RL Dumpster installations in galleries and museum spaces were an extension of our online project “Second Life Dumpster.” We used these public dumpsters to learn more about the relationship between and object based art production and consumerism, ideas of “market value,” actual strategies of object recycling and creating a participatory public sculpture. For the installment of these dumps we sent curators and museum staff a set of general guidelines that laid out how to assemble a RL Dumpster in their exhibition spaces. The guidelines were shaped by our experience of having maintained a virtual public dumpster for one year in Second Life, and mainly concerned the collection (source from as many people as possible,) the kind (clean, colorful consumer objects and glossy packaging) and installment (try to ignore the notion of gravity and weight) of trash objects. As a reference, the installations also included video clips that showed the process of virtually decaying objects on the SL Dumpster. To get feedback on the process we invited RL Dump Managers to send us a dump report.
Urbis dump report
on 5/12/09 7:21 AM Paul Luckraft wrote:
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.