Saltwinning: Equal To or Greater Than

The final tally

2010-03-15T09:08:00.001-07:00

I am presenting the results of Satlwinning's social economy (and an earlier piece, the Dawson City Trash Project) at Berkley this weekend at the Cultural Studies Association conference. The panel is about "Visualizing Economies." So I have gone through the surveys and made up a tally according to some of the main themes:

Total surveys: 79
Total pieces taken: around 82 (some people took more than one and some people did not fill out a survey)

The vast majority of people left art or other handmade objects on the basis that they were like items. Equal "time and effort" appeared on a lot of these surveys. There is a break down in that group, though:
People who made something by hand themselves: 17
(this included art, but also pickles, mittens, jewelry, and this lovely "mon chat" drawing:)
People who traded something handmade from another person: 5
People who made something by hand with similar materials such as found objects or trash, so there was an aesthetic equality between handmade-ness, time and effort, AND materials: 17
(this included things made from found materials and glass, and things made specifically for me)
Things that were cultural production, but not "handmade":8
This included books and CDs, but also facsimiles of art (such as magnets and stickers of paintings)

A lot of people left things of personal or sentimental value: 15
One person wrote "it was difficult to leave my object behind" and used that as an indicator of value.
These objects included mementos, love letters, or objects that belonged to loved ones.

Some people left things that they thought would be useful to me or desirable to me: 12
This means they were thinking of the exchange as an exchange with me and not an exchange in the abstract.
- some of these objects were made specifically for me based on what the person knew about me and my life
- it also included objects that I choose-- several artists invited me into their studios and let me pick something
- finally, it included practical objects such as day timers or money when the survey specifically said its usefulness to me was part of its value

Some people dealt with value in a very explicit way:
- people who left money: 6
- one person was unsure of how to deal with value and left a lottery ticket, since s/he didn't really know the value of it "but it could be worth millions!"
- one person left a student saver card and $1.01, which would theoretically allow the artist to save money in the future
- there were four amounts of money left: 1 of $300, 1 of $100, 4 of $50, and 1 of $40. The $40 was left at the very end with the note "It's what I could afford." In academic terms, it would seem that a "moral economy" formed when a group of people decided that the lowest monetary value of a piece was $50. In other words, people formed a "rule." I can say this with some confidence because one person left a gift certificate, where no one could determine its monetary value, for $50, and the one person that left $40 tried to match $50, and explained why s/he couldn't.

Some people got "bargains": 6
In these cases, the person either explicitly or otherwise acknowledged that the trade was not of "equal or greater value," but less
- in some cases, people used objects as the basis of equivalence instead of value: ie, "I took an object and I left an object, and because all objects turn to dust they are equal", or trading "an animal for an animal" (in this case, one of the best pieces in the show, a glass deer, for a mass produced sticker of a cat), or, of course, garbage for "garbage"
- it also included what I am scientifically calling "jerks"- people who acknowledged on the survey that the trade was not equal, but made the trade anyhow.

There were a few people who measured equivalence according to feelings: 6
- In some cases, this meant that the feeling they had for the thing they left felt just like what they felt for the Saltwinning piece
- In other cases, the piece left behind was meant to give me a similar feeling to what the person felt for the art-- these people left gift certificates for organic food, or chocolate, or warm mittens.

People who noted that they were giving the piece as a gift: 6

People who left garbage IN ADDITION to their trade so that I could use it in future pieces: 3

Another interesting trend is how people "traded down" or "added up" their trades.
- In once case, someone talked about how they chose a saltwinning piece, but then decided that their trade wasn't worth as much, so swapped it out for something smaller.
- In at least five other cases, people left something behind but then came back to add to it or to swap it for an even better object
(this person kept adding pieces throughout the show)
- Two people gave me something for the experience alone-- they didn't take an object, but they left an object (and filled out a survey).

