Plastic soda bottles, plastic/aluminum chip bags, plastic coated fast food containers, these are all common parts of our communal landscapes. The brands may vary, but the material still the same. What can we know about the community through the trash that is collected? During this residency in Fall 2019, I used weaving as a tool to map Fergus Falls, MN through found trash. Weaving is a beautiful metaphor for understanding the systems at play in our collective lives. The longitudinal threads, known as warp, can be seen as the grid in which our cities and roads are broken into. The weft, lateral thread, is found trash that has been sorted/cleaned and deconstructed to weave a map visualizing human interaction with place.
I also facilitated trash weaving workshops as a way for community examination of place and product. These community weaving workshops used non-recyable materials pulled from the local solid waste department. We wove in the shape of the county of where the materials were found. Creating a visual representation of the area and its byproduct waste. Through this process we questioned patterns and understand the larger systems at play in street trash.
Read my interview with the Fergus Falls Daily Journal: https://www.fergusfallsjournal.com/lifestyle/trash-to-treasure/article_0a7c73a5-230b-5477-b4af-9a021dce0e0a.html
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