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My first contribution to an urban beachcombing archive, and an invitation to collaborate.
thenewgreen · 4424 days ago · link ·
Perhaps the urban beach combing and the Hubski art showing could coalesce
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Sounds like a magical plan. I'd be happy to cross list submissions, provided artists were on board. Of course, the urban beach combing project hasn't had any takers so far, so I'll have to let you know when/if that happens. Meantime, I'd happily post a piece in the hubski art show, and would enjoy seeing everyone elses work as well.
Nice images. Reminds me of Walker Evans, who became famous for this type of collecting by the end of his life. He used to gather trash, which many people thought of as hoarding or mental illness, but according to him he was interested in beauty and history of everyday found objects.
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Thanks! I'll have to check out this Evans fellow. It never ceases to amaze me how readily we accept and apply ideas about objects -- what they're "for" (and what they emphatically aren't) how they affect status, who can and should be wanting or using them, etc. When we truly assay the raw presence and nature of an object though, all these assumptions and ideas about it reveal themselves to be quite ethereal. Such figments are more than enough to sway definitions of sanity, of course, which raises questions about the value of such sanity. Thanks for the context!
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Just make sure if you do a Google search you are looking at Walker Evans the photographer and not Walker Evans the NASCAR driver! Could be some confusion :) Here is a great place (an essay by Errol Morris) to start to learn about some of his more famous works, if you're interested.
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Wow, a good tip. If I hadn't known, I woulda just assumed this Evans guy was some kind of savant outsider artist in his spare time -- anything to alleviate the boredom of constantly turning left. I've read the first part of the Case of the Inappropriate Alarm Clock, and it's been a fascinating and timely read. Evans is only mentioned briefly, but I imagine the rest of the series will cover his work at closer range. Thanks again!
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Yeah the blog post isn't about Evens specifically, but about documentary photography generally. The title refers to one of his photos taken during the Depression. I think the stuff about his trash collecting is toward the end (its a 7 part series, I believe).