Mark Rumsey: Objects of Consumption

October 11 - November 12, 2021

Public Lecture: October 28^th, 3 p.m.   Reception: October 28 4 - 6 p.m.

Mark Rumsey is an internationally exhibiting artist based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He will be creating an installation with his objects of consumption to create a unique, dynamic and thoughtful space inside the university art gallery.

Objects of Consumption consists of elements casted in foam utilizing molds made from packaging materials that once cradled objects of consumption on their journey to the consumer. Combining the cast pieces, newly imagined objects are created that co-opt their textures and forms from the detritus of our international system of trade.

Objects of Consumption is an art intervention within a global structure of production, transport, consumption, and waste. The Global Waste Stream generates approximately 4.5 Trillion Pounds of waste each year, with less than 20% being recycled. Using waste packaging material allows them a re-use, as a mold to help create new objects. The process involves the transfiguration of the waste object’s ready-made design into an object of preciousness, art.

Object of Consumption: Container Wall hangs at the center of the gallery, it approximates the size of the sidewall of a standard shipping container 8.5ft by 20ft. The majority of trade is shuttled by sea with over 200 million shipping container trips annually worldwide hauling over 8.5 trillion cubic yards of materials. The United States is the largest importer of containerized cargo in the world receiving approximately 20 million containers per year.

All gallery exhibitions, lectures and receptions are free and open to the public. Click the following link for open gallery hours or call (989) 964-2291. The University Art Gallery is located in the Arbury Fine Arts Center on the campus of Saginaw Valley State University, svsu.edu/go/visit/maps/.