What I find inspirational about this type of work is that there is a sort of bell curve of responses. A few folks are "jerks", a lot of people take the piece seriously and engage in it in ways that make sense according to the "rules," and then another group of people, which always seem to outnumber the "jerks," get really creative and expand upon the rules in ways I could not have anticipated. The creativity and generosity of these people really prove that Adam Smith had "human nature" all wrong-- people aren't inherently self-serving or competitive; people are generally cooperative and lucid, and many are even original and lavish in their creativity.
So thank you, Nelson. I had a great time and you made this a great project.

Before and After

2010-03-15T08:56:00.000-07:00

Here are pictures of the installation before trading began, and after it was over.

Before the opening:

After the trading was done and the exhibition was closed:

Growing Art

2010-01-30T06:26:00.000-08:00

I got an email this morning from Deborah Loxam-Kohl, the independent curator that wrote the essay for the catalog:
"I was by the gallery today and found a piece that is growing salt on the outside of the jar - it looks amazing! The piece is primarily faux fur and pins. There are drops of water on the inside of the glass... it may keep going for a while."

I wonder how many pieces that have been taken away are evolving? Let me know if they are, and please send pictures! maxliboiron {at} gmail.com

Some Exchanges...

2010-01-19T15:47:00.000-08:00

Each of these exchanges include an image of what was taken, an image of what was left behind, and what the exchanger wrote on their survey:

Please describe the object you took:
small, white, with fluffy, springy feather looking thing inside

Please describe the object you left behind:
OLD key. Worn it around my neck for a year or so. I had little luck finding the knock it opens, maybe you will find it.

How did you determine that the object you left behind was of equal or greater worth than the object you took?
Objects are objects. In a million years, most of them will be gone or broken. I really liked having the hey necklace, but I must remember to let material things be material things ie: go away, get lost, be stolen, traded, given with love...

What will you do with the object you have taken?
Put it in sunlight & watch rainbows bounce around on my walls then give it away

Comments: Thanks for not taking everything to New York and selling them for lots of $$$. You've inspired Nelson!

Please describe the object you took:
Serene one altered deer.

Please describe the object you left behind: Sticker of a cat woman, a drawing I did.

How did you determine that the object you left behind was of equal or greater worth than the object you took?
One animal for another, sharing the animal kingdom

What will you do with the object you have taken?
Place in a pot with a plant.

Comments: Thank you for an amazing show.
The little people will be happy.

Please describe the object you took:
Shrcom [sic] Ville Ice Palace.

Please describe the object you left behind:
4x prints of my paintings with magnetic backing

How did you determine that the object you left behind was of equal or greater worth than the object you took?
I went with the feeling I had when I saw this particular piece & choose paintings that created a similar feeling for me in their making. value = feeling (rather than value = $).

What will you do with the object you have taken?
I will put it on my alter [sic]

Comments:
Thank you for thinking outside the box & creating alternative vessels for our thoughts.

Please describe the object you took:
It's a small punch glass turned over a dinosaur salted.

Please describe the object you left behind:
A 1960's GOBO made by the Toronto Sculpta [sic] Michael Hayden.

How did you determine that the object you left behind was of equal or greater worth than the object you took?
It is a rare cut out of a city landscape used in sixties light shows.

What will you do with the object you have taken?
Save cherish- perhaps gift to my son.

Comments:

Please describe the object you took: grey glass [Note- this was not descriptive enough for me to pair it with its traded object]

Please describe the object you left behind: copper pipe

How did you determine that the object you left behind was of equal or greater worth than the object you took?
it's what I brought

What will you do with the object you have taken? look at it

Comments:

Please describe the object you took: Very scary rooster figurine in a collapsed mason jar.

Please describe the object you left behind: A box I made out of fir scraps with dog shapes sprayed on it. Inside the box is a bird head of painted plaster I made.

How did you determine that the object you left behind was of equal or greater worth than the object you took?
There were similarities of scale, made from discards, sculptural, an object in a container, bird imagery and slightly morbid.

What will you do with the object you have taken?
I will display it in my bedroom on the dresser with my prosthetic ear and burning mattress painting. It belongs there.

