Christine Finley’s Dumpster Love

The typical appearance of a dumpster is something like this:

Image by Jacob Krejci, Flickr

Christine Finley’s vision of the scuffed-and-scratched, rust-and-graffiti-prone metal container is this:

Image by Christine Finley

Finley’s “Wallpapered Dumpsters” work aims to counter the container’s inside with an appealing outside. From her work’s statement: “This project is an inquiry into urban waste, free art, and notions of femininity, beauty and domesticity.” These are notable artistic goals, but what it boils down to is putting an object into a different light.

I’m curious how it would feel to walk by one of these dumpsters, or see a city block flanked by them. The picture would be different, in a good way. Wallpapered Dumpsters can also be viewed as superficial camouflage covering up their “authentic urban aesthetic.”

Having brought her project to New York and Los Angeles, Finley received an Eszter Cohen Grant, which will help extend her aesthetic outreach to changing wallpaper dumpsters and rubbish receptacles in various cities throughout Europe this year. You’ll see her do-it-yourself approach to wallpapering a dumpster in this how-to video. She describes her project as achieving “polite graffiti” and “unexpected beauty.” Both are welcomed for a sight that is usually staged for sore eyes.

– Nate Burgos

Tagged as: steel