Dumpster installations

CBK Gelderland, Arnhem, Netherlands as part of:
AVECOM, It’s all in the game…
Oct 3rd -Oct 26th 2008
dump managed by: Terry van Gurp and Rosell Heijmen

on 11/7/2008,2:13PM Rosell Heijmen wrote:

Somehow it was much more difficult than I expected to make a good-looking pile. Terry and me looked at the examples you send us in the PDF file and the esthetics and 'feel'of the objects in the dumpster. Mostly the objects we took were from our homes and found in the CBKG.
A few objects where bought or in use like the coat hanger, the latter will be used again, now the peope working at the office can hang their coats again. In SL things are very clean, and we looked for this quality in the things we used. It was a bit difficult building the pile because of gravity, we used transpant tape and nylon coards to pile them.
Sadly nothing decayed, but it was very nice to see them in a decaying context on the i-macs. A few items where not used although they were in the SL dumpster, because the pile started to look very chaotic and random.

Urbis, Manchaster, UK as part of State of the Art, organized by Paul Luckraft

on 5/12/09 7:21 AM Paul Luckraft wrote:

Urbis dump report

To locate the objects which would become the stars of the Urbis RL dump,
and take on a new life in the SL dump, there were a few options we
considered. Having moved flat a few times in recent years, I soon
realised after a quick check of my under the bed / on top of the
wardrobe spaces, that there was no way I would provide all the objects
myself - many suitable items probably fallen fowl of ruthless clear
outs. And anyway, more interesting would be to collect things from a
wider range of sources to give a bit of scope to the Manchester dump.
Initially the idea of putting a call out the general public via the
Urbis website was favourite - but this became less attractive once
logistics came into play. But a great plan B was struck upon where
Urbis staff were invited, (then nagged, then hassled) into supplying the
objects.

The objects that turned up mostly fitted the brief well - unwanted but
not broken and dirty. And I was pleasantly surprised that we got some
nice big furniture items in, things that would give the dump so body and
structure. There were also numerous old TV's - the UK is going digital
and everyone wants a flat-screen, so obsolete chunky analogue sets seem
to grace many homes.

I also decided to supplement the pile with some items purchased from the
local shopping mall - I felt it was cheating a little, but I found it
hard to stop myself wanting to ensure aesthetically interesting items
appeared. The mall contains several shops that selling cheap festive
paraphernalia - and it being Halloween time when the project began we
soon had a good selection of flashing skulls and plastic pumpkins.

As it came nearer the day to 'create' the dump in the gallery I began
worrying we didn't have enough things, so increasingly took to checking
out the forgotten corners of the Urbis building searching out objects.
An on a few occasion I struck gold with a mannequin from a previous
fashion show and a sparkly stand from last years' Urbis Christmas tree.

Rather than copying directly an arrangement I had seen in SL and screens
I was really keen to mimic the SL environment, the way objects teetered
in pile, and defied gravity in places. I watched the footage of the
Urbis objects in SL, and saw then dropping in to the Dump with a
satisfying thud, before being swept up the ramp. I wondered how many
people would make the connection between the objects infront of them and
the ones on the screen? I hoped quite a few would.

We made the dump in one 3 hour session - with me directing a team of
install staff and AV technicians. We were fortunate to have good
rigging points above a good supply of fishing line, so a lot of fun was
had in leaning and balancing objects. We ended up tweaking the
arrangement for quite a while - making it look 'just right' - which is
quite a peculiar concept in relation to a dump I suppose. Most have
stayed in place so far - although a pair of sunglasses seem to end up
at a different spot on the dump at the end of each day, more than likely
having been on the heads of a few visitors.

Of course our objects won't decay like the ones in SL - which is in some
ways a shame, as to see an IKEA desk return to a pile of dust might be
very satisfying. In fact the dump is gathering dust a little and will
soon need a spring clean. Keen to ensure the Urbis dumpster remains a
pristine collection of trash.. When the exhibition ends, I imagine
there will be a few items than vanish back into the under desks or into
cupboards at Urbis. Some perhaps kept for next year's Halloween. The
rest may well get taken to a recycling dump, as so become part of a mass
of material that might one day reappear into the world as something
else.

