Waste Scenes is a two-channel video created during the artists’ residency at RAIR (Recycled Artist in Residency) in Philadelphia. Working inside an active recycling center, the artists built short, performative vignettes choreographed by various materials including discarded books and old tapes they found on site.   

This video examines how the accumulation of debris embodies the failed aspirations of post-industrial Northern US. Through episodic narration, Schmidt-Arenales and Chao reinterpret material decomposition to encourage recognition of the throwaway culture of contemporary America.

Support for Waste Scenes: Maia Chao and Fred Schmidt-Arenales has been provided by Dorothy & Martin Bandier, Cheri & Steven Friedman, and B.Z. and Michael Schwartz.