Comments: Thanks for the opportunity

Please describe the object you took:
black origami

Please describe the object you left behind:
handmade alpaca & merino wool mittens-- mostly pink

How did you determine that the object you left behind was of equal or greater worth than the object you took?
well it's about sensation. Looking at ART really make [sic] me feel happy and warmer in my chest. Just like a pair of mittens could warm you up. Also, this exhibit has a "double" effect, it creates a 2nd exhibit of what people left in exchange. Double exhibit = double mittens!

What will you do with the object you have taken?
talk about it

Comments:
I wish the artist the awesomest rummaging among left behind stuffs. Thank you!

Please describe the object you took:
Piece with freeway. Somewhat obscured glass- I like that I have to find the image.

Please describe the object you left behind:
"big locket for a small world" or "super conductor for a small world" with maps of Nelson and NY and other found objects

How did you determine that the object you left behind was of equal or greater worth than the object you took?
I collected and found the various aspects and then assembled them- hoping to reflect or respond to the found object concept-- transform trash into treasure. Also responding to place-- maps of where max is "located"-- here and there with the idea of holding the tension of places and homes so different inside one self and being the conductor.

What will you do with the object you have taken?
Observe it.

Comments:
Thought-provoking, stimulating, clever, subversive & very excellently crafted. Lovely work. Thanks for coming. N.

The Opening!

2010-01-16T16:07:00.001-08:00

The opening was a success!! Lots of people, lots of exchanging. People were wonderfully engaged, excited, and supportive. There was a huge crowd (thank you, everyone!). And lots of interesting conversations.

Most importantly, there was trading:
I got a rock that a woman had been meditating on for ten years. Someone else left $300. Another person left a rare Gobo made by a famous theater artist in the 1960s. A first proof of someone's comic book. Ian Johnston left one of his plastic bag ceramic pieces from Refuse Culture. A copper pipe (no, really-- just a bit of piping). A deer skull. Someone took off all her jewelery. A love letter (alas, to someone else). Some children put some origami flowers in water in jars and they looks very much like my own pieces.

It seems like there are a couple of trends: people left intensely personal objects of great sentimental value. Others left cash, which has an obvious value (interestingly, the "moral economy" seems to have capped at $50. There have been a few higher amounts, but nothing less that $50). Other people leave their own art (books, music, visual art). Some people have left "placeholders," where they leave a token (lottery ticket, vitamin C package) and a note saying they will come back later for the "real" exchange. And a very, very few have left trash.

I am very happy with the engagement, interest, and excitement around the project. I am really looking forward to the rest of the show.

More finished pieces...IV

2010-01-12T18:23:00.000-08:00

Glass Experiment

2010-01-12T09:55:00.000-08:00

Two days ago I found a glass cider jar in the the trash. Could I turn it into a massive bell jar?
Could I clip the neck off and make it short enough to fit in the kiln? Wherever there is a hard corner on a glass jar, there is a very high chance that the glass will crack in a direction you don't want. But I clipped it none the less!:

Then I cleaned it and put it in the kiln over top of two molds instead of just one. The next morning:

See those hairlines in the glass? Those are cracks. The back was worse. I guess the glass was so thick that it needed extra time to cool down so that different parts of the glass weren't contracting at different speeds. So it was an experiment for the recycling pile. Easy come, easy go. Today I loaded up the kiln with tried and true salsa and jam jars.

The Problem with Five Dollars

2010-01-11T13:24:00.000-08:00

There are three possible outcomes to the performative, exchange aspect ofSaltwinning, two of which are uninteresting and one of which is fascinating and at the core of the project. The first is that I can take some of the best pieces back with me to New York and sell them for three or four digits. But all New York's art market can tell me is that trash art is trendy, which I already knew.

The second is that people can leave me five dollars, garbage, or that macrame plant holder that has been sitting in the house for months but hasn't been brought down to the Sally Ann yet-- junk, in other words. Expendable, undesirable stuff. And while this might be personally insulting (valuing my work at less than minimum wage), it actually means something more important: If garbage is defined as unwanted detritus, disgusting residue, worthless junk, expendable disposables, ugly crap, then by definition, this object they desire cannot be garbage. And even though someone wants a piece, wants to touch it, to look at it, has had fun with it-- desires it, in short-- the category of "garbage" is stronger than their personal experience.

