So, to end 2010, an amazing, touching, poignant dustbin. Out with the old, in with the new and all that. And where better to get rid of the old than in this accidental freak?
Part Cornetto, part trashcan, it’s both fantastical and utilitarian – like a hybrid mythical creature (in the manner of centaurs, mermaids and so on) of the modern streetscape.
Of course, the very idea of trash goes right to the heart of many a contemporary issue. Perhaps we need to find ways of articulating this cultural unease and maybe the trash could (should?) be the appropriate site. A place, a thing where guilt, rage, fear and hope are exercised in some symbolic form.
It’s one of those unconscious, accidental things that nevertheless coalesce into something more. I mean, couldn’t you imagine this in Milan next spring? Shouldn’t there be a furniture company reproducing some of these found objects? (And of course, if you’re reading this Vitra, Cappellini, Established … you know, give me a shout!)