trashy :
A little over a year ago, I realized that my love for cut/paste was not going to die easily, and a few key commands were no longer satisfying the need. So I did the only logical thing there was to do --- I began collaging postcards and sending them to anyone I could think of. After creating the first 10 or so, I realized there was one small problem with my renewed love; my income as an intern was not going to pay for supplies. I began looking around my apartment for paper (okay, anything printed) that I didn't mind cutting up. It then became obvious that no matter what my income, there was one resource that would continue to provide for my project. Garbage.
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Trash, really?
Yes, at the end of the day, I am tearing things up just to put them back together again. Ideally, after the face-lift (even if it is branded with imperfections and irregularities), the end result becomes a little tougher to toss in the trash bin.
Sometimes a little spit and elbow grease can make one think twice about that "garbage" even means. There's a reason the slogan is "Reduce. Reuse. Recycle."
I like to work with my hands.
In the words of Debbie Millman, President of the design division at Sterling Brands, "While computers might set type in flawlessly accurate columns, things that are made by hand are beautiful by virtue of their irregularity. I see these imperfections as marks of dignity and integrity, and believe that they bear witness to the artist --and the human --in all of us" [Fingerprint].
I believe in using each of my own digits whenever possible.
A few questions recently asked by a trashcard receipient :
Peter Tabor : Why "trash" cards?
Jen : Honestly, it sounded better than garbage. And really, artists don't tend to assign award winning titles to their work. They could easily be titled, "Untitled".
PT : What do the images say about your region?
JB : When I lived in Ohio, I thought my family received an unnecessary amount of irrelivant direct mailers. I now live in Chicago. Not only do I receive an unnecessary amount of irrelivant direct mailers, it's a bit absurd. I probably average one or two a day ranging from a oversized postcard to a #10 envelope filled with pages I will never read. I'm just happy I found something productive to do with all of them. That's what it says about my region; I live in a city where companies produce trash and kindly mail it to me.
PT : What do the images say about you?
JB : There are some obvious patterns: favorite colors, reoccuring textures, repeated composition. Outside of a few outliners, one could probably sit down with all ~70 trashcards and get pretty close to lining them up from the first created to the most recent.
Peter actually made his own trashcard to submit these questions. Check it out!
