Quentin Fortney’s "saturation point" photo series, which will be projected outside of the South of Downtown Art Hub on Friday evening, is one of three works that turn trash into art, via imagery, collage and object manipulation.
The "good rubbish" exhibition grew out of encounters by co-curators Kat Wiese and Peggy Gomez with artists who walk around their neighborhoods, picking up or photographing objects that are incorporated into their artwork.
“In a year saturated with grief in all its forms, walking the tree-lined streets of one’s neighborhood is a reminder that the season of pandemic will also pass,†reads the exhibition’s curatorial statement. “The artworks presented in 'good rubbish' challenge us to recognize the beauty, irony and potential in the mundane and discarded things one finds when stepping out.â€
The first artist Gomez and Wiese encountered was Brian Dickinson, who picked up so many objects while walking his dog that he transformed them into seven paintings, each looking at one of the Seven Deadly Sins.
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The collaged paintings, which are displayed in the windows of the art hub — covered with cigarette butts and candy wrappers — each reference a specific sin, but also serve as an exploration of urban trash.
“Statistics show that convenience stores and streets that are heavily driven collect the most litter in the country,†Wiese said. “In the Everett and Near South neighborhoods, we have a lot of convenience stores and traffic. So you find a lot of litter. It’s trash that’s used in art. But it’s also about recycling and the need to pick it up.â€
A similar ethos is found in Gomez’s “Cloud Skirt†that hangs in a tree near the art hub, 1247 S. 11th St. Made out of plastics bags tied together and strung through the branches, the whimsical “Cloud Skirt†revamps the bags to create aesthetic pleasure while raising consciousness about the need to curb plastic waste.
The last element in “good rubbish†is a virtual viewing on the Lincoln South of Downtown Community Development Facebook page. That viewing, which begins at 6 p.m. Friday, will feature the poetry of Karla Hernandez Torrijos. The poems that she reads also will be written in chalk on the sidewalks around the hub, making them part of the show.
There's also a podcast, accessed through the South of Downtown website and social media channels, that will include the poems and recordings of each of the artists walking through the neighborhood, talking about what they find and how it is used.
The podcast is intended to serve as a walking tour guide.
“It ties together the show,†she said.Â