Flickr user Clyde Robinson
There is beauty in the mundane.
This appears to be the mantra of Instagram account @onthegroundinmadison, a profile dedicated to showcasing the strangest and most peculiar pieces of lost or discarded items found in the sidewalks, roads and lawns of Madison.
Pickles just don’t stand a chance in this town. R.I.P. someone’s late night snacking. Credit goes to @thegroeggg for this lovely find. #madisonwi #wisconsin #pickles #brokenglasseverywhere #ifitaintaboutthemoney #ijustdontcare #onthegroundinmadison
The account functions as an aggregator of pedestrian discoveries, largely reposting photographs submitted by local Madisonians. It has already amassed a respectable following in under a year of operation, with 2,300 Instagram followers on board for routine updates of these discarded treasures.
Cheap date at the bus stop. Thanks to my friend Katherine for this shot. #pizza #busstop #cheapdate #fitchburg #atthebusstop #condoms #wrapitup #pizzaisbetterthansex #onthegroundinmadison A photo posted by onthegroundinmadison (@onthegroundinmadison) on Sep 16, 2015 at 5:24am PDT
In some ways, the account champions the peculiar artistry hidden in these largely-ignored scenes. These tiny snippets might go unnoticed by most, but the profile appears to recognize the stories that these objects tell.
It’s fun to imagine how a jar of pickles wound up shattered in the middle of a sidewalk, or why someone would discard perfectly serviceable leftover pizza in a bus station. Were they also the condom user, or did these two artifacts come together by sheer chance? We may never know.
But certain scenes defy explanation:
Here’s a regram from #onthegroundinmadison follower and #Madison tattoo artist @jonbass1. I don’t even know if I want to know what took place here. #madisonwisconsin #madisonwi #wisconsin #uwmadison #onthegroundinmadison #ontheground #wigs #fourloko #maltbeverage #twotonewig #whathappenedlastnight
Next time you stumble across a crumpled can of Kül Premium or a damp pair of basketball shorts mysteriously abandoned in a gutter, consider the poetry within.
There’s a disjointed beauty in sidewalk trash, and it takes a forward-thinking Instagram like this to make us see it.