The third possibility, and the reason I do all of these trash-based art economies, is that they could recognize that these objects are exquisite. They are beautiful, desirable, intimate, mysterious, delicious. And therefore not garbage. They are some other thing with some other value. In which case the dilemma is to figure out what kind of thing with what kind of value? This is what I am interested in. In a way, the artists in the crowd have it easy. They can leave an in-kind donation: their artistic pick of the litter for my pick of the litter. Other folks have to be more creative.

And this creativity, this moment of being stumped but open to possibilities is the basis of the project. Saltwinning is a microcosm of the cultural work that has to be done for a sustainable future. If garbage is always garbage, always worth five bucks or a piece of junk, even in the face of experiences that might dictate otherwise, then there is no other future, no other possibilities for garbage. Sustainability has to be a paradigm shift: the same old objects have to mean something new, circulate differently, get used differently, have a new ontology (being) with a new epistemology (knowledge). This is what is important and interesting about what can potentially come out of the exhibition. I look forward to how the City of Nelson responds to the challenge.

More finished pieces...III

2010-01-10T09:57:00.000-08:00

I have 65. I want 100 by Friday.

Plastic Holiday Trash

2010-01-10T09:54:00.000-08:00

Last week, the dumpsters were full of Christmas wreaths. And tinsel. And plastic trees. And ho-ho dishes. If you don't want to be wasteful, stay away from seasonal kitsch!

But the wreaths are practically ready to be thrown into the salt after I dismantle them in a destructively aesthetic manner:

Taking and Leaving

2010-01-10T09:40:00.000-08:00

One of the most interesting-- and potentially frustrating-- parts of this exhibition is its exhibition "economy." People can take any piece at any time provided that they leave something behind of equal or greater value. Starting in 2006, I've been letting people take the art from my trash-based exhibitions, and their willingness, creativity, and generosity has lead to this current economy.

I've been having conversations with various people in the community about what might happen. Yesterday a man told me I ought to expect that if people left money, it would be five dollar bills and change. That surprised me. This is a community full of artisans-- at the Craft Connection, the local artisan craft store a few blocks away, a mug sells for at least $30. People know how much time, effort, and technical expertise goes into hand making a unique object-- surely more than $5. Perhaps I can only expect five dollars or change from him.

Another woman I spoke to, a fine artist (as opposed to a craft artisan) and a curator, wanted to know if things she left behind could then be taken by other people. There is no rule against that, so it is certainly possible. In theory and according to the rule of "equal to or greater than," if things are traded out more than once, the overall value can only increase or stay the same. But she and I both knew that if people consistently go after the best pieces and do not have "best pieces" to leave in exchange, the opposite might happen. Many years ago when I was a pre-teen, I was involved in a version of "equal to or greater than" with a youth group in Lac la Biche. We went door to door, starting with a dollar, and asked people to trade for something of equal or greater value. I remember one house in particular. We had something fantastic-- I don't remember what it was, but I remember what we got for it. The woman wanted the fantastic object so badly that she gave us the closest thing she had on hand: a brown macrame plant holder. We had a hard time trading that away.

On the other hand, in other exhibitions (like the Dawson City Trash Project), a moral economy developed where gallery visitors schooled each other and kept tabs on what appropriate taking behaviour ought to be. Only take one thing. Leave the best things for others to see. But that was also an economy where you could take anything you wanted at any time, period. At the time, I wasn't sure if people would take former garbage (they did. In spades). Here, since there is a market-like equivalency being determined, people might just do as they please, since they are technically paying for things.

We shall see. The opening is going to be a mad house. There were 41 people at the artist talk, and all of them seem to be coming to the opening to take/exchange art. At the end of the night, we'll see what remains behind.

Garbage Girl

2010-01-09T18:43:00.000-08:00

On my way to the artist talk last night, I did a quick styrofoam run to a couple of electronic stores. Once I had my styro, a customer recognized me: "You're that garbage.... artist." Thanks to the generous articles in the Nelson Star and the Daily News, people know what I'm up to.

More finished pieces...II

2010-01-04T22:06:00.001-08:00

The business of salt-winning

2010-01-02T19:13:00.000-08:00

Salt-winning: the deliberate production of salt from seawater.

