[p] Flea Market finds, February

The flea markets I've encountered in Taiwan are, for the most part, rather dingy. A lot is due to the source of their goods, often recycle centers and garbage. Additionally, Taiwan's climate, including the incredible and constant humidity, assures that paper and other things which can support mold or mildew colonies invariably will. You truly need to make a choice of what to save and take great care to protect the things you want to preserve.

The garbage here, as anywhere, can contain valuable things in terms of use, but not in terms of what most Taiwanese (and others) would desire. For some, it's the spirits that may lurk in them (this can be especially true for photos), for others it may be the lack of reliability in a used item's performance...among many other reasons. In most major cities here, there are hundreds of people trying to sell those things that at least once in their life were wanted and then unwanted. Death, divorce, debt, theft, or simply "cleaning house" are some of the stories that lie in between. The sellers are trying to find a new "wanter."

While the variety of things sold varies greatly, I am mostly concentrated on finding things on paper, mostly photos. The majority of the vendors are trying to sell photos one at a time and at exorbitant prices. Some ask for ~$10/photo. Photos from the Japanese occupation (1895-1945) sell for the most. I've had the good fortune to find a good man who seems to understand my inspiration and sells to me at about $0.06/photo. As I'm not a dealer, it allows me to have a meaningful collection without spending an irresponsible amount of money. A small selection of my finds are scattered throughout this entry.

To post them here in such a confused profusion seems cheap, especially if you spend any real time with the photos. These photos are mostly from family albums and capture moments that were extremely precious, especially considering the cost of a camera and developing its film in Taiwan 30+ years ago. And yet, the scattered profusion above is just a shadow of the profusion that attends these markets. I oftentimes go through thousands at a time, all mixed up, some decaying, some faded, some perfect. I discovered long ago that, after looking for a while, I  start to unconsciously connect photos and imagine/create stories. After a while, some of the photos, with unimaginable differences, can slowly start to look the same. 

 
 

While seemingly vulgar, I sometimes choose photos for their aesthetic qualities alone, not their suggested content. But oftentimes the real/imagined connections draws me in.

It does not escape me that these come, most likely, from someone who has died. While they were in that person's possession, they referred to stories, aided memories, meant something. In their current state, because they are disconnected from their source's and subject's hands, they are simply an illustration of something that once existed. There is practically zero context...only the images' superficial surface can suggest connections to our collective consciousness or recognizable places.  And yet, these connections that I consciously and unconsciously make can have some strength. 

In the process of an afternoon, I realized that a good many of the photos were of this couple...young and old, ping ponging back and forth. Pictures of them before having children, their wedding ceremony, after many years of marriage, with their children... When this happens,  especially when I find a sort of sympathetic vibration between me and their faces, I feel a bond develop. And it's a strange feeling to contemplate - a one-way bond.

But really, most things without a beating heart, if not all things, are a "one-way bond." The process of collecting "aesthetically pleasing" photos, can reinforce the seemingly obvious fact that items carry no soul. But there are certainly some that seem to come with more, no matter how much I rationally realize that it's only in my relation to it that it has that "something."

 

As a brief aside, looking at these photos one evening, one of the men's face seemed very familiar. On a whim, I checked my photos I found last year, and sure enough, the photo I remembered picking up in 2014 was a picture of the same man...with the same camera as he holds, sitting with his lady, above.

Of course, there's the issue of who's on the other side of that camera. However unknown that person is, we know how they see that moment. In some ways, we look at it through their eyes. 

 

[m] My favorite new 2014 Tunes

My (15) favorite new pop tunes from 2014. A lot of the singles were introduced to me by a comprehensive collection an acquaintance put together, with a lot of hard work.  Heavy on the downbeat and electronics this year.

 

[p] Purchasing Second Hand Goods

Here's a little proselytizing for you.

