Learning from eBay, 2009--2021
Learning from eBay utilizes an archive of roughly 28,000 photographs of used objects for sale that I have collected over the past 10 years from consumer-to-consumer web platforms such as eBay, Alibaba, Craigslist and office liquidation warehouses. As an archive of this moment, the sheer volume of images render visible the monumentality of our current consumer habits, and their effects on our environment. (In 2022 it is estimated there were 59.4 million metric tons of e-waste; global plastics production was estimated at 39 million metric tons; approximately 8 million metric tons of plastic waste is dumped in the ocean every year.)
Aside from their intended representation, these utilitarian images of used items for sale reveal how we ascribe value to objects, the shifts in the technologies we use to record those objects, and photographic strategies we adopt—however strange and awkward—to sell them.
To the sellers, the objects in their photographs have value but the photographs themselves have none. To me, the objects in the photographs have little value, but the photographs of them do. I prints these images on actual disassembled broken screens, or collage them together by subject matter and layer subject upon subject, creating unexpected juxtapositions, much the way we experience images on our screens. Utilitarian images, no longer useful once the object is sold (or disposed of), get a second life - they coalesce into works of art animated by acting upon each other.
Digital composite of installation documentation, Learning from eBay, 2022, The Finnish Museum of Photography, Helsinki, Finland; images of used mattresses, the bottoms of used ceramic cats, used electrical cords, used remote controls, used lamps, used ceiling fans, used picture frames, used plastic grapes, used plastic lemons, and used ceramic cats for sale on consumer to consumer websites. Variable sizes; total dimensions 1896cm x 286cm.
Digital composite of installation documentation, Learning from eBay, 2022, The Finnish Museum of Photography, Helsinki, Finland; images of used office plants, used office chairs, used TVs, used and broken TVs sold for parts, and used ceramic cats for sale on consumer to consumer websites. Variable sizes; total dimensions 1896cm x 286cm.
Digital composite of installation documentation, Learning from eBay, 2022, The Finnish Museum of Photography, Helsinki, Finland; images of the screens of broken LCD TVs UV printed on the screens of disassembled LCD TVs and film; Variable sizes; total dimensions 3230cm x 304 cm, and 2400 cm x 304cm
Digital composite of installation documentation, Learning from eBay, 2022, The Finnish Museum of Photography, Helsinki, Finland; images of the screens of broken LCD TVs UV printed on the screens of disassembled LCD TVs and film; and 2 videos on LCD monitors; Variable sizes; total dimensions 3230cm x 304 cm, and 2400 cm x 304cm
78 Used White Ceramic Cats, and TVs from Craigslist (flashes for white ceramic cats), 2022
Video documentation of installation Learning from eBay, 2022, The Finnish Museum of Photography, Helsinki, Finland; 78 Used White Ceramic Cats purchased from eBay, sitting on the boxes in which they were shipped to me, on the crate in which they were then shipped to Finland, facing a video comprising images of flashes reflected in the TVs for sale on Craigslist.
A list of things for sale on eBay, September 2022:
5,936 used flat screen TVs,
2,451 used crt tvs
41,826 used remote controls
97,967 used laptops
23,844 used, not working, for parts laptops
159,846 used desktop computers
17,336 used computer monitors
29,411 used tablets
182,307 used smart phones
120,995 used electrical cords
342,107 used keyboards
10,994 used typewriters
19,518 used mouses
1,206 used mouse pads
114,515 used film cameras
64,055 used digital cameras
196,005 used camera lens
1,713,801 used figurines
9,458 used ceramic cats
40,966 used ceramic dogs
21,982 used ceramic bunnies
1,800 used ceramic horses
57,161 used ceramic birds
4,451 used ceramic owls
3,777 used ceramic ducks
7,318 used ceramic kissing figurines
327,973 used plants
7,078 used table lamps
1.996 used ceiling fans
1,226 used toasters
67,986 used coffee mugs
24,977 used picture frames
942,747 used wrist watches
234,894 used eye-glasses
161,857 used sunglasses
634,638 used earrings
1,136,412 used necklaces
158,651 used chairs
14,311 used tables
9,606 used bedsheets
62,069 used pillows
9,223 used pillow covers
1,025,386 used stuffed animals
5,527 used antlers
6,118 used taxidermy animals
497,339 used leather handbags
13,146 used head bands
31,917 used carpets
49,018 used slippers
8041 used wedding dresses
32,372 used engagement rings
45,213 used wedding bands
245,403 used dinner plates
70,589 used candy dishes
31,164 used cookie jars
2,158 used jogging suits
2,134 used baby strollers
116 used pet strollers
81,081 used video tapes
34,528 used video players
12,273 used cassette player
3,582 used armoires
831 used bookcase
26,984,475 used books
202,746 used paintings
3,908 used pens
2,006 used desks
67,192 used key chains
369 used good luck charms
147,935 used skulls
14,983 used crystals
1,763 used rabbit feet
1,334 used water bottles
224 used yoga mats
17,766 used baseball bats
109 used baseball batting gloves
1,240 used ballet shoes
11,590 used skateboards
206,650 used wallets
499 used mattresses
1,848 used e-scooters
1,380 used comforter sets
3,933 used sofas
8,917 used halloween costumes
31,399 used lego sets
197,171 used Beanie Babies
43,869 used Cabbage Patch Kids
141,731 used Barbie dolls
4,294 used model train sets
42,703 used toy guns
224,673 used toy trucks
466,513 used toy cars
8,333 used toy airplanes
1,350 used dog beds