Dirty White Trash (With Gulls)

By Tim Noble and Sue Webster

Artists Tim Noble and Sue Webster entitled this work of art Dirty White Trash (With Gulls). This piece, referred to as shadow art, is a statue made up of trash and other miscellaneous items that casts a shadow in the shape of two people leaning against one another's backs. The pieces of trash the statue is mostly comprised of are not byproducts of the necessary items in life, but junk food wrappers, cigarette cartons, and take out containers. Of the two people cast on the wall behind the piece, one is smoking a cigarette and the other is drinking a glass of wine. Additionally, there are two sea gulls picking around the outskirts of the piece, which I believe suggests that the consumers did not dispose of the trash properly. In just one glance, this work of art will catch anybody's attention.

I interpreted this piece as a criticism of American consumerism, a commentary on waste and its environmental effects, and an allusion to a widely accepted stereotype of the ‘white trash' American. The fact that the shadow people are essentially made of trash reflects the American tendency to determine their own merit based on their material belongings, a mindset that leads to a disproportionate intake of material goods. Over consumption is a growing problem in the United States; the rate at which Americans consume food, water, oil, electricity, materials such as cotton and plastic, etc… exceed all other countries. Understandably, our want for more does not come without consequences. America's inflated consumption rates have a profound negative impact on people living in developing countries. You could say that we, as over consumers, are casting a shadow on the rest of the world population in many ways: we are neglecting the needs of populations of people as well as setting an inappropriate example for developing nations to follow. Furthermore, the mindset many Americans have adapted that they not only need more, newer things, but that they are entitled to them does not provide promise for the adaptation of sustainable lifestyles in the future. Not only are our consumption rates excessive, but the things we tend to consume feed our hunger or calm our cravings rather than provide nourishment to our bodies. We fill our bodies with MSG, corn syrup, artificial flavors, tobacco, nicotine, caffeine, other chemicals, and toxins, and despite all of the negative effects of these substances, we keep coming back for more.