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Gleaning at the City Dump #16

5/19/2012

All five artists working with this art grant (gleaning from the city dump) are required to create at least ten pieces by September. I have just completed another new piece using materials that I've found after some diligent digging the dump:

1. an odd piece of metal (cogs and wheels) that came out of the player piano

2. wooden framing boards (from IKEA) that were used underneath a platform bed (designed to hold the mattress in place)

3. old black and white (a few color) snapshots (from the 60's maybe)

4. pages from one of the vintage encyclopedias that I found on my first day in the bay of the Transfer Station...I tore out all the plates...old maps, illustrations, etc. for use in other projects

5. alcohol dye (I make my own,using Rit liquid dye and rubbing alcohol...easy to mix, much cheaper than the stuff you buy...this is the only thing, besides some glue and a few screws that I didn't find at the dump)

The completed piece...about 18 inches long, 5 inches wide and 3 1/2 inches deep. The top photo compartments are covered with glass (also from the dump):

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Gleaning at the City Dump #15

5/18/2012

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Here's another look at our office/work space at the Transfer Station. We have access to the three gray carts which we push around the bay, collecting our "trashy" art materials. The five of us have all claimed a little area of this space to store some of our treasures...the things that we don't necessarily want to take home with us right away. The "stuff" piled into the middle section (up against the wall) is the "free for all" zone...this is where we place those things that we find while gleaning, thinking that one of the artists might be able to use in some way. The piles continue to grow-we often have to throw away our own collections of saved stuff if there are no takers.

With the weather warming up, we are experiencing more dust in the bay. Notice the industrial-sized misting machine located at the top of this iron post. It does a pretty good job managing the dust.

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Gleaning at the City Dump #14

5/17/2012

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A few of my finds while gleaning at the city dump today (lots of electronic items):

Loading up the mobile cart,which helps to transport the "found art materials" down to the other end of the bay where our work area is located. I now keep an eye on this cart at all times after having someone grab and steal something a few weeks ago.

A few misc. metal finds, including some pieces from the "copper bin."

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Gleaning at the City Dump #13

5/13/2012

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I gleaned at the city dump three days this week...three hours each day...a first for me (as opposed to my once or twice a week visits). Our weather has been progressively getting better, which makes it much more conducive to being in the bay, digging for art materials. Yesterday (Saturday...the day before Mother's Day) was incredibly busy with vehicles coming and going...the bay seemed to be a "parking lot" at times with people off-loading their trash. There were some wonderful "finds" as usual, but there was also much more dust in the air. I will be wearing a mask much more often from now on.

A few of the treasures:

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Gleaning at the City Dump #12

5/12/2012

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Interesting old tools seem to show up on a daily basis at the Transfer Station. For a mixed media/assemblage artist like myself, these are like finding gold in those piles of trash. I haven't seen a hand drill like this in several years...I believe that my Dad used to have one in his stash of tools. I'm really not in any kind of "competition" with the other four artists for this kind of stuff, as none of them would likely use these things in their work. The five of us were chosen for this art grant specifically with our different "directions" in mixed media, yet, we seem to all compliment each other nicely. I glean specifically for my own needs, but I'm also helping the other artists find what they need...old wigs for one artist...old crocheted afghans for another, etc.

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Gleaning at the City Dump #11

5/11/2012

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The raptor cage! This is one of the first things that I see when I drive in to work at the Metro Transfer Station (working with my art grant at the city dump gleaning for art materials). Like probably all "dumping grounds" everywhere, Recology's Transfer Station has its share of nuisance birds coming in to eat from the rotting piles of food scraps. I met the falconer, Chris, yesterday, who is contracted to bring in his birds a few days a week.

He brings two falcons and two hawks, allowing one of them at a time to "work the area." He has them fully trained to respond to the "treats" that he carries in his pockets, which allows him to let them fly free over the area, thus scaring off the crows (some gulls, etc.) They do not attack the crows, but merely scare them off by their presence. The crows seem to be incredibly intelligent, knowing which days Chris and his birds are on the job.

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Gleaning at the City Dump #10

5/7/2012

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I've finished the last two of my "piano key" boxes...all materials coming from gleaning at the city dump, with the exception of a few screws, as well as my own glue and alcohol dye. These are all about the size of a shoebox, all covered with glass.

These three pieces were not necessarily designed to be a triptych, but I may hang them as such for our show at the Disjecta Gallery (Portland, OR) in Sept.

The five of us working with this art grant have about four months left of our six month contract which allows us to glean at the Metro Transfer Station...our city dump.

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Gleaning at the City Dump #9

5/2/2012

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I've completed another assemblage using some of the piano pieces that I've found at the Metro Transfer Station (the city dump). This box contains a few of the keys as well as an old paintbrush...I'm a fan of plenty of incongruity, needless to say. The box itself was constructed from lumber gleaned from the massive mountains of wood at the dump, and then covered with some pages from vintage encyclopedias, those pages then sanded, and finally given a light application of alcohol dye. Both top and bottom compartments are covered with glass. For more information on this "gleaning in the dump" art grant, see Gleaning #1

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1. an odd piece of metal (cogs and wheels) that came out of the player piano

2. wooden framing boards (from IKEA) that were used underneath a platform bed (designed to hold the mattress in place)

3. old black and white (a few color) snapshots (from the 60's maybe)

4. pages from one of the vintage encyclopedias that I found on my first day in the bay of the Transfer Station...I tore out all the plates...old maps, illustrations, etc. for use in other projects

5. alcohol dye (I make my own,using Rit liquid dye and rubbing alcohol...easy to mix, much cheaper than the stuff you buy...this is the only thing, besides some glue and a few screws that I didn't find at the dump)

The completed piece...about 18 inches long, 5 inches wide and 3 1/2 inches deep. The top photo compartments are covered with glass (also from the dump):

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