Found/Made Objects

We were asked to build an object in which we used found objects, but also put some of our own work into it, making it hard to tell what was found and what we made. After doing some thinking, I figured that anything 'found' would first have to be abandoned and left behind in order for one to find it. I did some research and found that there are over 20,000 abandoned properties in the Philadelphia County area. I still cant seem to fathom how in a major city, especially one with such a large homeless population, can have so many abandoned properties. One's home is (in most cases) their biggest investment, yet so many people have made a decision to just leave that behind for whatever reason. I took an early leave from one class to go to one of the many and easily visible abandoned buildings in the north Philadelphia area. I found a string of buildings along some old train tracks that have all been abandoned. I chose to do my piece on one of these buildings, using the building as my found object, and play off of how easily a sprawling business' identity can be erased. I used two friends, Jenna and Jess, as my sculpture piece. I told them to cover their faces with scarves as I took photos of them. I then edited the photos to look like they were old and framed them, cracking the glass on two of the frames. I wanted the photos in the frames to look unclear of where they may have been found. Overall, I think this was my best piece during the class, probably because I was able to incorporate my favorite medium of photography into the project, something I am already familiar with.