NY Artist Sells Trash From Taylor Swift's Wedding for R500 a Cube, Sells Out Fast

NY Artist Sells Trash From Taylor Swift's Wedding for R500 a Cube, Sells Out Fast

  • A New York artist collected litter outside Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's wedding venue and sealed it into acrylic cubes for sale
  • Justin Gignac sold 50 cubes of wedding-night rubbish, each stamped with the wedding date, for R500 apiece
  • The limited collection sold out almost immediately, leaving the internet divided and oddly impressed

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An enterprising NYC artist capitalised on Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s Madison Square Garden wedding
'Limited edition' trash cubes loaded with rubbish gathered in Midtown Manhattan after Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s July 3 wedding extravaganza. Image: nbcnews
Source: TikTok

Justin Gignac had a simple plan the morning after Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's wedding. While fans were still buzzing, he was busy sweeping the pavement outside Madison Square Garden in New York City. What he collected was ordinary rubbish: water bottle caps, plastic cups, caution tape, scraps and even a stray AirPod. There was also, somehow, an ovulation test kit among the debris. For most people, it was litter. For Gignac, it was a product.

The New York-based artist, known online as newyorkcitygarbage, has spent over two decades turning the city's refuse into collectable art. He sealed the wedding-night scraps into small clear acrylic cubes, each one stamped with "JUST&T MARRIED! 7.3.26" and priced at $25 (roughly R500). He made 50 of them. They were gone almost immediately.

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Celebrity trash as collectable art

The stunt shared by @nbcnews page sits at the intersection of fan culture and absurdist commentary. Gignac is not simply cashing in. His work has long used packaging and branding to ask what makes something valuable, and who decides. The sealed cubes do not pretend to be anything other than what they are: random rubbish from a New York street, given meaning by proximity to celebrity.

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Watch the TikTok video below:

The internet reacts

The internet, predictably, had a lot to say about it. Comments flooded in across social media, ranging from admiration to disbelief:

Reistorms:

"I'm just mad I didn't think of this first."

Glen Seymour wrote:

"The guy that invented the pet rock was a millionaire."

Lobo_osrs commented:

"I'm not even mad that they are selling… I'm mad that people are buying it."

Lexito69 highlighted:

"I bought the water bottle cap and a gum wrapper. 😭🫶 Best purchase ever!"

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Longwayhome said:

"I purchased my corner of a condom wrapper! It came to about $95 CAD for the conversion and the shipping. Also had to pay an international tax or some. But it's dope!"

Aleesa commented:

"Nothing sad about this. He made money, cleaned up the environment, and the people that bought it can add to their collection, I guess. Sounds like everyone wins. 🤷‍♀️"

Treebeard asked:

"What stage of capitalism is this?"

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Source: Briefly News

Authors:
Gloria Masia avatar

Gloria Masia (Human interest editor) Gloria Masia is a Human Interest Writer at Briefly News. She holds a Diploma in Public Relations from UNISA and a Diploma in Journalism from Rosebank College. With over six years of experience, Gloria has worked in digital marketing, online TV production, and radio. Email:gloria.masia@briefly.co.za