This whole idea started formulating in my mind when I helped a friend take his old sofa to the dump to be deposed of. I was amazed at the crazy things that we humans throw away, and decided that it would make good subject material. Who would have thought that garbage would make interesting art? I certainly didn't think about it until reading the essay by Annie Dillard called "Seeing." She spoke poetically of finding inspiration in the smallest things. I tried to think of recent adventures in my life and grand events that would be worthy of artwork, and then suddenly realized what she was trying to tell me. The magnificent is rarely found when we are looking for it, rather we are often surprised by it when we are open to it's grace. I revisited the memories of that garbage dump and was hit with a dash of inspiration.
I have always been a fan of satire works such as Animal Farm, Gulliver's Travels, and The Jungle. Messages that speak boldly of injustices or wrong doings, but in an entertaining and thought-provoking manner. I wanted to involve such satire in my project yet utilize the "eureka" moment I had at the city dump. I decided that my short stories would reverse the roles of my experience, placing the appliances as the owners and humans as the garbage to be used and abused as the appliances pleased. This interesting reversal would be a vehicle for another comparison. I thought of common problems we have with the things we buy. Things such as false advertising of products, factory defects, and items becoming obsolete. This would be sure to get the audiences attention since everyone is likely to have come across such problems at one time or another. As I was drawing these short stories I was reminded of another satire called "A Modest Proposal" by Jonathan Swift. His satire also belittled the value of human life in order to bring across his political point. My message is not so much political as it is a statement against modern society's values. I decided to take a look at commonly ostracized groups of society (the elderly, obese, malnourished, less fashionable, and the handicapped) and contrast them against current society's idealized person, then tie them to one of the common product problems I mention above. I really appreciated the photography of Joel Sternfield. His imagery captured the story behind each location and the intended message. I felt strong imagery would be important to my tiny stories as well. I tried to make the illustrations as blunt and simplistic as the words that accompanied them.
A story in less than 30 words seemed ridiculous to me, but after reading some of the Twitter short stories by @Veryshortstory I realize how much could be said in a tweet-sized story. I hope that the combination of straightforward language and simplistic illustration share my point of view and reveal the message I baked into these tiny stories.
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