I’m starting to see a pattern...

Another example of trash transformed -- if not into treasure, then at least in something that calls for a 2nd look and a 2nd thought.

NYC street+gallery artist Rene Gagnon, whose paintings bridge gaps between graffiti and contemporary ab/ex, has started stencilling "TOP DOLLAR GARBAGE" on curbside trash. Playing with the idea that objects become covetable because of a pattern set onto their surface (Coach, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, etc), this art asks the question: is it the product, or something stamped on the surface, that brings value?

Check out Muji (which asks the same questions from the opposite direction) subverting the 'rules' of branding by making beautiful, high quality products with no labels.

And look at more trash art courtesy of Wooster Collective, which celebrates ephemeral art found on streets and cities all around the world.