Everything in the exhibition will involve salt. I mainly use salt scraped off of New York City's streets and sidewalks. They over-salt there for liability reasons. Some salt has a pinkish hue, other salt is grey, greenish or blueish. But it all dissolves the same and comes up bright white when I salt-win. I used to run the dirty salt water through a funnel and a coffee filter until I realized that when salt water wicks up an object, it leaves its dirt behind.

You can salt-win by evaporating salty water. Easy. But there is also an art to it. To make salt gardens, which is sort of what I am doing, you can add ammonia (to make the water evaporate faster) and liquid bluing (to break down some of the chemicals in basic salts so they colour a bit-- liquid bluing is old-fashioned "bleach" btw). If you are interested in the recipe, or want to know exactly how much faster salt water evaporates when a fan is used, Wayne Schmidt is an expert, A-type personality that grows beautiful crystals of all kinds.

I make a little evaporating pool for each object I'm letting the salt wick onto. Sometimes similar projects share one plate:

The problem with this set-up is that I am constantly fussing with the little pools, moving them closer or farther to the oscillating heater, switching them out as some finish and others take their place. When you move the pools, the crystals get disturbed and they don't turn out perfectly square. Also, how close or how far from the heat (how fast the water evaporates) affects the crystals.

A perfect, undisturbed crystal will look like the cubes in this blog's header. But I can tell that whomever made them took them out of the water instead of letting the water totally evaporate-- see the tiny white ball-like bits on them? Those are another type of crystal that only grow via wicking or drying out. So the cube crystals still had a wee bit of saltwater in them after the cube formed.

There is one more type of crystal that happens when the water evaporates very quickly and the salt concentration is very high:

See at the bottom how the salt sort of fans out with long shards and a sort of flat plate between them? That's from the salt accumulating at the top of the water and forming a crust. Then the rest of the salty water sits underneath that crust with a space for air. The container needs to be smallish because these will only form when there is an edge to attach to.

A little-known salt fact: when you mix salt and elmer's glue, you have two or three seconds before the salt sucks out all the water and you're left with glue-rubber. I reckon that if you're ever trapped in a bomb-shelter with only glue and salt, you should mix them together to get pure-ish water. The final water-less rubber looks like this:

This image also has a bit of whitener in it, since the salt stays dirty.

One last thing: salt wicks up. If I put a piece of foam, charcoal brick, chunk of felt, or other solid but permeable object in the salt water, the salt will always start forming on the top, then move to the sides, but will never form on the bottom or middle if the object is thick enough. So if you are afraid of a slow-moving salt attack, hide under your mattress.

More finished pieces...

2010-01-02T11:29:00.001-08:00

Out of the Gates...

2010-01-01T23:02:00.001-08:00

The first finished pieces-- a mixed bag:

Awesomest Garbage

2010-01-01T09:26:00.000-08:00

Many thanks to SHARE's dumpster and the Hat Factory's clear blue bag for these fabulous finds:

Private and Proprietary Garbage

2010-01-01T09:08:00.000-08:00

One of the biggest problems I've encountered in Nelson that hasn't come up in the other places I scavenge for art materials is that the trash is not very accessible, and if it is (on the curb during garbage day), people are rather anti-scavenge. Far more than two thirds of the commercial dumpsters in town are locked. The jeweler even has an ornate silver lock on his trash bin. For such an artsy, semi-rural area, there is no garbage scavenging culture. And because people pay for their garbage by the bag and those bags sit directly in front of their single-dwelling houses, the connection between an individual and his or her garbage remains identifiable in a way that doesn't happen in New York City or the Yukon. At least that's how I've theorized the discomfort and even hostility I've encountered when I've asked to look at people's trash, even when I flash my artist-not-homeless credentials.

A point in case: I've been getting my best garbage from SHARE, a second hand store that advocates ecological sustainability. They unlock their dumpster for me, and I root through all of the discarded donations. This picture is what I got yesterday morning; there were many, many plastic Christmas wreaths. If you don't want to be wasteful, don't buy non-biodegradable seasonal decorations!
But when I went to another second hand store (which shall remain unnamed-- Nelson has at least five), even though the woman kept telling me how they tried to keep everything out of the waste stream, and how they were patrons of the arts, I could not go through their dumpster. When I pushed a bit, she said it was because the dumpster hadn't had enough for a full load, so her husband brought a truck full of their household garbage-- so there were kitchen scraps. I told her that kitchen scraps didn't bother me, and they would be in bags, which I rarely open, but she still didn;t budge. Then, realizing that she had told me that she had done something mildly illegal-- getting her institution to pay for her domestic garbage, which is a real problem in Nelson and the reason there are locks on all the dumpsters-- she became sickly sweet and let me go through the office trash, but not before she pointed out which bags of office trash I couldn't open. Then she waved a broom at me and said "you've been a bad wascilly wabbit," Elmer Fudd style, and left me alone.

Other up-scale stores, such as the jewelers and the fancy kitchenware store, claim they have no garbage of interest and will not unlock their dumpsters for me to verify this.

The stores are pretty much my best bet for garbage; I don't want to cause the obvious discomfort that curb-side recycling engenders, and getting trash before it actually hits the waste stream always results in higher quality trash in better quantities. But except for SHARE, the Hat Factory, and Pheonix Computers, it has been an uphill battle. Nelson is a garbage desert, even though it has plenty of trash.

Oxygen Art Centre

2009-12-26T18:19:00.001-08:00

I moved into Oxygen today. The gallery will be my studio until the 14th of January. Then I pack everything up and install the show for the opening on the 15th. I'm all set up, and on the way to my billet's house tonight I will look around for some good Boxing Day dumpsters...

(note the clear bag full of amazing fabric scraps-- brocades, felt, fur-- from the hat factory behind the gallery!!! Nelson has such artsy garbage!)

Glass Works

2009-12-26T17:42:00.000-08:00

Every piece in the show is going to be in a glass "vitrine" or bell jar. So I've been collecting, cleaning, and clipping used glass jars since the summer. I clip the lip of the jars off with mosaic clippers and put the jars over a mold in the glass kiln.

This is the glass kiln. It takes about 20 hours to go through the whole program (it goes up to 1400 degrees). Since I don't know what "temperature" of glass each jar is, I have to put them through a "shot gun" program on the kiln that goes through many stages for many types of glass. This improves my success rate. But some of the jars crack if its cold outside and they cool too fast. Some meld onto the mold too much, or constrict under the mold so I have to break the glass to get them off. Others vitrify (turn milky so you can's see through them). None are the same.

Part of the challenge will be to put things inside that are as beautiful as the glass pieces they'll be displayed in.

Special thanks to my parents, Lori Thompson and Jerome Liboiron, for keeping the kiln going all season in my absence!

Introduction & Prototype

2009-12-15T06:54:00.000-08:00

This blog is to document the process of a residency and exhibition called: Saltwinning: Equal To or Greater Than, in Nelson, British Columbia, Canada from Dec 26, 2009 to January 20, 2010.

The exhibition will consist of hundreds of tiny, individual salt object/landscapes inside of glass bell jars reminiscent of the mountainous, snowy landscape of the area. The bell jars, their contents, and the salt that will be crystallized on those contents will all be reclaimed from trash. This is a prototype made from New York City and Nelson garbage:

The exhibition will be participatory: At any time, gallery visitors can take any of the art pieces as long as they leave something behind of equal or greater value. The value of the individual pieces will not be implied in any way, meaning that each visitor must determine for his or herself its worth compared to the worth of the thing he or she is exchanging it for. Furthermore, any object that anyone leaves behind can also be exchanged for something of equal or greater value. Finally, everything left in the gallery at the end of the show will be given away or shared within a year. The exhibition will mimic a barter-gift economy based on trash. In this way, not only will waste become something of value, it will also produce value when anything of greater value is left behind.

This blog will document the process of making the pieces, including the challenging task of melting and reforming glass jars, reclaiming salt, scavenging for raw materials on garbage day, making the art objects themselves, and finally recording how people interact with the pieces.