Discard Study

Discard Study

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Discard Study began in Little River, Miami, in 2023 through the accumulation of plastic grocery bags I collected from supermarkets, Latin markets, liquor stores, smoke shops, and other neighborhood businesses.

What began as a practical habit of saving bags became an investigation into accumulation, consumption, attachment, and the difficulty of letting go. I began noticing how often I was given more bags than I needed, as if there were always an expectation that one might break or that another would be necessary.

 

Just in case.

I might need it.
It might break.
I shouldn't throw it away yet.
Maybe I'll use it someday.

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These ordinary thoughts became part of the conceptual foundation of the work. The accumulation of bags became a physical manifestation of a psychological resistance: the difficulty of letting go and, at the same time, the difficulty of stopping ourselves from accumulating more.

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I collect, sort, cut, layer, and manipulate the bags through heat and pressure, using an iron to transform separate plastic fragments into larger interconnected surfaces. Individual bags are flattened, overlapped, folded, and joined through the application of heat, creating translucent, irregular sheets and elongated sculptural forms. The resulting works retain the wrinkles, folds, printed graphics, colors, handles, and fragments of text from the original bags.

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The process transforms a disposable commercial object into a material for mixed-media installation and sculpture. Repetition becomes an important part of the process: each individual bag is ordinary and temporary, but hundreds of accumulated bags create a new physical and visual presence.

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The original identities of the bags are never completely erased. Supermarket logos, colors, languages, and commercial imagery remain visible within the layered plastic. The material therefore moves from consumer object to accumulation, from accumulation to transformation, and from transformation to memory and document. Together, the bags create an unintended portrait of Miami through the commercial materials of everyday life.

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Living in Miami after moving from Buenos Aires, the process also became connected to my experience of finding familiarity in a new place. Latin markets and neighborhood stores became part of my everyday landscape, offering familiar products, flavors, and rituals from home. The bags accumulated alongside this experience, becoming both evidence of consumption and a record of my life in a new city.

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Discard Study considers what we keep, what we discard, and what remains attached to us even when we no longer need it. Through collecting, cutting, layering, heating, and transforming discarded plastic, the work examines consumption, waste, memory, migration, and the habits of attachment that exist within both the body and the mind.