NY artist turns trash into cash with good packaging | Hacker News Reader

NY artist turns trash into cash with good packaging

nycgarbage.com

8 pointsdc2k0810 comments

The packaging isn't the most important part - it's just his value-add. The packaging makes that stuff viable as a collectable, but the real draw is the nostalgia value. For example he's selling "Opening Day at New Yankee Stadium" garbage, which could potentially mean a lot to a baseball fan.

packaging makes that stuff viable as a collectable

I think the story that "I paid $50 for garbage: ask me about it" makes the stuff viable as a collectible.

Are you familiar with fugu? Its a species of pufferfish, and considered something of a delicacy in Japan. Fugu is a fishy fish, distinguished by other fishy fish by one property: its incredibly lethal nerve toxin.

Fugu sells because of the nerve toxin, not in spite of it. You get to say "Hey, I ate fugu, and it didn't kill me!" (Ironically, fugu is probably the safest meal available in Japan, because everyone pulls out all the stops like "clean your utensils before preparing the food" when failing to do it means your hands get bathed in nerve toxin.)

Well I do hope this fad takes off. It is completely ridiculous of course, but the art world is full of ridiculous fads and this one actually has an useful side effect. Someone actually has to pick up trash from the streets to make the things.

This is way more commendable than say cutting cows in half or pickling sharks in formaldehyde (just to name another two ridiculous art fads).

So now that artists have more or less given up on making beautiful things they may as well clean up the streets.

Sorry, anyone who buys this garbage (hah) is a god damned idiot.

http://www.lucitetombstones.com/acrylic_cube.htm

Knock yourself out. Tell people it's from NYC, they'll never be the wiser. Fuck, tell 'em it cost you $1000! If they're an idiot who would've bought this, they'll be even more impressed. And you can have the smug satisfaction of knowing that you are not mentally handicapped.

The existence of garbage-for-sale is a logical extension of "something is worth what you can get for it." :)

Someone should outsource this "arts" manufacture to China and undercut his $100 price point.

sour grapes?

He argues that packaging is the most important part of a product. Somehow this relates to this other HN story about the esthetics of web applications. http://www.readwriteweb.com/readwritestart/2009/09/design-fo... I agree packaging is important. If so we should be able to design a better package and outsell him. I might as well do this. Can anyone suggest interesting ideas to package NYC garbage? How about putting small spotlights inside the box to illuminate the garbage? Or using empty bottles as the box?

I think the novelty of the concept plays a large part in his success too though. It's like the million dollar home page - some ideas only work once because it's the story that is being sold. Second servings won't get as much attention. I would love to be proved wrong though. Maybe that could be your angle.

Something so simple and yet so beautiful, unique, and well...cool. I admire the artist, well done.

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