The Department of Sanitation Garage Sale

By Trevor Davis

Opening: Saturday, August 4th, 4-8pm
Open Hours: Sunday, August 5th, 12-4pm
536 Beach 72nd, Far Rockaway, NY 11692

The Department of Sanitation, hereafter referred to as “The Department,” is changing in New York City. In an attempt to save money, increase uniform longevity, and capitalize on bulk-pricing discounts for shirts that can be shared across multiple departments, The Department is being absorbed by The Department of Parks and Recreation. This new assimilation means The Department will become faceless, larger, and more distant from the citizens it looks after. The Department was borne out of necessity, justly positioned as the superhero tasked with taking care of the largest and most dire trash situation in the world.

Artist Trevor Davis gives The Department the attention it deserves—he weaves new mythology into its history, detailing the sexual awakening of a personified “The Department” when it studied abroad in Paris as a freshman in college, highlighting Jackie O’s contribution to the design of The Department’s uniform in the 60s, and breaking down the graphical development of its crest over the years. He’s not just interested in the past either, as he posits a precarious future that could have been for The Department, though skewed—reimagining the future ten years ago.

Through sculpture, prints, t-shirts, stickers, equipment, and writing, the line is muddled between what is real and what is a reimagination. In the guise of a city-sanctioned garage sale for The Department, Davis presents genuine and fabricated artifacts from the archives of the often invisible Department of Sanitation, making room for the new, anonymous entity it is to become.

Trevor Davis (b. 1988, Miami-Dade Jackson Memorial Hospital) is a New York based sculptor, writer, and textile worker. Attended the first half of the Sunday Museum Tour at The Art Institute of Chicago, 2013. Saw the Rauschenberg exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, 2017. Attended the Armory Art Fair, NYC 2018 and had a $40 glass of champagne. This bio also for sale by the artist. $40. http://departmentofsanitation.org/ @department_of_sanitation @hrdepartment