o. T.

During my consideration of the themes of durability, the avoidance of garbage and recycling, wich are also being discussed within society and are gaining increased importance, I came across disposable cups and plates, wich prove particularly problematic. And that was in the supermarket. There in particular, they reveal their true character. In comparison to other products such as cream cheese, discs, postcards or reusable bottles, the useful value of throw-away cup has no sensible relation to the efforts wich go into its production. One only needs to visualise the number of working stages necessary before the unrefined oil wich is found beneath the earth can become a cup, wich then has to be transported to wherever there is something to drink.

Then the cup usually only manages, on one single occasion, to hold a certain amount of drink for a few minutes. Often it is taken nowhere in the process. In this way, one-way plates and cups differ from product packaging, wich protects certain goods in numerous ways during storage and transport. When buying foodstuffs, we take note of the content, and the packaging waste is part of the whole. But it is different if we buy a pack of ten disposable plates and cups in the supermarket. For they land up - in their entirety - inthe garbage bin, and in addition, they are wrapped in packaging waste. So throw-away plates etc. are one of the few products wich consist - even at the moment of buying - entirely of garbage. And since the sought-for recyling does not really work, I consider such a deliberate production of refuse most disturbing

This text was published in the catalogue to the exhibition:

Flotsam & Jetsam – Ballast und Treibgut
Über Kunst und Müll und Kunst mit Müll
About art and garbage and art with garbage

Appeared at the exhibition of the same name in the Document Hall, Kassel October 18th – November 4th, 2001 and afterwards in University Gallery in the ACC, Weimar January 12th – February 10th, 2002

Publisher:

Prof. Liz Bachhuber, Prof. Werner Bidlingmaier, Katharina Hohmann
Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, Universitätsverlag, 2001
Fax: +49 (0) 36 43 - 58 11 56
ISBN: 3-86068-159-1

Project: »Formenlehre« at Prof. Fritz Rahmann
Title of the work: ohne Titel

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