Georgia Dickie Article in Canadian Art Magazine

February 9, 2021

Georgia Dickie describes her practice in a creative text for Canadian Art Magazine.

A Topography of Free

If the best things in life are free, then why was this $1.99? My neighbourhood block goes hard for a pile positioned at the threshold of a property line. Items of interest in your community: trampolines, hamster wheels, wreaths. In all their forms and styles, makeshift vessels containing miscellaneous offerings, unloaded; life’s shoddy, just-shy-of-appealing offcuts. Not yet useless enough for the trash (but headed in that direction), these bland curbside street molluscs are destined for something greater still. With near-daily updates, I monitor the ever-changing shards of living people. Regionally significant detritus. Free things, residual things, blatant eviction things, things that are but barely at all. I’ve seen dry shampoo and frozen empanadas, half-consumed bottles of the order Condimentae. Unruly free bins and bins that take to the street. These objects are no longer under control, they’ve been discharged. A toddler stomps my head shadow. Can I get a free refill? Curb alerts are not garbage day. The transitory on display, like when I accidentally printed an inventory count sheet on top of my father-in-law’s eulogy. The big satellite story. The audible as a free bin. “Practice makes profit.” Free-leavers surrender to the ease of proximity and resist the temptation of a potential sale, concede all the bads just outside their own fortress walls. The last hopeful stop before landfill.

A free box on casters follows me around like a Roomba, catching kale stems that, through soiled dishcloths, have Plinko’d down the oven door, and collecting the debris of my days to prepare it for redistribution. Judge Judy after school. Flat bunny. Asphalt egg. Party with the Celebration Mix. Free problems, free relatives, free used face masks, free housing. Free boxes all over town and free bins big enough to fit entire cities. What about money? I’ve never seen that. Language as a free bin. “Furniture that steals your heart, not your wallet.” Whose wallet? The cheapest thing on their website is $89, which is better than I was expecting. “Curb alert: free stuff at up to 90% off!” accompanied by reassuring messages like, “These pens work, we just have too many.” This stuff is a burden, get it out of here! But don’t go too far…. The pile builds at lightning speed and dissolves just as quickly. I started before I’d intended to. Possible subjects include: fragments, hygiene, shrimp rings, Notes app, eating shows, reheating cold coffee, nail biting, Gillian Welch, sparkling water, the Lupine Lady, attention, learning to play the drums, cystic acne, Universal Excellence, creamed corn, taxes, oats, Shia LaBeouf’s mom.

Objects spill out, then recede. At this point, 311 recommends transferring unwanted free items to the garbage for collection. What’s mine is yours, unfortunately. People take what they need and leave a mess, is that it? It was a fucking mess to begin with. Shoutout to the mini-cottage people too, who by implementing rigorous protocols, and with the best of neighbourly intentions, gentrify the cardboard box. Please don’t bring this back, I never want to see it again. The idea is this: diminish your own heap, stoke another’s.

Dear tenants,

It has recently been brought to our attention that garbage is being left throughout the building; this includes materials with a note stating “Free to Take” or similar. When garbage collection service stopped at the property you were reminded that at no time is garbage to be left anywhere outside of your unit unless it is in a landlord authorized bin waiting for immediate pick up.

The building is certainly not a dumping ground and any persons found to be leaving garbage outside of their unit will be charged for garbage removal. Furthermore, if a tenant continues to leave garbage around the building, it is grounds for eviction.

Free things are not allowed in some places. Like mandated garbage disposal, there are rules to be implemented and standards to be upheld. Exceptionally strange in the case of my studio building, considering that for the majority of tenants, the cycle of free material is an unspoken language inherent to producing art. Or, improving your life in some way or another. Regardless of context, it defies how things work. (The awkward, sincere threat of immediate eviction as a punishment for setting out a free stool is obviously harsh as well as disproportionately ironic considering the amount of trash that would be left outside unit bounds as a result of such a hasty measure). Keep your stuff inside and out of sight, remain eternally tethered to that which you possess. […]

To view the full article visit Canadian Art.

For more information about Georgia Dickie please contact the gallery:

info@coopercolegallery.com

+1.416.531.8000

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