We need very little, even to live in extreme comfort. And, the majority of what we need has already been made or is available second-hand. Add to that, purchasing new products, while propping up our economic system, adds excessive waste to our living environment - from the stages of finding/mining the resources, to transportation, sales, waste and disposal.

This is easy to say, and I am well aware that waste, especially in the current system, is inevitable at some level. But we can have a very direct hand in reducing the amount...this can make huge differences for our environment and population.

As a small personal step, for over four years, I have attempted to buy only used clothes (excepting underwear, footwear, swimwear). It hasn't been hard and for me, it has been a great decision. When the clothes wear out, I tailor them to bring them back to wearing condition.

 

Some general benefits of purchasing second-hand clothes:

  1. Reduces garbage (most new clothes ends up used in the garbage...a good majority of them were never sold or worn)

  2. Discourages new production, thereby having a direct effect on over-production, over-exploitation of resources, pollutants (especially dyes), excessive water usage, transportation, etc...

  3. It’s not a part of an industry that largely attempts to find the cheapest place to produce their items under what many would call inhumane working conditions

  4. On a superficial level, the items are often times unique

  5. By nature, they are preshrunk and the colors won't fade as much - what you see is what you get

  6. The clothing has stood the test of time and have proven their strength

  7. They are almost always many times cheaper

  8. Often times when you find a piece of clothing, it has a special connection with you and a story

  9. There are more surprises. You subconsciously become less beholden to current styles and trends.

There's more, but this is a good start. It obviously applies to many things beyond clothes, but the new clothing industry is, for most people, relatively easy to circumvent by purchasing used.

This image sends my brain into an infinite loop. In China or Vietnam, there is a factory that likely turned out thousands of these.

This image sends my brain into an infinite loop. In China or Vietnam, there is a factory that likely turned out thousands of these.

Reusing, combined with being very selective (getting what you "need" and maybe a little bit more) for me is the smartest, most economical (in both time and money) and the most entertaining choice. The incredible profusion of horrible clothing stores and ads that accost you everywhere are out of my orbit now. Just racks and racks and racks of new clothes, while at the same time, there's a glut of clothes throwaways. Those throwaways make up a large part of my closet.

Being in Asia for a number of years, I have seen the second-hand clothes market go from out-of-mind to in-fashion (when relabeled 'vintage'). The initial disgust, like in America a generation ago, came partially from realities (they were dirty - before they were washed) and partially from symbolism (“you can’t afford or find ‘the new’ ”). In reality, it’s the new clothes that are the dirtiest, although it is its one degree of separation from the waste created through the steps of production and waste which makes this dirtiness invisible without thought.

If we look at our world with bigger eyes in the future, when things do become more and more close, will the revulsion of uncleanliness of our environment prove more repulsive than the perceived uncleanliness of our clothes?  

 

[w] Autograph added

Autograph, like a similar work, Self-Portrait, is a work I began in 2011 with no end-date planned. It is interactive, and like Self-Portrait, it requires a lot of contact with friends and strangers and allows me to create work that is not just "personal." I do the action which the work suggests, not the actual creation of the object. That comes with the help of many of the people I meet.

The act of asking for an autograph requires humility and, at first, elevates the signer. After these autographs are signed, one over the other, the names start to disappear into a larger "signature," or a larger form of humility.

 

They start out as this:

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A number of autographs more and they start to fill in:

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And many, many autographs later, singular autographs are not distinguishable, although they still remain.

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The other aspect is personal. I sign the same sheet of paper in the same spot, adding my autograph. Doing this over a long period of time represents different versions of my self, and as it does, my recognizable name starts to disappear.

I should briefly mention and say that these works were inspired by a much earlier work of mine, entitled, Work I Should Have Done, which I signed my name hundreds of times in the same spot, at the same time. The title speaks rather loudly to my self-deprecation at that time, but one that I eventually replaced.

The new page, Autographs, includes four pieces of the newer version of this work in progress that I call Autograph. I hope to expand these few sheets to eight.