Archival pigment print, 13 × 19 in., unframed, edition of 13, 2021 DescriptionThis image is from a series of crumpled, discarded Dunkin' bags photographed on site with a digital camera. As the transformation from copy to original is most obvious in the distortion of the logo form, both the context and the bag on which it was printed have been digitally removed, yet some of the detail and shadow of the paper remain. Artist statementVarious species of trash, among other artifacts of contemporary life, serve as proxies for the human gestures that create, crush, crumple and convert these mechanically reproduced copies into originals. Every Dunkin’ bag begins indistinguishable from another but one touch with a user renders each vessel quintessentially unique. I document the discarded bags on-site and silhouette one aspect, the distressed logo form, to highlight its transformation. The actions retained in the distorted forms offer a simple conclusion—the difference between samples does not disprove the similarity of behaviors but rather emphasizes the connected nature of participants and presents an opportunity to commune with the user. An investigation into our remains, reunited as images, recognizes the recursive nature of human behavior and indicates a point from which we can and recalibrate our systems of value.
