A recent NPR story profiled an intriguing artist and entrepreneur named Justin Gignac. In that story, titled: “Treasure or Trash? Artist Says It’s in the Packaging”, Gignac puts forth a persuasive argument. While an intern at MTV, Gignac relates that he engaged in a discussion with his fellow workers. One of them expressed the opinion that “. . .they thought package design wasn’t important”, according to Gignac.
That made Gignac rise to the challenge. “So I figured the only way to prove them wrong would be to try to package something that absolutely nobody in their right mind would ever want to buy.” Garbage.
That was a few years ago. Since he began, Gignac has sold over 1000 trash cubes of--selective
New York City garbage--around the globe. Making the cubes “compositionally appealing”, Gignac sold his cubes initially as “gag gifts” for $10 each. Now, the cubes sell for as much as $100. Each sealed box comes signed, numbered and tagged as “Garbage of New York City”. A small affixed sticker records the date the trash was selected for the cube.
The gist, according to Gignac? “People’s perceptions have completely changed.” Translation: while some people see nothing but trash, other people see art, especially since the cubes cost more now.
Besides his original venture, Gignac and girlfriend Christine Santora create paintings of items on their wish list—everything from pizza slices to financial security and price them according to the value of the real thing. . .I’m not sure how ‘financial security’ is depicted, but it’s an interesting concept. Gignac observed that sometimes people have a distorted view of what art is really worth. Or what really constitutes garbage? Or the value of garbage? One of his ideas, for example, is to create a 6 by 8 foot painting of a taco and sell it for $1.99, because “that’s what a taco costs.”
interesting idea~~
:: the dieline ::
i love me some plaid sneaks // beams
chuck taylors are definitely a must // converse x comme des garcons
how can anyone go wrong w/ type on tees? // nom de guerre x fruit of the loom
i never knew a huge sweatshirt could be so fashionable! // adidas originals
and what outfit would be complete without a lollipop? // massimo gammacurta
omg. the packaging is so cute!
can something so cruel be so cute? :)
experimental jetset // beautiful
love this type treatment
colors galore!
ornamental pattern design
i don't know what nupo is but i would love to find out :)
i love 3D
this is only 815 sq. ft of space~ looks like good use of space~ 
i would LOVE this bookcase... mine is overflowing. :(
cute wall graphics~
