Eric Bartholomew

Everybody has a junk drawer. Whether it be an actual drawer, a hidden away shelf, or a corner of the closet, there is a space in life for random things. These are the things that seem to just accumulate. They are too good to throw away. They are worth saving, but they haven't really found their place.

A zine dedicated to tracing the origins of junk drawer items.

Zine documenting unusual items found at estate sales around Chicago.

"Parts of old buildings, abandoned train lines, and other odds & ends in the city." Includes descriptions and photographs.

Thoughts and essays inspired by picking through the piles of throw-aways left on the curbs during suburban &quot;Junk Days,&quot; when municipalities offer trash collection for large items and people mostly from the city come to dig through the discards. Includes various options for disposing of items, celebrity garbage, the history of Junk Days, what you can learn about people, from their garbage, and maps, plans and vehicles needed to undertake a Junk Days expedition.<br />

<p>From the introduction: This zine is about objects. Everyday things. Things that surround us. Material stuff we have found, and that has found its way into surroundings, one way or another. Objects define who we are. We also use objects to define ourselves, to create our imagr, whether real or imagined. Then there is junk, like that I'm often trying to get rid of, but can't seem to part with. The stuff itself is not really what's important. The objects represent something, like memories. Objects are reflections, or outlines of ourselves. And desires that we have. Possibilities of what could be, or what we could be.</p><p> The indrect part is the random nature of objects, especially used things. Stuff that had a previous life, and somehow found its way into ours. Indirect is not specifically planned out, its a way that just goes its own way, and sometimes gets in the way of itself, full of intervening factors, people, and objects.<br /></p>

Photos of the rare meeting of two heart-shaped potatoes.