What most people would sweep into a trash bag has become a sold-out art collection for a New York City artist, who transformed litter left behind after Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s wedding celebrations into collectible keepsakes worth thousands of dollars.
According to AFP, artist Justin Gignac gathered discarded items from outside Madison Square Garden in New York on July 4, a day after the celebrity couple tied the knot.
Large crowds of fans assembled outside the venue, eager to spot the newlyweds and see which celebrities attended the wedding.
“It’s getting a lot of Swifties who just want a tangential piece of the wedding. I try to commemorate cultural moments in New York City, and this seemed to be a big one, so just capturing a little time capsule from that moment in time,” Gignac told AFP.
The artist collected bottle caps, cigarette butts, police caution tape, plastic utensils, drinking straws, a single left AirPod, Ring Pop candy wrappers and other debris left behind by the crowds.
He then sealed the items inside small transparent plastic cubes, branded them as “sculptures,” and sold each one for $25 (around Rs 2,400). Designed to prevent odour and leakage, the cubes turned discarded waste into collectible memorabilia linked to one of the year’s biggest celebrity events, the report said.
Around 50 of the cubes were put up for sale, and all reportedly sold out within 24 hours, earning Gignac roughly $1,250 (about Rs 1.2 lakh).
Keeping with the wedding theme, Gignac bundled some of the discarded items together and stamped each cube with the words “JUST&T MARRIED.”
He clarified that every item was picked up from public spaces outside the venue’s security perimeter and that none of the garbage came from inside the wedding location.
The unusual art project quickly went viral on social media, drawing a mix of amusement, disbelief and praise.
Social media users had mixed reactions to the unusual venture. One person called it a clever idea, joking that the artist could collect even more random waste, market it as “Taylor’s trash,” and use the profits to fund causes such as clean energy, hunger relief and improving access to water.
Another user expressed disbelief that people were willing to spend money on discarded items, saying the artist had found a way to profit from what was essentially garbage.
A third suggested that many of the buyers were likely investors hoping the collectibles would appreciate in value over time, rather than devoted Taylor Swift fans.