Jessica Alfieri

writes everything you see here.

• Bizarro Garbage

  As per usual, we’re not exactly reaping the joys of fall yet, five days into September.  And I’m really getting tired of the sweaty wakeup, the desert-based dreams, the sweating while dressing, and the throngs of other sweaty people rushing everywhere.  (Rushing is really only appropriately done with a breeze.)

  Also, we just bought Eric some very cute manly suede boots that I’d like to see him wear.  So let’s go, sixty-degree-weather…  You. Can. Do. It!

  

  Anyway, with the hot weather, we’re still enjoying the hot stink.  Garbage bags piled to second floor heights on a daily basis leave me wondering where all that shit goes.

  (Actually, no.  I know firsthand where it goes and what it does to where it goes, since I was once a teenager living on Staten Island.  Where do teenagers go?  The mall. Where is the Staten Island Mall?  Adjacent to the former dump for all the refuse-filled five boroughs.  The rule was hold your nose when you hit Richmond Hill Road.)

  Putting aside where the garbage ultimately ends up, though, when it’s here, overflowing on the sidewalks and into the streets, there’s no ignoring it.  Which is why I think the new art project/ product by artist, Adrian (mono-named, ala Prince or, as I’m sure he’d prefer, Christo), strikes me as redundant and misguided.

  

  The artist, who, to give you a sense of the man, signs his website correspondence,

  One Love

  Adrian

  wanted to make New York’s garbage stand out.  The idea was to employ bright pink polka-dotted bags for the task, supposedly to emphasize our over-consumptive habits and remind us to consume less.

  But they’re also “art”.  And they’re also scented.  Like peppermint and bubble gum.  And supposedly, they naturally repel vermin with said smell (which I don’t buy; rats will eat the fucking leather off your shoe, so how exactly is peppermint going to turn them off?).  But still, all three of these are benefits.

  If he does succeed in calling more attention to the garbage, he’s merely succeeded in making it more attractive - and less of a problem.  His inadvertent message?  Humankind, feel free to consume more, because Adrian’s got you covered on the garbage front.

  More info, and a condescending video or two, here.

  Sep 5, 2008 garbage heat New York city stink

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