FOUND Magazine

I have been an adoring fan of Found Magazine for several years now. And, while it's not really "an artist", I think that it's an art project: "We collect found stuff: love letters, birthday cards, kids' homework, to-do lists, ticket stubs, poetry on napkins, doodles-- anything that gives a glimpse into someone else's life. Anything goes."(from the "About us" section of their website http://www.foundmagazine.com/about). From there, the found stuff is arranged into a magazine (in a cut-and-paste scrap-booky sort of way) and distributed.

I've pulled a couple of "finds" from the website to give you an idea of its awesomeness:

Kung-Fu Possum!
FOUND by Hannah L. in Springfield, Ohio
I found this in an academic building at my college during a training session. It was crumpled up in a ball on the floor.

Splenda User
FOUND by Elizabeth in North Gate, Berkeley, California
I found this in a bathroom on campus. There was no pencil attached but there were other similar postings around the walls of the bathroom with Splenda packets taped to them.

When you look at the various finds for a while they begin to come together to form a picture of people; of individuals' mundane lives, of their most notable moments in the day, of their failures in love, and of their kids' misbehavior. Found Magazine can be said to do for people (as a whole) what Candy Jernigan did for herself-- it honors the smallest aspects and evidences of living.