The Art of Dumpster Diving

What the heck is assemblage art? That was my thought exactly. For my art class this year, we had to make an assemblage art piece. Assemblage art is where the finished product is bigger than the individual pieces it is comprised of.

I needed to gather supplies for this project, so I went to the local thrift store. I found a few interesting things I could use, but I really didn't want to spend money on this project. My Mom somehow got permission for us to look through their dumpsters for the project. I went back behind the store and saw five huge dumpsters, each of which was filled full of unwanted/unsold stuff. The dumpsters had everything you could ever ask for. There were computers, printers, stuffed animals, toys, action heroes, knives, clothes etc. I also met a professional dumpster diver with a cool grabber thing that I had to compete against.

Now, I must admit, I was really having a good time searching through the dumpsters, and I was finding some really cool stuff. There was a close call though. Right after I had finished gathering materials for the art project, I saw a friend I hadn't seen in a long time. As far as I know, he didn't see me in the act of dumpster diving. That would have been rather embarrassing.

I got everything I needed from the dumpsters for the project. I was happy with how the finished project looked. I poured my blood, sweat and tears into that project. Literally, I'm not joking. It just goes to show that one man's junk, or unsold thrift stores items in a dumpster, can be another man's treasures. Maybe some day I will go back to those marvelous dumpsters, but until then, I have the finished art project displayed in my room so I can always remember the day I went dumpster diving.