Opening reception: Thursday, September 5th,6pm – 9pm
109 S. Washington St, Seattle, WA
Artist Talk: Saturday, September 14th, 1pm
Viewing by appointment: susan@susanrobb.com
Where once Native people gathered materials on the banks of the Duwamish to create clothing, vessels, and tools, Recology’s Material Transfer Facility now collects and processes the items King County residents put in their recycle bins. Day after day trucks dump enormous piles of items we no longer find useful or want, the shadow objects of our modern life.
During my five-month residency among the towering mountains of waste I endeavored to re-engage the site and the resources now found there in a way that approximated how the site may have been used before settlers arrived. I foraged (for plastic bags in choice colors and textures). I picked (plastic caps of a particular resin number). I gathered (buckets of shredded paper). I then processed and wove and formed these materials into cloth and containers – physically, energetically, and conceptually transforming the cast-off goods that once lived with us into new domestic objects. My recycling however couldn’t change the essence of the materials. These new objects remain animated by shadow properties of their former lives. They can’t help but speak about the extravagance of convenience, the luxury of waste, and our community’s struggle for health.