packaging as content

July 28, 2009

Don Porcella’s Polybagged Pipe Cleaner Pieces

Don Porcella: woven pipe cleaner action figures, etc.

This weekend I met artist, Don Porcella, but, until I visited his web site, I had no idea that he made packaging-related artwork. His pipe cleaner sculptures run the gamut from large, life-sized figures to smaller “action figures.” These smaller “action figures” are contained in polybags with handmade header cards.

Polybags and header cards have this culturally charged thing. A lowly, low-tech form of packaging that’s simultaneously shoddy and alluring. Put something in this type of package and, on some level, you are saying: “For sale—cheap.” (See Magnetic Packages and also: Dana Wyse) Unlike real polybagged products, however, Porcella’s packaging is part of the artwork, and not meant to be opened. (Like collectible toys, as difficult as it is for us not to open the package, these things mean more if they’re still factory-sealed in their original packaging.)

(A couple more of Porcella’s package-related, pipe-cleaner pieces, after the fold…)

Don Porcella, Are We There Yet?, 2007 (Installation at Stefan Stux Gallery in 2008)

Don Porcella, Cheesy Yums (Front), 2006, Pipe cleaners, 11 x 8 x 4 inches 

Randy Ludacer
Beach Packaging Design

Comments are closed.