September
2001
Trash
Worship
By Rolando, a.k.a Wasteone
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To a true trash worshipper, trash is not approached
in the conventional sense as garbage. It is seen as a resource that
still has a useful life and needs to be saved from execution at the
dump. Trash is still mostly free for the taking, and so it should continue
to stay in this state of freedom after its reincarnation. This mindset
is our philosophical cornerstone.
Trash Worship is an informal network of people who periodically come
together for events, like parties and festivals. The network has a core
presence of performing artists, and also counts on environmental activists,
nomads, trash freaks, visual artists and others from the creative progressive
world.
We believe in “no permanent possession,” i.e. we pass the
resources and the transformed trash on to others who need it and are
willing to accept it. Exchanging and passing it on helps to keep the
network fluid, proliferates reverence for renewable resources, and reduces
dependency on the “buy new and consume” culture. To own nothing—at
least, not permanently—goes along with progressive concepts of
sustainability.
For instance, let’s look at shoes. In summer, large numbers of
winter shoes and boots are thrown out. These shoes can be rescued and
transformed into a summer design by cutting off excess materials (these
scraps can be used for other purposes as needed). If the shoe fits,
it’s yours; if not, pass it on. If it breaks, use the material
for other transformations and just get another pair from the trash.
In winter the process is reversed: Add protective materials from scrap
and transform the sandal into a boot again.
The environment in which we live—that is, the high urban density
of New York City—provides the sources of trash that we use, including
dumpsters, street cans, residential garbage and also commercial institutional
trash from markets, stores, schools, hospitals and industrial neighborhoods.
There is also the ever-present surprise of spotting those special “found
objects” in miscellaneous places. We are also evolving a trash
advisory network, by building contacts with stores, contractors, theaters
and so on.
We make all sorts of accessories and costumes, though we are careful
not to use the term “trash fashion” or “fashionable.”
Most wearable creations are simple and temporary at that—like
punching a hole in a trash bag and wearing it for cover in a rain storm
and disposing
of it when the rain stops. We also make dolls, toys, puppets, and general
decorative artifacts. Other reincarnations have practical use, such
as candleholders, camping stoves, walking sticks (made from umbrellas),
spoons (from plastic water bottles), and lunch boxes (from videotape
containers).
In theory, we don’t set limitations to the variety and size of
trash that could be transformed. In practice however, we have so far
been concentrating on the lighter household trash and found objects
as they fit the requirements for sideshows at festivals and underground
warehouse parties.
To sum up what we are about: We strive to operate much like subsistence
economies in the midst of scarcity familiar in the Southern Hemisphere.
The twist is that we are doing it in the heart of consumer abundance
society.
To learn more about Trash Worship, contact Rolando at wasteone@juno.com
or (212) 228-7722.
