Dumpster Diving Part 2

This post was supposed to precede that last post but so much has happened in the last week I just couldn't find the time. And then of course as I was walking to the computer lab I happened to past the aforementioned dumpster where my most recent goods were found. Every time I say I quit, I just get pulled back into the game...

DIVING FOR ARTWORK: Originals and Reprints

Posters, wall hangings, and art projects turn from precious to unpackable around this time of the year and I end up with more good visuals than could ever fit on my walls. So with that said let me display the most recent acquisitions to my collection

This remains one of this years best finds. He's about 90% actual size, standing a little shorter than me, but he stands on his own (which is ripe for a metaphor but the heat just has me too worn out to be clever today) I stood him up in the living room where he repeatedly freaked me out when I arrived home late night with the lights out: "Ah! Stranger in the apartment!!!" I thought as adrenaline rushed to my drunken brain. But then I'd remember it was just my man Barry, standing upright in the darkness, and I 'd breathe a sigh of relief, pat him on the back and go to bed to dream about nice things.

The very next day I found this painting leaning up against the dumpster. Like most people I'm not really big on flowers unless they arrive to me free and then I'm kind of like "Aww shucks. Really?" This painting was most likely done in an art class and it is really good. The subject matter is typical but its really well done. Plus, I like having it around to remid me that I could paint something if I tried.

Which I'm totally set to do now that I have this awesome, brand new canvas. I never would've bought one but now that I have it maybe I'll get in the habit. I'm thinking of doing an ocean scene, something like this maybe
This was in my roommate's room but I forgot all about it until I'd seen he pitched it along with one of those sweet Prospect.1 maps of New Orleans (hang onto those if you can still find them)

As for other posters I noticed a lot of reocurring imagery. This is probably due to those carpetbaggers who organize the poster sales on campus every year. They lay out big fat books of posters for us dupes to flip thru and purchase a wide-range of western pop-culture imagery. Bands, movies, celebrities, cheesy photoshopped beach scenes, and famous impressionist paintings can all be found. This is how I ended up with 3 different posters of Van Gogh's 'Starry night' last year while doing my salvage work (I got the cafe in Arles reprint this year too).

Even though Van Gogh is one of my favorite artists of all time, I find it srange that these poster sellers go from campus to campus pedalling the same bunch of pictures to students all across the country. Just like television, we all end up looking at the same things, thinking about the same stuffffff.

But this at least allows for interesting sample of the style that people are attracted to. As an artist and/or populist it gives me a good idea about what kind of imagery people respond to and makes me think about how that might affect them personally.

Like what might the affect be on a person if they hang a picture on there wall of an anorexic actress from the 1960's who looks like she's 14 years old and look at it day in and day our for two semesters? I found this one in the trash at least three different times That's the best place for it.

But considering the print I now have up of this cigarette girl, maybe I shouldn't posture about good or bad representations of women in posters. I'd like a femal opinion on this one here. Is this art nouveau ad any better or worse thatn Mizz Hepburn or am I jsut making a too big a fuss in the first place of that cute little movie star and the girls on campus who may or may not adore her and wear similar bugeyed glasses? Posters of Paris and all things french were prevalent too. I found two of the Eiffel tower as well.

And this one is cool simply for being so damn big. I've yet to patch it up


One day I was about to climb in to another red treausure chest, when I heard a deafening boom come from inside it. I jumped back just as another loud crash rattled the metal walls. Shaken, I looked up to see two girls two stories uphaving great fun smashing their ceramic works inside the dumpster. Sculptures are too heavy to pack up for some, I guess. Or maybe they just didn't give two shits about the art in the first place. But this work was just too attractive for me to pass up when I saw it.Even though I still don't know what to do with it, I'm glad I saved it from the landfill.