Category Archives: Sculpture

Archives Alchemy

Archives Alchemy: The Art of the Dumpster Divers, Opening Reception: January 10th, 5:00 – 7:30pm Artwork will be displayed from Jan. 10 – April 24, 2014. Gallery Hours listed below. Location: National Archives at Philadelphia, 900 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107-4292 (Entrance on Chestnut Street)

The Dumpster Divers of Philadelphia

The National Archives had miles of microfilm and piles of debris from moving records and renovations, doomed for the dumpster. “Call the Dumpster Divers!” Who? The Dumpster Divers of Philadelphia are a group of over 40 found object artists, their artwork as diverse as the group and materials used. They were officially recognized with a 2012 City of Philadelphia Mayor’s Tribute for “helping to raise the consciousness of art lovers and heightened awareness of taking a creative approach to support a more sustainable city, country and world.”

This show is an unusual collaboration between two very different Philadelphia institutions and demonstrates the infinite possibilities available when we think outside the dumpster. Leslie Simon, Director, Research Services, the National Archives at Philadelphia said, “I challenged the Dumpster Divers of Philadelphia to create art out of the debris from our moves and renovations. Materials included decommissioned ladders and carts, miles of microfilm and readers, aged leather book bindings, as well as decommissioned electronics and displays, posters, photographs, and lots of red tape.”

Ann Keech, Archives Commemorative, Archives Alchemy: The Art of the Dumpster Divers at The National Archives

As a loosely bound collective of classically trained and self-taught artists the Dumpster Divers’ unique found object artwork has been exhibited at the American Visionary Art Museum, Noyes Museum of Art, Perkins Art Center, Please Touch Museum, the Garbage Museum and many other regional and national exhibitions. They are featured in books such as Found Object Art (Schiffer Art Book), books 1 and 2. They established South Street galleries that have entranced more than fifty thousand people, while recycling these abandoned storefronts into viable neighborhood businesses. In the words of their founder, Neil Benson, “Trash is simply a failure of the imagination.”

Thus, in a new kind of alchemy, this partnership between the National Archives at Philadelphia and the Dumpster Divers of Philadelphia preserves, conveys and interprets stories of our pasts hidden in words and objects.

Susan Richards, Home Movies, Archives Alchemy: The Art of the Dumpster Divers at The National Archives

The National Archives at Philadelphia

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is the record keeper of the Federal government. About 2% of all records created are preserved permanently and are available to the public, whether exploring family history, proving a veteran’s military service, or researching an historical topic. The National Archives at Philadelphia, one of 15 research facilities across the country, holds records of federal courts and agencies operating in Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia. The records range from hand written 18th century customs manifests to 20th century scientific data.

Calendar Listing: The Dumpster Divers of Philadelphia are exhibiting their unique found object artwork created for the National Archives at Philadelphia. Opening Reception January 10th, 5:00 – 7:30pm at the National Archives, 900 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107-4292, 215-606-0101. Show runs from Jan. 10 – April 24, 2014. www.dumpsterdivers.org

Gallery Hours of Operation:

M-F: 8:30 am – 4:45 pm. Second Saturday of each month: 8 am – 4 pm. A Photo ID is required to enter Federal Buildings.

Address: National Archives at Philadelphia, 900 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107-4292, 215-606-0101

Contacts:

Gretchen Altabef, Curator for the Dumpster Divers, e-mail: wonderwomon@verizon.net website: www.dumpsterdivers.org

Leslie Simon, Director, Research Services, National Archives at Philadelphia, voice: 215-606-0101, fax: 215-606-0116, e-mail: leslie.simon@nara.gov

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Coupling, 9th Juried Exhibition

Out of Hand

Dialogic

Feast Your Eyes

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Alexandra Orgera, Sardines, digital photography, $75.00, multiple framed prints available, Feast Your Eyes, Off the Wall Gallery

Feast Your Eyes at Off the Wall Gallery is a visual smorgasbord, a mind melt sandwich, a banquet of tarts, sweets and delights, some are tasty and some are nasty. The 8th Annual Community Arts Show theme was suggested by surrealist/photographer William Myers which was the recipe for a choice menu of art. The show is free to enter but the competition for space is tough. The Off the Wall Gallery team gathers a jury of art experts to curate the show, treats them to an evening of wine and hors d’oeuvres and enough art submissions to feed the head until it explodes. Read about DoN‘s experience as a past juror here.

Off the Wall Gallery is located in Dirty Frank’s Bar at 13th and Pine Streets and is a hang-out for artists of every kind: college kids from the surrounding art schools, art club denizens from Philly’s allies, world famous painters and absolute beginners side by side at the bar. The collection of mixed media art ranges from paintings, photos and prints to video, sculpture and a QR code with an appealing appetite for the beautiful, strange and unique.

Alexandra Orgera, Sardines, digital photography, $75.00, is delectable, printed on panel with a simple raised box frame the piece has the delicious power to switch identities in the mind’s eye. What looks like a classic still life painting is actually a photograph made of the ingredients of fine art. Even more tasty is how affordable the collection of photographs are and you can ask for special orders.

Feast Your Eyes, Off the Wall Gallery

Look at all the names on this list! Writing about group shows for DoNArTNeWs sometimes leaves a sour taste in DoN‘s craw because not every artist can be put on the menu. So, for a virtual degustation of this ambrosial display, DoN recommends you visit the maitre’d of the fine establishment to digest Togo Travalia‘s tasting recommendations of the gratifying show at the Off the Wall Gallery facebook page.

Even more savory is sipping Jack neat at the bar, absorbing a tantalizing arrangement of tempting creations and listening to David Bowie on the jukebox while cute couples play darts, artists sketch and photographers take pictures. It’s scrumptious.

Written by DoN Brewer. Photographs courtesy of Off the Wall Gallery.