One Man's Garbage Can Project

© Jonathan Gitelson

The fabulously creative and altogether wonderful human being that is Jonathan Gitelson just launched his latest masterwork, The Garbage Can Project. You have probably seen Jon's previous work like the brilliant The Car Project or his clever posters. The Garbage Can Project was born from his need to explore the mysterious motivations behind the continued theft of garbage cans outside his home. Says the Git:

The project began because of the frequent theft of the garbage carts in front of my apartment building. In December 2005 I began to keep a daily photo diary of the carts and of any unusual material left on or around them. In October 2006, I began filming the garbage carts twenty-four hours a day.

Each morning I view the footage from the previous day, creating digital video clips of any instances of people interacting with the carts. It has turned out to be surprisingly compelling seeing what can happen in a day in the life of a garbage cart.

The site has all of the data that I have collected since December of 2005 and it will be updated every day with new videos and photographs.

I still have no idea why people keep stealing our garbage carts, or what possible uses they have for them. I hope to uncover this mystery as The Garbage Can Project continues.

Keep checking back to his site for updates. And, if you are the one currently stealing Jonathan's garbage cans, keep it up you beautifully trashy muse.