Unearthing the Present with artist Howard el-Yasin

The First Stop

Howard is fascinated by the materials (shards, fragments, dead skin cells) Americans produce and discard. He’s captivated by the way in which these objects reflect our current moment of mass-production and consumption—a condition that allows us to throw away and forget objects of personal significance. In his artistic practice, he seeks to penetrate the material surface of these forgotten human bi-products, revealing the layers of cultural meaning and forensic data contained within them. Howard collects human hair, dryer lint, thrown out banana peels, among other things. We spend the bulk of this interview discussing Howard’s sculptural installations of dryer lint, objects that are at once visceral and ephemeral, enigmatic and abject.