Things People Leave Behind : Unveiling Stories in Discarded Objects
In my artistic practice, I engage in dialogues around the cycle of mindless ownership, investigating intersections of possessions, belongings, mass production/reproduction, authorship, fast-fashion, fast-furniture, wish-cycling, and the material systems influencing waste and wasting. Reflecting on the abandoned personal belongings prompts contemplation about the life of the person who left them behind—a story told through traces.
As a hunter artist, I utilize photography to document fluid assemblages, laying claim to and activating artificial landscapes shaped by chance. Everyday objects, once intimate extensions of our bodies, carry signs reflecting personality, status, and values. Whether mass-produced, crafted, or manufactured, these objects transition from the private to the public realm, creating an ephemeral and accidental assemblage on the curbside.
A disharmonious dystopian mix of household items unfolds a narrative of private life—class, style, taste, technology, gender, sexualities, ideologies, behavior, gentrification, and diaspora manifest in this rejected ensemble. Stripped of their primary utilitarian function, these objects, now useless, briefly transform into non-objects imbued with unintended agency. Beyond the carefully curated aesthetic spotlight of home decor, rejected household items narrate a societal story, revealing unconventional facets of everyday life through layers of aesthetic and cognitive activation, portraying the backstage of domestic life.
This essay is Inspired on Vancouver conceptual artists Iain and Ingrid Baxter, The N.E. Thing Company (NETCO) (1966–1978), called as ACTs (Aesthetically Claimed Things).
