the story
I started this project many years ago. Most of the original dates have been lost, but some of them are still accurate (the first post really did appear in 2001). People still give me stuff that they’ve found, but I haven’t updated the archive in years. For probably 10 years now, this project existed on thefoundobject.com but I’ve decided not to keep paying for that domain name and moved everything here to act as a frozen archive of a project that I had fun with for a few years and still holds some memories for me. Here is the original text that accompanied the archive… enjoy
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So, I think I started collecting found photos one day when I saw a disposable camera on the ground in the Brighton Stop & Shop parking lot. It had been run over by a car. I pried out the film and sent it to be developed. How exciting! What could it be!??! Nudie pics from some dirty girlfriend-boyfriend couple? Maybe they’d broken up over it. Maybe they were promotional snaps for an underground snuff flick only to be sold in black market video stores! Documentation of a crime scene!? Maybe I could be responsible for blowing the lid off of an unsolved crime! The possibilities were limitless! In the end, it wasn’t as exciting as all that - snapshots of an Asian family on vacation in Niagra Falls - but it was the beginning of the collection.
One of my instructors at MassArt, Janna Longacre, once said to our class that all artists should collect something. I think that was another reason I started collecting this junk and looking back I think she was right. It’s been fun and it really has effected other stuff that I do. I mean, as far as “making” goes, I have a lot of knowledge of materials, processes and tools but I still prefer to use discarded wood and found nails in my sculpture. I like drawing on torn corrugated cardboard box pieces and scrap wood more than drawing in a sketchbook.
Since I found that first camera, I’ve had my eyes open when I walk around and it’s amazing how much stuff you find laying around. Personally, I think we live in such a throw-away society that people don’t think twice about throwing something on the ground - no matter how personal. Or maybe I’m just making it personal when it really was just trash to the original owner. In any case, I find a lot of it funny, some of it sad, sweet, stupid, or whatever. Different people see them differently. I think there’s a story in all of them and what makes them interesting to me is that I’ll never really know what the real story was.
Rob
