Abstract

So much of our life is determined by things out of our control. We do not choose the moment in history or where we are born. We don’t choose our race, determine our biological/chemical makeup, or choose our family. We are all dealt a unique set of circumstances from which it is almost impossible to escape. What we do have control over is our response to those circumstances. It always helps to start with a clear, objective understanding of the given situation, but after that, our response and choices have a significant impact on the outcome. Found objects, irrespective of scale, relate to a specific time, have a pre-existing meaning, purpose, and logic (deep structure). Unlike most artists who utilize found objects as a cynical alternative to producing an original, unique work, we suggest these objects should serve as a given set of circumstances awaiting our response—an opportunity to express our limited but transformational agency. Work utilizing found objects can confront our troubled history—events that are forgotten or marginalized. Our response can illuminate the meaning of the found object and the world in which we live. This article will establish a brief history of found objects used in contemporary art and attempt to re-establish their meaning through two case studies at radically different scales: first, a sculptural investigation that utilizes the Asian takeout food container and accompanying chopsticks, and, second, the ruins of a former grocery store in rural Mississippi where Emmett Till allegedly whistled at the store’s White owner and, as a result, was brutally murdered.