THE BEAUTY OF IMPERFECTION
The term found object originates from the French “objet trouvé”, describing art created from undisguised, but often modified, objects or products that are not normally considered art, often because they already have a non-art function. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Found_object)
I share these visual sculptures created from objects found on the streets, in shopping center parking lots, and urban areas to strange to name. The objects, once new and shiny, have taken on the patina of time and become the voice of the reality that nothing lasts. Although they no longer have what many would call the beauty of perfection, to me, they convey the beauty of imperfection found in the Japanese aesthetic of Wabi Sabi. I have given titles to each image to move the viewer toward further reflection. I urge the viewer to rename if desired. Taken together, these images formulate one of earliest photographic bodies of work. After the images were made, the objects were returned to the urban environment. Only the visual images remain.
I began this body of work in 2009/2010 and then, as artists do, moved on to other photographic interests. Looking at these images some six years later, I am amused by their satiric, sad quality, sad insofar as they speak of a culture that is wasteful and spendthrift. I am also amazed that they speak of a Wabi Sabi thread that flows through them, a thread that reminds me that while nothing lasts, one can discover the beauty in that imperfection — if falling apart is an imperfection. And if one meditates on the truth that all things fade, perhaps one can sense on the far horizon rebirth and return.
Since the time that I worked on this series, local governments have made almost additive efforts to clean up. I am older and have to forge further to find materials. Sometimes I not able to do it. I, too, am subject to fading. I include on final image which I name Self Portrait.
