Afterlife

Trash lives on two plains; the ‘now,’ and the ‘afterlife.’ The ‘now’ is commonly externalized as litter, garbage, local, the visual and sensory perceptual, tangible overall. On this plain trash can cause many problems, the least of which, but most commonly accepted, is an eyesore. The ‘afterlife’ of trash is its continued existence, but as the unperceived and wandering; a ghost. Trash in this plain is only tangible to specific thoughts, and therefore does not often exist as such. In a sense, it lives and dies psychologically. This is the cause for the common saying ‘out of sight out of mind.’ When it is out of sight, it is in an afterlife existence, a ghost. Unless people believe in ghosts, or even catch a glimpse of one, to the common public they are not real. Sadly, trash does not literally disappear from the world as a ghost, instead it is stuck and lingers to haunt it, perhaps for ever, or at least longer than we can currently fathom.

Afterlife consists of a 20 foot corridor installed with plants and other organic debris fashioned with a path through the middle. The beginning half is more manicured and slowly transitions to an unruly scene. At the end of the corridor there is a log and a Styrofoam cup. The sounds heard in the beginning are of an urban to nature transitory space, a park or recreation area. As the audeince comes closer, the cup begins to talk and is exceedingly annoying and nonsensically on a never ending loop until the viewer crosses back from the threshold.

Afterlife extends the awareness of trash’s perceived life through humor and interactive experience giving an immersive and personal relationship to issues of pollution not cause guilt, but thoughtfulness.

Documentation video