Student art: from trash to treasure

For Middlebury College student Ryan Kim of Newport Beach, Calif., helping a friend collect digital images of trash receptacles has turned into a genuine artistic pursuit. For an economics major with an avid interest in design, Kim surprised himself when he opened his eyes to the lowliest of society's functions. In 2011, Kim promised to help friend Gabriel Morrison by e-mailing a few digital images of trash bins in the United States to be used for the friend's industrial design class at RMIT University in Melbourne. But long after Morrison needed the images, Kim kept on observing and taking pictures. On a trip to Europe, Kim kept taking pictures of trash receptacles. One image shows a public trash bin at the site of the ancient Acropolis in Greece. Back home, he kept snapping images for an ever-growing collection. "Wherever and whenever I travelled, I took photos of trash bins—on streets, in front of houses, indoors in bathrooms, kitchens, and in public places such as airports, even bus and train depots," Kim said. During a 2012 Amtrak train trip across the U.S., Kim continued photographing the object of his desire—trash cans, garbage bins, you name it; if it was designed to handle trash and garbage, Kim was interested. From Burlington, Vt., to New Orleans, La., and on to the Los Angeles, Calif., Kim collected more pictures via an iPhone's micro camera. "I amassed a collection of of 2,200 images of all kinds of unique bins," he said. "It became a kind of a fetish with me, but then I knew I wanted to share the collection with others." Thus began an unusual industrial art project that is now getting Kim some notice in the art world. During the spring, operators of the M Gallery, located in the old Stone Mill in Frog Hollow in downtown Middlebury, gave the student a chance to debut his collection of quirky images. "It was an industrial-design exhibit that ran for a month," he said. "I received very positive responses even with a limited gallery audience." Kim hung the images on foam cores sans frames. This minimalist approach to exhibition is not only cost effective, but it has helped put the focus on the objects of the photographer's eye rather than on distractions like sleek, trendy framing. "Well, it's not really fine art," the artist said. "But it's my personal exploration of design, being more analytical than other exhibits of its type. I am interested in form and function as well as the materiality of these everyday objects—plastic, wood, steel—and the varied shapes." On display at the Burlington International Airport is a fascinating exhibit of 63 of Kim's trash bin images. "Airport Manager Kim Richards took an interest when I showed him my airport collection," Kim noted. "The images come from several airports and illustrate the placement of these objects as you transition from curbside to inside the terminals." Kim's Burlington Airport exhibit can be seen hanging on a wall near the escalator by the baggage carousels on the wall just inside from the airport's Greyhound Bus stop. Kim said there are lots of other objects which evoke a similar personal response, so he's been taking a few new pictures of tip jars and mailboxes. Kim is currently working on plans to publish a coffee-table book of the images and reports that an upscale art gallery in Lynchburg, Va., may soon exhibit his "trashiest" works of art. After he graduates college this spring, Kim plans to travel south of the border where he will improve his Spanish fluency, study the culture and economy of Mexico, and—you guessed it—collect even more images of civilization's lowliest objets d'art.

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Student art: from trash to treasure

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