On Monday, September 15, 2008 9:54:08 AM Anthony Miler wrote:
In terms of what informed certain decisions in the actual process of installing a dumpster version it was like a mimiking or translating. I only thought of that during because you had mentioned before that you had been reading the task of the translator, so of course I also went and read it too. So often my decisions seemed to me very general, and not relying so much on a positive correlation with the Second Life Dumster, but not having negative correlations, or having as few as possible. Since there were pretty hefty time constraints I knew size distortion couldn't be used much if at all, so I didn't bother, but was happy there did exist a couple of these elements (the big bag and little shoes). My only positive correlations were to attempt a mimick of weightlessness, and the strange wierdness of empty taste (simulations which often seem to deny or not comprehend the original function) of second life. And to create a weird, atypical space.

Those are kind of some unedited memory/thinking of decisions, but so I also have an entry in my journal which follows below. Please forgive any notion of cornyness though. When I write whatever I want it always bends toward learning and attempts at self-awareness, and gratefulness in the setting of those two things...
I enjoy the multiplicity of views, where everything is right, so nothing is singlar, at least without itself being conscious of it, so also outside of it, or not quite singular, just another possibility... So when one looks at the dumpster project with some distance, and perhaps less the context of knowing all about second life than a general knowledge of art discourse or history, institutions etc... then it is interesting that someone found the opportunity to place a garbage dump
as an art project within an institution.
It's like entering into the rhetorical game, placing that there as a sign or door. And yes, alternative spaces are very much institutionalized, they present themselves that way, and I will not be convinced by the so called "down to earth" people working there, that it isn't an institution. So there it is, a garbage dump, or a simulation of one. But only with remove, or by extension through choosing to interpret signs, or also by choosing to remain ignorant of the project, that is only the first moment of my encounter. Nevertheless, that rests, or can rest, as an experience, that bit of a notion of singularity. And so even then, that small bit is "right." (?) Entering into the project (learning about it) one sees it is a complex and layerd thing almost like an organism. Clarity often totally escapes me, but the environment doesn't seem to ask for it anyway, it seems much more about observation as a throughway toward creation, without creation being that important anyway because that is a given. It seems like some sort of an orchistration of interacting with other people in many different shades of simulation. Often times I find myself questioning the limits of authenticity and simulation, and where they may cross in ways where separating or contemplating the two may miss the point entirely. I ultamately kept being drawn back to the idea in various circles of thought spurred by the project, that to me its aboutness was its effect on me, which was self-examination and learning, the type of things that come about when one critically examines their perceptions and presuppositions. And as far as projects go, if they effect me in such a way that I actively learn, then it really becomes a part of me, and I am thankful to be a part of the discourse in that way.

On Sep 15, 2008, at 7:27 PM, Carolyn Sortor wrote:

The only thing we purchased for our tower of trash was the beach ball. Most of the "trash" came from my house; but we found the brown wooden bookcase-with-no-shelves by the roadside; and AC and Danette also contributed several items.

Once I got your more detailed written explanation of the nature of the trash and the decay option, and after getting to actually look around a bit in 2L and the Dumpster with AC's help, I felt I had a better idea of what to look for. E.g., in the Dumpster I saw various "parts" of partially-decayed objects -- textured or colored, now-abstract shapes hanging in the air -- and it seems to me it would have been fairly easy to cut up some boards or gatorboard and spray-paint them or maybe cover them with some kind of patterned paper, and hang a few of those from the ceiling.

On the other hand, it may have been just as well not to try to include "decayed" physical objects, since I think that might have been confusing. Even as it was, the whole thing needed explanation for people to appreciate everything; but we were happy to stand around and tell people about it, because we thought it was so cool. Still, I like the idea of an assemblage of trash similar to the one we made but with a few bright red boards floating through the middle.

I found it interesting to think about the differences/similarities between the decay of 1L objects and the decay of objects consisting almost entirely of information, among many other interesting aspects . . .

Here's where some of the "virtual virtual" objects we used in our tower live now (in their "native" setting back at my house):