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specific. So while they don't "hunt" for things, they are always on the lookout. Rothbart says some of the hot spots for finding interesting material are public transportation areas, recycling centers and school playgrounds." Kids lose some of the most incredible things," Rothbart says. For the first Found book, Meiklejohn gave Rothbart an algebra test a waitress found at a restaurant. The test had hilarious but wrong answers, including rhymed couplets about how the student hates algebra. My hope of passing/is no hope at all/I just stare at the board/And watch my grade fall. The teacher gave him a zero.
grade fall. The teacher gave me Rothbart has also discovered interesting material in computer labs of universities. "People will print stuff out and leave it unclaimed," Rothbart says, "so I have picked up a lot of printed e-mails and writing assignments."
ing assignments.
Rothbart says he always changes the names of the people whose private notes and letters are published. When on tour, Rothbart may read several letters aloud, but he always makes sure not to read the names. "The last thing I want to do is embarrass someone." Rothbart says.
"What we find can sometimes be so personal, raw and intimate, that we do have to be careful. But because that stuff is so personal, it makes it so much better."
Rothbart says he never expects someone to recognize something that is theirs, but it has happened. "Usually people are pretty cool with it," says Rothbart. "Sometimes they're even honored." One girl saw a note she had written about her boyfriend published.
Afterwards she gave Rothbart an update on how the relationship was going. People also are mystified. Rothbart and Meiklejohn were on a Found tour together when Meiklejohn noticed a dumpster filled with piles of slides at a stop in Denver. The slides were an entire portfolio of photos of half-nude women on motorcycles. Meiklejohn and Rothbart thought they had hit jackpot, and started gathering up the pictures. A man who was walking by noticed them and asked what they were doing.
Meiklejohn and Rothbart froze, ready for confrontation. Instead, the man came over and looked at the pictures. "Those are my slides," he said. "How did they get here?" Meiklejohn thinks the man and his wife were in a big argument, and the wife had thrown the slides out. While he was confused as to why strangers were interested in his pictures, he was thankful that they helped recover them.
helped recover them. The public's fascination with found items is caused by their desire for authenticity. No one thinks a letter they write to a loved one or a note they pass to someone in class will ever be published. Rothbart says, so their true, honest feelings are con-
veyed. "They showcase a range of emotions that we all have," he says. "Everyone may be very different, but we're all experiencing the same things. You see a stranger on the street and you don't think they have the same experiences, emotions and feelings that you do, but they do. With these notes, everyone is connected in the world." After a pause, Rothbart adds, "Plus a lot of them are funny as shit."
New Discoveries at Home
THE PUBLIC'S FASCINATION WITH FOUND ITEMS IS CAUSED BY THEIR DESIRE FOR AUTHENTICITY. NO ONE THINKS A LETTER THEY WRITE TO A LOVED ONE OR A NOTE THEY PASS TO SOMEONE IN CLASS WILL EVER BE PUBLISHED, SO THEIR TRUE, HONEST FEELINGS ARE CONVEYED.
book,
got there. Two unusual things Matt Overstreet, Augusta graduate student, found weren't even from this country. One was a blue address book he picked up in a phone booth in Amsterdam. Opening up the
New Discoveries in Law
In Lawrence, people are just now getting a taste of the sensation of finding things. Lance Yoder doesn't have to look too hard — he's a custodian at Wescoe Hall. "It's the worst place on the planet to clean," says Yoder. While most the trash he picks up is newspapers and drink bottles, he does come across notes. Some of the funniest notes he has ever read were of students writing back and forth during class. One especially hung-over KU student wrote that she couldn't remember much of the night before, and when she woke up everything from the shelves were on the floor and she didn't know how they got there.
book,
Overstreet found a copy of a passport and what appeared to be drug paraphernalia. While in London, he was walking down the street when a man, who seemed to be schizophrenic, handed him some sort of confession or poem, which on his photo-copied paper
photo-copied paper read: I used to not listen to the voices. Since then Overstreet and his friend, Eric Davis, have kept a growing collection of their findings.
In the collection box, along with the address book and confession are several pictures, some of which Davis has framed, cassette tapes, drawings, love letters, notes, grocery lists and old school papers. One of his favorite finds is a list of one hundred things a
girl looked for in a man. Specific and to the point, the list includes things such as "He must be able to make good toast," and "He likes fans blowing, especially when falling asleep."
asleep." Looking through the box, I am amazed at what Davis has kept, but more amazed at what people have lost, left or just
thrown away. A boy's drawing displays an intricate, thorough collage of people who presumably greatly influenced his life. There's a used book that reads in the inside cover:
To a sweet and loving wife. If I hadn't married you I would have wound up as a
lone tumbleweed in the desert
There's a picture of an Egyptian pharaoh riding a skateboard. There's a cryptic note written on a torn, 3-by-4-inch piece of paper that reads:
— Brent
inch piece of paper
Dr. Geist was going to call (county) health to know what to do about the Dead Rat
Look What I Found
RAindrops race for the ground as I steadily hold my umbrella. Now / am searching Lawrence for hidden treasures. Working on this story has inspired my friends and I to keep our eyes open for things around town. I have been good CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE
and our little girl. (Response) Dispose of the rat—watch finger for infection. Come in after school for tetanus shot.
for tetanus shot.
Davis has started his own zine, Midwestern Doom. In addition to featuring articles and ramblings from local writers, it features random art and photographs primarily found by Davis and his friends. He's also organizing a show at the Olive Gallery, 15 E. 8th St., on Nov. 1 through 3 that will feature found art, photos, and writing from the Lawrence and Kansas City area. "Please contribute to my gathering of weird crap," Davis' submission flies says.
says. The Foundmagazine tour will also come to Lawrence. The tour, which hits 84 cities and 39 states in three months, will feature all-time favorite finds along with some brand new ones the Foundcrew picked up on recent tours. Rothbart will be there, of course, continuing to make celebrities out of ordinary people.
ALL PHOTOS AND NOTES ARE FROM FOUND MAGAZINE.
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