Art Museum
Downtown Honolulu

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Hiking Near Sea Life Park...Oahu

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Farmer's Market...Saturday...Honolulu

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Weekend Art Fair...Honolulu Zoo

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Chinatown...Hawaii

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Around Honolulu

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