Untitled (Rubbish) by Helen Fuller, 1980

An assemblage artwork hanging on a dark gallery wall
Image: Helen FULLER Untitled (Rubbish) 1980, boxed assemblage: discarded newspapers, pianola roll, magazine pages, fan, fox fur, sardine tin, photographs, bias binding, fishing line, photocopied sheet, crumpled paper and customs form, with an enamel plate, fork and balloon attached to Perspex. QUT Art Collection. Gift of the artist, 1990.


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This work is what is known as an assemblage whereby the artist has collected random everyday items and arranged them together to form the completed work. Measuring 91.5 centimetres high by 91.5 centimetres wide and 5 centimetres deep, this work, made up of things affectionately described by the artist as ‘rubbish’, is found gathered together in a wooden box, shallow in its depth and sealed with a clear hard plastic Perspex lid. It is hung static on the wall with its eclectic array of items positioned to fill its interior.

Included within are discarded newspapers in both English and Italian, a pianola roll utilised in self-playing pianos, magazine pages, an opened black fan, fox fur, a sardine tin, photographs, bias binding used for sewing, fishing line, a child’s toy ring and photocopied sheets of paper.

The newspaper and pianola roll included within have yellowed suggesting the passing of time and that these elements have been discarded and forgotten whereas the white photocopied paper included within is shown scrunched up into balls. In the centre of the work the word ‘things’ is shown upside down, black text cut out upon white paper. Hanging below this is a single silver dessert spoon hung by a string affixed from the centre of the frame in the middle at the top of the work. Towards the bottom left hand corner is an interesting point of difference found within this work, the addition of an enamel side plate, reminiscent of the kind used outdoors when camping, white with royal blue rimmed exterior, which has been attached to the outside of the Perspex and above the assortment of items found under the Perspex lid below.

A vitrine (or a glass fronted case made for the display of art or artefacts) can serve to alter our perception of the objects beneath it, based purely on our expectations of what should be treated with that degree of care. Untitled (Rubbish) takes advantage of this by elevating an accumulation of discarded, random items into an assemblage of art objects. In historical terms we are reminded here of the German room of wonder known as the ‘Wunderkammer’ or in its translation to English as a ‘Cabinet of Curiosities’ albeit one curated by the artist, Helen Fuller.

The flat clear Perspex transforms the pile into a visual composition, and instead of assuming the mess was accumulated naturally, intentional compositional choices can be read into the placements and arrangements of the clutter found within. This technique of assemblage emerged alongside the art movements of Dadaism and Surrealism in the early twentieth century, as an equally chaotic response to an everchanging world where perspectives were consistently challenged.