February 26, 2010
What to do with misbegotten or just plain unwanted art of your own creation? Setting it out by the curb might to send the wrong message to the neighbors about your faith in your own abilities, and burning it seems a touch melodramatic.
So there’s certainly a need for Art Bin, an installation by British artist Michael Landy. Literally a room-sized steel and polycarbonate waste receptacle at the South London Gallery in England, the bin is filled with drawings, paintings, sculptures and other pieces deemed unworthy or simply disposable by their creators. Established artists, amateurs and students from around the world have augmented its contents. According to Landy, the growing pile of creative detritus is, itself, an artistic statement. As he told CBC News, Art Bin mulls “the worth our society gives to things.” Each new submission changes the nature of the piece.
True to the ephemeral spirit of the work, Art Bin will close on March 14 and all of its contents will be shipped to a landfill. Whether the landfill operator has the foresight to repurpose the facility as a gallery and start charging admission remains to be seen.
Source: CBC News
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