This idea did not begin as a piece of art, it began as a practical need for me; I just moved to the Oregon coast and I wished for a pair of flip-flops, but in my avoidance of adding to the "stuff" on this planet, could not force myself to buy a new pair. I wound up wearing a mismatched pair that I found at the mouth of the Salmon River in November of 2008. This idea then turned into something fun and silly, yet serious, that I wanted to share with others. I am always poking at the perception of waste, so it was natural for my basic need of a pair of summer shoes to turn into something hopefully a bit more poetic through my artistic vision.
Press
Click HERE to see the Oregon Coast Today newspaper article April 21, 2010.
Click HERE to see the Oregon Coast Today newspaper article March 23, 2011.
What/Where: Art Installation "Beach Found Footwear: Waste-Stream to Wear-Stream" at the Chessman Gallery in the Lincoln City Cultural Center as part of the "Recycle Art" exhibit.
Chessman Gallery
Lincoln City Cultural Center
540 NE Hwy 101
Lincoln City, Oregon
541-994-9994
When: April 3rd - 30th, 2010 with an Opening Reception April 24th from 2-4pm in conjunction with Earth Day Events.
Details: This line of footwear consists of a collection of flip-flops found washed up on the beach. The flip-flops have been taken out of the waste stream, cleaned, stenciled with a new logo, paired, and put back into the wear stream by artist Dawn Stetzel with help from the Oregon coast community.
Materials:
24 matched/mismatched pairs + 21 stray lefts + 2 stray rights
Dawn Stetzel will add flip-flops to this installation as the exhibit continues. To contribute a flip or a flop, please drop them off in the Cultural Center office or contact the artist at dawnstetzel@hotmail.com. Thank you.
Price: $3 each pair
Proceeds will be donated to SOLV for their bi-annual beach cleanups in Oregon.
Welcome to the Flip-Flop Shop.
Visitors are welcome to try on a pair of Beach Found Footwear. Remove a pair by sliding the footwear out from under the hanger or swivel the hanger to the side. Try them on, walk around. Purchase a pair from the Cultural Center office and pick up your repurposed footwear at the end of the exhibit on April 30th. Enjoy wearing your Beach Found Footwear and sharing the story with others as they inquire about your mismatched feet.
(When I walk on the beach I pick up trash. The cans that I find on the beach I return to be recycled and I collect the deposit money. This money I save and use as my Beach Found Footwear bank account. I use this money to pay for any expense I accrue on this project, such as the hardware to hang the footwear in the Flip-Flop Shop.)
To see project photos please visit: www.beachfoundfootwear.blogspot.com
SOLV involvement with this project:
SOLV, a non-profit organization that provides resources to communities throughout Oregon, focusing on litter cleanup, tree planting and invasive removal projects. March 20th, 2010 was the annual SOLV statewide beach cleanup. Diana Bartlett, Beach Cleanup Coordinator said,
"On a beautiful but windy first day of spring on the Oregon coast, nearly 4,200 volunteers headed to the beach to clean much of the 362 miles of Oregon coastline earlier today. Volunteers found the beaches covered with large amounts of trash and debris that had washed ashore during winter storms, and removed an estimated 70,500 pounds of trash from the coast."
I contacted 16 SOLV Beach Zone Captains to see if they might ask their volunteers to save any flip-flops found along the entire coast of Oregon on that one day for the Beach Found Footwear project. The word got out to a few folks and a huge thank you too all the volunteers and captains for rounding up 71 flip-flops on a single day!
19 flipflops found in Astoria + 5-6 in Rockaway + 21 flipflops in Tillamook + 1 pair in Lincoln City + 11 in Newport + 1 flipflop in Port Orford + 12 in Brookings = SOLV Oregon Beach CleanUp on March 20, 2010.
Dawn Stetzel Artist Statement:
This idea did not begin as a piece of art, it began as a practical need for me; I just moved to the Oregon coast and I wished for a pair of flip-flops, but in my avoidance of adding to the "stuff" on this planet, could not force myself to buy a new pair. I wound up wearing a mismatched pair that I found at the mouth of the Salmon River in November of 2008. This idea then turned into something fun and silly, yet serious, that I wanted to share with others. I am always poking at the perception of waste, so it was natural for my basic need of a pair of summer shoes to turn into something hopefully a bit more poetic through my artistic vision.
Contact:
Dawn Stetzel
dawnstetzel@hotmail.com
Oregon Coast Today newspaper on April 23, 2010:
