Garbage is rapidly becoming one of the main topics in urban society. Not only are municipalities keenly aware of the high environmental cost of waste, but residents are more-and-more conscious of the importance of recycling. Even so, most urban dwellers are still blind to what actually happens to their trash once it is tossed into the back of a garbage truck.

The aim of this project is to make waste cycles transparent to the public in an attempt to enable more personal and social awareness. Using Cambridge, MA as a region of focus, and MIT as a hyper-local example, the works in the exhibition display information about local waste and the overlaps or tensions between the informal and formal waste management sectors. It is our belief that the local scale is fundamental to give people the opportunity to reflect on global waste processes. The exhibition will showcase different kind of projects with several approaches and formats, from local to national scale. Ultimately, the exhibit will have both a physical and an on-line presence.

Where: Keller Gallery. Room 408. Building 7. MIT. Mass Av Cambridge. MA. USA. View map
Dates: September 30th – October 23rd 2011.
Url: basurama.org/transtrash

Participants

• Nancy Kim. Master of Architecture Candidate. MIT.
• Libby McDonald. Community Innovators Lab’s Green Hub Global Program Associate. MIT.
• Dietmar Offenhuber. Research Fellow. Senseable City Lab. PhD Candidate. MIT.
• Pablo Rey co-founder of Basurama and Visiting Scientist at Center for Civic Media. MIT Medialab.

Funded in part by the Council for the Arts at MIT.

Exhibition from outside with Chainwork video installation on the front.

Panorama photo of the Trans Trash exibition at MIT. From left to right: Trashometer.org, Cambridge Waste map, Plasticape and Trash Track installations.