Urban Shelling - Collecting Found Objects

During a recent trip to a beach on the southeastern coast of the United States, some shell collectors that I was traveling with noticed that the shore was far more populated with sea glass and hundreds of sharks teeth than regular sea shells. As the coastal rip tide was fairly strong where we were camped out, we all spent plenty of time collecting sea glass and sharks teeth, and I eventually developed a pretty good eye for spotting the luster and shine of the items at a quick glance. After returning home, I found that I was still scanning the city streets for the black sheen of shark's teeth or the cloudy hue of sea glass. It wasn't long before I gave in and began gathering particularly striking bits of urban debris, a past time that I refer to as urban shelling.

Collecting found objects is a stimulating activity that provides an easy reminder to take notice of the flotsam and jetsam of urban life, such as the shards of our tools and transport, as well as the essential or treasured daily objects of utility or affection which somehow found themselves case aside. Depending on where the self ends (the mind, the body, society or the object and property we own), one could see how the objects that fall aside in the wake of our daily movements through urban life are shells outgrown or unneeded cast into the flotsam and jetsam of urban gutters and shores. Whether its the implied cultural associations the items symbolize or the aesthetic value of the objects themselves, collecting found objects provides a sense of immediate present in your surroundings the moment you pick one up and can be an excellent tool in practicing daily mindfulness.

Although deciding what to do with found objects feels almost secondary, there is no limit to the number of uses for your findings. Some individuals simply gather like with like and collect the objects for display, such as colorful bits of glass in a jar. Another interesting use in is described in full here on AC under the title "Gadget Printing," in which I describe how to use found objects as printing stamps to create original works of art and crafts. Many folk artists assemble sculptures of all sizes and styles out of found objects. I maintain a daily blog, Urban Shelling, where I post daily photographs of found objects that I have come across that day arranged in some sort of pattern or form.

http://urbanshelling.blogspot.com/