Have you ever spotted a lonely Deece mug lying prostrate on the lawn, or a wandering white plate perched on top of a wall? As we all know, Deeceware is prone to travel through and get lost on campus. From flying as frisbees, to becoming sleds to glide down Graduation Hill, to reincarnation as a precarious pile of porcelain Jenga, their forms transcend utensils in our illustrious dining hall.
Instagram account abandoneddeeceware records this phenomenon for posterity through a series of posts. The admins, who prefer to retain anonymity, termed their account as “authentic. unaltered. beautiful.” The compilation of Deeceware out of its natural habitat has repeatedly challenged our imagination and our definitions of art. While Vassar inhabitants’ ingenious uses of Deeceware break the utensil typecast, they should also be mindful when constantly absconding with them intow. Haven’t you seen the sad signs begging students to return itinerant plates, flatware and skillets? A takeaway message for fans: please remember to return the traveling Deeceware back to its rightful home!
To better understand this aesthetic yet concerning account, the Miscellany News reached out to abandoneddeeceware.
The Miscellany News: When and why did you first come up with the idea of abandoneddeeceware?
abandoneddeeceware: We came up with the idea of what became [at]abandoneddeeceware about two years ago, but it took another couple [of] months to actually develop and create the Instagram account. As for conception, we began to take notice of the large amount of Deeceware scattered around campus and were honestly a little impressed with how far and wide it managed to get.
The Misc: What were your initial expectations for the account?
abandoneddeeceware: Initially, we didn’t have any expectations for the account. It was more just for us to express both our frustration and sheer amazement.
Mainly we were hoping that this would encourage our abandoned Deeceware to be abandoned no more. If last year’s plastic fork fiasco has taught us anything, it’s that we need to return our Deeceware to the Deece.
The Misc: Who’s mainly responsible for managing the account? Is it a team effort?
abandoneddeeceware: There are multiple [people] running the account, and it most definitely takes teamwork to come up with those highly questionable captions.
The Misc: What’s the best thing about your role?
abandoneddeeceware: Writing those poems, if you can even call them that, is definitely a favorite part of the whole thing. They are tragic sentences in the English language, but they’ve become part of what makes the account. We also really enjoy attempting to make the pictures aesthetic, with our limited artistic abilities.
The Misc: Do admins post their own discoveries, or is it mostly submissions?
abandoneddeeceware: We post a mixture of submissions and photos we take ourselves. It’s really fun to see the submissions because they can be of Deeceware in the weirdest places, or just because they’re completely not aesthetic, which is a joy.
The Misc: Would you retrieve the found deeceware and return it after taking the photos?
abandoneddeeceware: That is a very good question. We don’t normally return the deeceware, which would make sense. Instead we just observe it.
The Misc: Do you have a favorite post so far?
abandoneddeeceware: One of our favorite posts is the one of the mug under the tree right outside the Deece. Remembering when we found that one it was so sad, like seriously so close yet so far.
The Misc: How do you envision the future of this account?
abandoneddeeceware: Is there a future of [at]abandoneddeeceware? We don’t even know.