In New York Where The Garbage Is Art (2023)
Cabochon pearls glued on discarded piece of garbage
Dimensions variable
Images courtesy the artist
As the group show Island Letter opened at CC Projects gallery in New York June 14-July 9, Shirt placed a work outside the gallery across the street just before opening night. The pearl-encrusted piece of garbage was put on the curb, just off the bike lane, and photographed. It was actually visible in Shirt’s performance at the opening and could be seen from the the east-facing windows in the gallery. The work was listed in the guide but was not visible on the exhibition map. The current fate of the work or its whereabouts are unknown.
A description of the work in the exhibition guide read as follows:
These works are part of an ongoing series and practice of encrusting discarded objects with pearls. The items chosen for this treatment are mostly disposable and mass-produced, as in the case of the square of toilet paper in Almost Nothing. The dichotomy between the base material and the decorative embellishment creates a dialog in preciosity, calling attention to the formal intricacies of garbage and confusing its assumed value or lack thereof.
Cabochon pearls glued on discarded piece of garbage
Dimensions variable
Images courtesy the artist
As the group show Island Letter opened at CC Projects gallery in New York June 14-July 9, Shirt placed a work outside the gallery across the street just before opening night. The pearl-encrusted piece of garbage was put on the curb, just off the bike lane, and photographed. It was actually visible in Shirt’s performance at the opening and could be seen from the the east-facing windows in the gallery. The work was listed in the guide but was not visible on the exhibition map. The current fate of the work or its whereabouts are unknown.
A description of the work in the exhibition guide read as follows:
These works are part of an ongoing series and practice of encrusting discarded objects with pearls. The items chosen for this treatment are mostly disposable and mass-produced, as in the case of the square of toilet paper in Almost Nothing. The dichotomy between the base material and the decorative embellishment creates a dialog in preciosity, calling attention to the formal intricacies of garbage and confusing its assumed value or lack thereof.