Little Shiva

Trashbaby makes art

Little Shiva — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 19:14:21 +0000

Today Trashbaby was inspired. She went to the local dump, found some cool trash and made art.

Mmm, nice 'n messy!

She asked around until she found a gallery to show her work, then invited a bunch of people to the opening. A few came.

Miss Foxy was impressed.

Miss Foxy was the new art teacher from San Francisco. She really liked what Trashbaby had done and invited her to speak to her class.

The students seemed interested.

Energized by all that, Trashbaby decided to make some phone calls and organize a street action to raise awareness about trash.

Hi, this is Trashbaby and I'm organizing this thing called "Art into Action"...

After a bunch of phone calls, e-mails and pestering people on facebook, the big day arrived: Trashbaby and her crew hit the street.

Wow, this is even more fun than I thought it would be!

The carnival atmosphere was great – the best slogans were “bla bla bla” and “There is no planet B.” Recycling was on everyone’s mind.

Trashbaby becomes an activist

Little Shiva — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 21:13:01 +0000

After the deep depression and the happy green dreams, Trashbaby awoke feeling better than ever. She took a walk to the local dump and that’s when it hit her…

I'm gonna be a grassroots activist!

She figured she’d better do some reading, so she went to her fave secondhand bookstore and got some books.

Oooh, a social history of trash, that looks really interesting!

She went to see her friends Helga and Bambi to ask if they’d like to form a collective. They were down.

Bambi and Trashbaby go way back.

Before making a new facebook page to organize the collective, Trashbaby checked out what was already out there.

Eww, that page sucks!

She decided to take a look at her own trash to see what she could do better.

I'm gonna need some worms...

Trashbaby gets depressed

Little Shiva — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 17:57:23 +0000

Trashbaby has some spare time today so she decides to surf the net.

Oooh, this looks good!

She discovers some pretty heavy stuff, like the toxic e-waste at Agbogbloshie…

Holy crap!

… and landfills all over the planet. She contemplates harakiri but stabs a trash bag instead.

Nah, I don't feel like ripping my guts out today.

She steps away from the computer and goes outside to stare at the sky. For hours.

. . . . . . .

She drifts into a deep sleep and dreams happy dreams of floating in green water.

Something's brewing...

What will happen when she wakes up?

Trashbaby on vacation

Little Shiva — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 13:02:50 +0000

Ok, this is my week of virtual art residency here, and as promised, the theme is trash. Check back every day to find out what Trashbaby’s been up to. Here’s what she did today.

First, she traveled to a beautiful island.

Aaah, the light is gorgeous here - I feel right at home!

Next she smoked some cigarettes.

Oh yum, love me some poison!

A trip to the grocery store was in order…

inkonspikuous konzumption

… then some dumpster diving.

Mmm, earthy!

After all that excitement, Trashbaby was tired – time for a nap.

Bye, see you tomorrow!

virtual art residence

Little Shiva — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 10:37:12 +0000

Yay! I’ve just booked a little tent for a virtual art residence here:

My residency is for week 37 (13-19 September) – I’ll be doing something on the theme of trash.

la basilique

Little Shiva — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 23:55:44 +0000

I really like “la basilique“, this church on the Place Charles II a couple blocks from where I live. There’s a gorgeous mosaic inside, see a detail here.

bike paths

Little Shiva — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 13:33:27 +0000

One of my favorite things about Charleroi is the bike path along the Sambre that you can take all the way to France. On the way out of town you ride through a heavy industrial zone, which is where I shot this pic.

the weather

Little Shiva — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 09:26:18 +0000

It rains a lot in Belgium.

This is the view from my apartment a couple blocks from the Place Charles II.

American Sandwich

Little Shiva — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 12:19:17 +0000

There’s a dish they make over here called “filet américain” – it’s basically raw hamburger meat, known in English as steak tartare. A boulangerie near where I live does a really delicious version, very creamy and about the same toxic orange color as this stand at the street fair that comes to town twice a year.

visible trash

Little Shiva — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 13:03:53 +0000

My dad’s mother worked in a hosiery mill in Asheboro, NC back in the last century. Charleroi used to be a very industrial city, mostly with coal mining and steel. They also made glass here. Now so much stuff is made in China it’s depressing. Don’t buy it – fight globalization! Ok, I do sometimes buy stuff, of course, but my basic viewpoint these days is that we need to totally re-think the entire system of production, consumption and, of course, trash.

This pic is from the Sunday market near where I live.