“SCRAP-A-HOUSE” (formerly known as Write-A-House).

The crowd at Popp’s Packing before Mitchell Cope’s artist talk.

On Saturday, March 22nd, Popps Packing hosted an artist talk by Mitchell Cope, whose current exhibition, ZEN AND THE ART OF GARBAGE HUNTING AND THE PROTECTORS OF THE REFUSE, has been extended through March 29th. The premise of this  work, backed unflinchingly by Cope, is that the black-and-white film photos shot of garbage piles within a two-block radius of his Hamtramck home, have revealed spirits housed in the refuse.

“EDDY’S PILE.”

Detail from “STACK-O-MATTRESS.”

These spirits, which seem to have diverse cultural origins and manifest in various states of visibility—some are very blurry and ephemeral, some quite distinct—are only visible through the negatives produced by Cope’s documentary efforts, but Cope solemnly maintains his assertion that they exist in reality. In fact, the installation at Popps includes a sculpture made from a coterie of shopping carts documented in one of the photos, and Cope suspects the protector spirit documented in the photograph may have followed the carts into the gallery.

“SCRAP-A-HOUSE TOTEM,” which may or may not be guarded by the protector spirit captured in the photograph.

This work seems to be the natural evolution of previous work done by Cope (and his Design 99 partner Gina Reichert), which includes a short film also on display at the gallery that documents Design 99’s construction of “trash totems”—found mattresses and other refuse suspended on a sharpened tree trunk, and otherwise arranged around Hamtramck locations. Cope has done other work involving “private” object collections, such as the exhaustive exhumation of a 100-year family history in objects found in their abandoned house (Cope was asked by neighbors to address and secure the abandoned structure, resulting in a beautifully detailed installation at Art Prize 2012 that documented what he found inside).

Cope’s art synthesizes personal expression and community presence.

His current exhibition forms the first of three phases regarding these trash piles, and also represents an evolution in Cope’s own strategies for dealing with blight in his neighborhood—actions which in the past  have spawned the “Power House,” the “Hood Cat” machine for helping neighborhood clean-ups, and a skate park on the Detroit/ Hamtramck border. Cope’s plan is to create physical manifestations of these protector spirits and install them around the trash piles, to see if the detectable presence of these watchers help trigger the neighborhood conscience, perhaps inspiring people to address the trash piles themselves.

Gallery visitors watching “GARBAGE TOTEM #1 CLEARING A PATH TO THE FUTURE” – a collaborative video and predecessor to the photographic work by Design 99 (2011).

All together, a fascinating and playful show, powered by some serious ideas around blight and community engagement. Art at its best!

Popps Packing: 12138 Saint Aubin, Hamtramck; www.poppspacking.org