Month completed: August 2007

To complete this goal, I bought garbage.

Literally, garbage.

Not just any garbage though. I bought garbage from the streets of New York.

Justin Gignac is an artist in New York. A few years ago, he came up with the idea to sell garbage that he found on the street. Whatever he could find, whether it be subway ticket stubs, used paper cups or even cigarette butts. He carefully arranges his selected garbage into clear plastic cubes, which are then individually numbered and personally signed. Once a cube is completed, it is sealed to prevent it leaking or smelling.

Then he sells it at his website to whoever is willing to pay $50 US dollars for it. And so far hundreds of people have.

I loved this idea so much that I just had to buy a cube. For someone to turn garbage, which is considered by most to be completely worthless, into something clever, unique and significantly more valuable, is remarkable.

Those who think I am crazy to spend $50 US dollars on garbage, think about this. If someone was to say to you ‘How would you like to buy a piece of art that is completely unique and one-of-a-kind, individually numbered and personally signed by the artist, and provides a snap-shot of life in New York, for just $50?‘ I would say most people would take up the opportunity.

My NYC Garbage cube (cube #705, shown above) arrived the other day, and here is what it contained:

- Starbucks paper coffee cup

- Plastic icecream spoon

- Drink bottle lid

- Blue balloon with the word ‘better’ on it

- A Metro subway ticket (very New York!)

- Official New York City police ‘Do Not Cross’ tape (well, at least it looks like that)

This will now take pride of place on my desk in my apartment, serving as a constant reminder that how creative I can be is only limited by my imagination. My next challenge is convincing Nat that spending $50 US dollars on garbage was a great idea. Wish me luck!