Recently, we passed by the flower kiosk outside our local Key Food at the corner of Seventh Avenue and Carroll Street in Park Slope where we noticed a piece of art tacked to a brick wall alongside tied-up, broken-down boxes, milk crates, a hand truck and piles of trash.
We didn't really know what to make of it, until, that is, we got a closer look. Entitled Recycled Bouquet, the 2006 work identified on a placard as "food packaging on paper" is made of cut-up cereal boxes, candy wrappers and other similarly situated cardboard.
Eggo, Cheerios (including that the Honey Nut bee) and Oreos are well-represented. Other cereals are Special K, Corn Chex, Apple Jacks, three honey-based ones (Honey Toasted Oat Cereal, Honey Crunch, Honey Bunches of Oats) and at least two kinds of raisin bran.
Brooklyn artist Fred Bendheim worked with Judi Barrett's second grade art class at the Berkeley Carroll School, just down the block in Park Slope, to create the piece.
The words "Net 30 FL OZ (887 mL)" will never be the same again.
