We've just added a bonus reward! Everyone that backs our project with $20 or more before the end will receive an 8" x 10" print of the pink potty training toilet with "R.Mutt 1917" printed on it. This is in addition to your other rewards. If you've already backed us, increase your pledge by $10 and you can have the print, too.

Press and love we've received:

About the project:

The project started in October of 2011 when Tim was invited to participate in the Recycled Artist-in-Residency (RAIR) in Philadelphia. Taking advantage of this unique opportunity, Tim invited Carlos, Austen, Stacey and Raul to join the project. Everyone’s unique backgrounds (respectively: photography, sound, biology and video)) added to the complexity of the project. You can read more about us by reading this project update.

During the course of a weekend hundreds of objects, photographs sound recordings we collected and made. After narrowing the best 100 objects down the images were categorized using a similar technique as the Phylogenetic Tree of Life.

Since October we’ve continued the project by publishing a book of the original 100 objects and creating a website. The project has received recognition on the James L. Knight Foundation website and in March 2012 we were invited to have a show at the Art Gallery at City Hall in Philadelphia. The Delaware Center for Contemporary Arts (DCCA), a museum in Wilmington, has invited us to have an exhibition in April of this year. 

Why are we doing this?

The simple answer is we’re curious. We are so intrigued by our original findings that we believe there’s more out there. Our goal is to continue our research in other cities collecting as much information about garbage as possible. We think there’s a lot of discarded objects that deserve to be seen. We strive to find beauty in the simplest of things. At the end of the day we offer our findings for you to engage and participate.

Funding from Kickstarter will be used in 3 ways:

First, we want to build a pedal-operated mobile laboratory that we can easily cruise around different neighborhoods in. The lab will have everything we need to collect garbage, examine the material components, take high-quality photographs and record sounds. The lab will be constructed in our studio.

Secondly, your funding will help publish our book which includes photographs of the original found objects, a compilation of treated sound recordings and a behind the scenes documentary. The catalog has an ISBN and is registered with the Library of Congress. We need your help to finish the production. 

Finally, funding will be used for our exhibition at the DCCA. In late March we will be conducting our first mobile lab excursion in a Wilmington neighborhood. Collected garbage will be on display during the exhibition. 

The show will be both educational and interactive as we will invite viewers to participate in a variety of education components. They will have the opportunity to make their own molecules based on material compounds found in the garbage. A microscope will also be set up so viewers can examine trash particles.

Rewards:

Here's what you get when you support our project.Your support instantly rockets you to honorary taxonomists status and depending on your level of support you could receive cool stuff like prints, the catalog, autographed photos of us, stickers, a tour of RAIR and more.

Stickers! We've got them and they're cool. These are full-color and contour cut around the trash. Give us at least $10 and you'll get a couple to stick around.