John Tory
born Toronto, Ontario, 1954

Sculpture — steel, plastic and paint
(2022)

Evoking the work of the artist Christo, but on a more modest scale, the artist wraps a city garbage can in heavy plastic tarpaulin. Much of the city’s waste disposal infrastructure is dilapidated or broken, but by wrapping the bin in material that evokes a black garbage bag, the artist suggests that the waste bin itself is garbage. It is simultaneously invisible — a black mass, without form or function — and yet still obstinately occupying space. Instead of merely fixing or removing the bin, the artist uses it as the basis of a powerful commentary, calling attention to the the city’s refusal to provide even the most basic public services.