Visual Journal Prompts

This blog exists to provide writers with suggestions to develop their visual journals.

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Location: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Tuesday, November 05, 2002

Nothing Trashy About This
We' ve all heard about or seen the works of artists who collect trash and sculpt it into interesting forms and meaningful shapes. Although "Trashlog" indeed also deals in found objects, it is very different. Nico Van Hoorn, from the Netherlands, has found a way to photograph bits of trash he finds along the roadside so that each and every piece looks like a simple, well-planned contemporary work of art. Each day, Mr. Van Hoorn picks up something that fits his parameters --paper, plastic or metal, never bigger than 10 x 15 cm, as flat as possible -- then photographs it and posts the resulting photo on his site. The archives go back to May of this year, and each day's offering is interesting and, in its own way, a thing of beauty. The meaning of all this is left to the viewer. Van Hoorn does not clutter his site with needless words. He is a collector, but a collector of a very different sort. Apparently he is looking for a more permanent home for his photo collection, but until he finds one he will continue to post his works on his website, and we will be the richer for it.

Gather some trash and weave it into your writing today.