Waysides
2016, John Michael Kohler Arts Center

608 New York Ave.

Sheboygan, WI

wood, paint
 

As you drive down Wisconsin’s many rural roads you will have the opportunity to buy something at a roadside stand or yard sale. You never know what you’re going to find--homemade baked goods, grandma’s knit toaster warmer, fruits and vegetables, goat’s milk, firewood, and even cars. In addition, you’ll find an odd assortment of miscellaneous cast off items (junk), all designed to fetch a buck for their owners. This entrepreneurial spirit is classic Americana. The individualism characteristic in these makeshift roadside stands reflects a person’s attempt to sell an eclectic variety of things. It’s a visual mash-up of all this visual ephemera, mundane minutia, the fruits of one’s labor or personal toss offs that are interesting. At a roadside sale, mundane objects and products as well as memory-filled items are co-mingled in a visual potpourri. Each item awaits a new owner that will once again value them for their utility or visual appeal.

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